Monuments (individual)

The poem I wrote is about the Chihkan Tower. The reason I chose this monument as the subject if my poem is that this infrastructure leave the deepest impression on me. It's very magnificent despite its long history. Thus I wrote this poem to show my thought on this monument in Taiwan.

楼，

虽老，

拥有者悠久与古老的历史，

但永不会失去它雄伟的气势。

众知的赤坎楼。

Education ( individual )

Thoughts & observation

In Taiwan, I attended one of sec 4 math lesson. I observed that in Taiwan classes, boys and girls are all separated, tablemates are all of the same gender. During the lesson, we have an activity where we are separated in two groups and do a group test. The teacher expects us to work out the questions together. The students there are very friendly. They know that we are from sec 2 and thus the question standard is too high for us so the gave us the easier questions to try them out. I realize the students have a strong team spirit. They know what their classmates are good at and thus let them handle certain questions. It was very impressive as I think not many of my classmates knows what each other is good at. After this activity, the teacher went through the questions. The students are very attentive. I realize the students and the teacher has a very special relationship. They looks like friends and give the feeling of normal friends but yet, very respectable when the teacher is teaching and having lessons.

I think that the Taiwanese students have very good self control. They know when to have fun and when to be serious. Their team spirit is very strong too, working together has no problem at all. They know how to face the problem and come up with a solution. I think the students actually treat their classroom as their own house. There are snacks, drinks and little items. But even though they eat in class, their classroom is still very clean and in good condition. I think this is something we have to learn from them. Often, our classroom is very dirty as we do not care much about the hygiene and cleanliness of the class. The experience I had in this class was very pleasant and fun. It was unforgettable.

Life of a student in Taiwan

I asked some buddies about their normal school lives. They told me it was tiring but they got used to it. The homework amount is around the same as Singapore but they have self study period so they could get them done before going home. Apparently, many of them have tuition after school hours so having self study period actually helped them to cope with their amount of homework. For tuition, it's often late at night till 8 plus. It further explains the subject and at the same time, preview the upcoming topics, to make the students cope better in class. In school, they do not have canteen like ours in Singapore. Their meals are fixed and changed daily. Most of them do not like the food due to their tastes. As for sleeping time, some sleep quite early, some are quite late. Those sleeping late is either due to revision, or playing games. I asked them if their studies would help them when they go to the society. They told me in their opinions, it's not really useful at all since the thing they learn is just memorizing informations. I think that their school life is no much different from school lives of students in Singapore. Except, we don't have self study period and we have a better privilege of food since we have a canteen. We face the same problems and some of us also have tuition late at night. The tuition have the same purpose, understands the subject better and preview on the upcoming topics. In the level of tiredness, both are the same.

Some examples of the Taiwan students' homework

Cost of living( individual )

When I was in Taiwan, during the last few days, I visited our sister school and I questioned some of the buddies on their satisfaction in cost of living in Taiwan. After asking them, I realised that there are different costs in different areas. For normal markets like wet markets ( 菜市场 ), the prices are acceptable, in fact it's quite cheap. People think the price worth the quality. But markets like supermarkets, shopping mall, it's a bit expensive. For normal households, they would think the price is expensive but for the richer households, it's acceptable. Due to the high price, the normal households seldom goes there to buy items. Items like clothings would also depends on the place you buy, usually would be below 500 TWD.Lastly, cigarettes and alcohols are actually much cheaper than in Singapore.

In conclusion, the people in Taiwan thinks the cost of living is acceptable and satisfied with it. Though some items are expensive, they think the quality worth such prices and thus accepted them.

Taiwan OELP reflection

Day 1 reflection

It was our first day and we headed to Taiwan at around 6 plus. I heard from my seniors that OELP will be very interesting and we would learn a lot from this trip. So I was looking forward to it. When we reached Kaohsiung International Airport, it was already 12 midnight and we were all exhausted and was hoping we could get some rest quickly. But what surprised me the most was some teachers and vice principal, 刘秘书 from 正心中学 were there waiting for our arrival to welcome us. I heard from our teacher that the Taiwanese would be very hospitable but I did not expect them to actual welcome us so late at night. Later, we reached " Ten Drums Village " the place we stay. From the name, I could tell this is an interesting place. I looked forward even more for the upcoming days in Taiwan.

Day 2 reflection

We visited several museum on Hakka cultures. We learnt a lot from these museum. For me it's even more meaningful as I did not know there is such culture. One of the few things I learnt is Hakka literally means 'guest families'. Due to circumstances such as inner conflicts, the Hans migrated southwards , from northern China to southern China for a safer and stable living environment. In the hilly areas they moved in, they developed the unique Hakka culture. Though it's amazing for me to came into contact with a brand new culture, what is more surprising is that Taiwan actually preserve the cultures to such extent. Many museums were built in order to remember such unique and interesting culture, to make sure they will not be forgotten as time goes by. I feel that Singaporeans should learn from the Taiwanese as Singapore is a bustling city place and people concentrates on things such as economics or academics. We will soon forgot about the cultures that are unique to us. We should learn to preserve them, remember them to make sure they would not disappear as time passes by.

Day 3 reflection

We visited some ancient places in Taiwan which were made to museums. One of them that interests me the most is the 'Chihkan Tower'. It was once belongs to emperor Qian long before Dutch colonization. It is very significant as it was surrendered to Koxinga when he recovered Taiwan. It is also one of the prominent heritage of Taiwan. The ' Chihkan Tower' appears grand and well preserved even after rebuilding it as it was once destroyed during the 921 earthquake. One thing that impressed me the most was it is very old and after rebuilding, it still looks the same as before. Apparently, the Taiwanese think of this Tower as something very important as they spend a lot of effort to rebuild it, preventing it to look too different from before in order to preserve its originality. I think Singapore never has any building as old as this. Even if we were to have some old buildings, by now, they should be gone or modernized. But Taiwanese does not wish to modernize the buildings that have historical values. This shows they think of their history as something great in significance. I feel that Singaporeans look too much towards the future instead of stop and think back to see our history, remember them and preserve them. At night, we visited "liuhe night market". It was something everyone looked forward to as it has been a famous popular Taiwan culture. Everything seems interesting and fascinating to us. The night market was very crowded with many types of food. However, there were no litter on the floor. After every about 10 meters of so, there would be a rubbish bin. Taiwanese think a lot about keeping their environment clean and be environmental friendly. But as for Singapore, though it's very clean but it was cleaned by foreign workers in order for Singapkre to remain clean. I think we should learn from the Taiwanese to keep our environment clean, not by relying on the foreign cleaners.

Day 4 reflection

On day 4 of the OELP, we visited our sister school, "sacred heart high school". We were split up to different classes and my group went to a year 4 math class. The teacher was very notivative and encouraging as the questions were too difficult. He was very friendly to us as well. He interacted a lot with his students and the atmosphere was as if they were friends. However, jokes are jokes, when going through questions, he would be very serious and the students as well, listened attentively. It was very interesting to go to lessons of a complete different environment. Though we do not understand a single thing from the lesson due to the huge gap in year level and language, we had fun trying their questions and interact with the students. After our lunch, in the afternoon, we wen to several old places in Taiwan. One of them was "siluo bridge". It is 79 years old. It was built on 24 March 1936, the local people of the area set up a committee to construct a bridge over the Zhuoshui River during the Japan colonization. Despite its "old age" the bridge is still steady and safe for people to cross. We can see the green scenery from the bridge as well. It was very beautiful and fascinating.

Day 5 reflection

We visited "sacred heart high school" again. I noticed something interesting. In this school, there are normal classes and special classes. In special classes, students of different genders will be in different classes. Some specialize in music and some soecialize in art. They focus a lot on them, it was similar to our CCAs. But for them, they go another level to develop the students by canceling classes such as home economics to make more time for the students to engage in their interests. I think Singapore would never do this as even though we have our CCAs, we still put our academics as top priority. After lunch, in the afternoon, we visited "iicake towel shop". It was very fascinating and interesting. The shop design was full of towel related items. We even did a DIY cat model towel. The staff were very welcoming and helpful. They guided us along the shop and introduced to us all about the towel. Before I visit this place, I though it will be a boring little shop with towels. But after visiting the shop, it was very different from what I imagined. I think the company thought of this to attract costumers as people are attracted to such unique types of shops. Furthermore, giving more knowledge to the costumers about the towels will make them to feel safe and trust the company. I think that this shop is very interesting and it was very creative of the person who thought of opening this shop. I feel that Taiwan is full of surprises as there are places like towel workshop, something we don't see everyday.

Day 6 reflection

It was the second last day of OELP and this time, our buddy's parents will bring us out. My buddy' slather brought me to three places and they are all very interesting. The first place was a shopping mall filled with shops and designs like olden Taiwan. Even the staff there dress like the olden Taiwan fashion. It was very interesting as there are also olden infrastructures such as trains. The second place was at the rural area. I saw many pineapple plantations there. We visited a famous pineapple tart shop and the pineapple tarts were delicious. It was made out of purely pineapple with no other chemicals or man made food in. It is different from what we eat in Singapore as the ones in Singapore is a mixed product. The last place was the most interesting one. Its called " 星月天空 ”. Its a place full of animal wonder off by themselves. They were very well trained that they are not afraid of people. We can pet them, feed them and take photos of them. The animal that caught me the most attention was the alpaca. I only heard of them but never actually seen one before so it was very amusing. This is very different from Singapore. In Singapore, places with animals are locked up and we could not interact with them. I think that maybe Singapore could do something like Taiwan, let the harmless animals to walk around the place by themselves. This could actually make the tourist attraction more popular and interesting. After dinner, a staff gave me a "孔明灯” for me to light it up. It was my very first time lighting one so I was very excited. It was very fun as I get to see and experience things I never experienced before.

Day 7 reflection

We are heading back to Singapore later that afternoon. But before that, we went to the 921 earthquake museum of Taiwan. Damage caused by the earthquake included 2,415 deaths, 29 missing, 11,305 severely wounded, with 51,711 buildings completely destroyed, 53,768 buildings severely damaged, and a total of NT$300 billion worth of damage. It was one of the most severe natural disaster. I feel saddened with the loss of lives and the trauma the people experienced during and after the earthquake. After witnessing some infrastructures that were destroyed during the earthquake, I feel so relieved that I live in Singapore where no natural disasters will occur. We must have taken our safe living environment for granted, without knowing how much other people in other parts of the Earth must suffer from the natural disasters. We should be thankful for our safe living environment as not all country gets to enjoy such safe living conditions Singapore has.

Conclusion 

Over the past 6 days, I learnt a lot from Taiwan. I have learnt that Taiwanese emphasize a lot on their culture and historical event and tried their very best to preserve them. A few examples would be the 921 earthquake museum where infrastructures damaged during the earthquake is preserved and the Chihkan Tower. The Taiwanese wanted to make themselves remember and learn from them. For example, the 921 earthquake museum is to let the people remember what sufferings have  they gone through and be ready if such thing were to happen again. Another thing about Taiwanese is that they are very welcoming which leaves us a very good impression. The buddies and their parents looked after us well and brought us to take a look at Taiwan's tourists attraction to understand Taiwan even better. One thing that leaves me the most impression would be their lifestyle. When I visited the pineapple plantations in the rural areas, I realized the people there are constantly putting a smile on their faces. Their living condition is not as good as Singapore, such as living in olden brick houses but they seems contented. For people living in urban areas, such as Singapore with high standard of living conditions and many electronic equipment to keep ourselves entertained. But many of us do not seems happy or contented. They strive for more, competitive between each other to show who's better. We do not wave to strangers and say "hi" as that would be too strange and weird. But the place I visited, despite not knowing each other, they would smile and wave to us and talk to us, engage in conversations. I feel that people nowadays are moving too fast. We move in a very fast pace to become better. But we should also learn to slow down a bit, notice things that we did not notice before as we were too busy. This would make us feel happy and contented with what we have now.

Taiwan trip slides summary

Group 1

Location: Eternal golden castle 

A defensive castle in Aiping, built in 1874 by Qing government 

It is 3 hectors in size

It was built by Shen Baozhen which was used as a fort for coastal defense and a fortress to resist Japanese troop during the wars.

But after Japanese invasion, the canons were sold for funds for Russo-Japnese war.

Group 2

Location: Liu He night market 

Temperature range from 19.9 degree to 21.5 degree, tropical climate.

When the rain come, the stalls will continue businesses but some will open later due to preparation 

Main food sold is seafood as Tainan is close to the sea. The whole night market needs about 30 min to walk through.

Things to take caution: 

We need to check if the food is fresh, especially seafood. Taiwan is a hot bed do Hepatitis due to hygiene problems so we need to be very careful with the food we bought.

Group 3

Location: Anping Old Fort

English: Fort Zeelandia Fortress by a Dutch East India

It is over 300 years old, there is Inner fort and outer fort.

The fort's first priority was to strength defense of trade route and was previously named as orange city due to the color of the bricks used. It is now a museum.

Group 4

Location: 921 earthquake museum of Taiwan

Located in Wufeng, Taichung Taiwan.

This museum is dedicated to the 921 earthquake, to remind the public of the earthquake and learn from the incident to prevent such thing happen again.

The earthquake was on 21/09/1999, at 1.47 am. It was a 7.3 magnitude earthquake and claimed 2321 lives, 8000+ injured, financial cost billions.

Group 5

Location: Ten Drum Culture Village

This village has an area of 5 hector. People visits this place to stay far from the bustling city and enjoy a quiet life.

History: in 2005, ten drum art percussion group took over and renovated it. Although it has a conservative design but there are  high facilities. Since New Year 2007, it has been accessible for the public and become a new culture landmark for South Taiwan.

There are 2 mascots, gu wa, female and Shiher, male for the village.

The Icon of Ten Drum's spirits to be tough.

There is an unique activity called water treatment tank.

Group 6

Location: Anping Old Street ( Yanping Old Street ) ( Taiwan First Street )

It is the Oldest street in Tainan. Anping was originally Dutch settlement in Tainan.

Along the street, many "old houses" can be seen such as brick houses, western style houses.

These Houses, although old but can survive earthquakes. However, they are prone to erosion by rain. Thus, people put minerals on the wall to prevent erosion.

3 questions I would like to ask

Q1) How much would a normal bowl of noodles costs?

Q2) How much is needed to buy items such as toys and snacks ( mini ) needed?

Q3) What is the average cost of a meal in a restaurant?

Do you think the Merlion would make the best national icon to represent Singapore?

I think that Merlion would make the best national icon for Singapore. First of all, the need to have a national icon is to allow props from other countries to immediately think of theat particular country upon seeing the icon. A national icon is important as it represents a nation and can be identified easily by others. So the purpose of making the Merlion our national icon is to allow others to know that they are in Singapore and know it represents Singapore the moment they saw the Merlion. Although there are other icons can be our national icon such as the orchid flower, but Merlion is the best. It is very unique and I believe it's one of its kind. It also best describes Singapore, the lion city which was presented with the lion head. As for the fish body, it means that Singapore was a fishing village and fishing is their main source of income. 

Merlion can be seen as a representative of Singapore from the following evidence. Singapore has a Merlion park and other tourists attractions also have Merlions in them such as Sentosa and Marina bay. By having them in tourists attractions, it means that Merlion is an important part of Singapore. Furthermore, many tourists will definitely knows about Merlion when they come to Singapore. This proofs that Merlion is representing Singapore.

One main criteria to support Merlion as our national icon is it must be accepted by majority of the Singaporeans and other countries will know what country it represents upon seeing it. This will allow us to know the importance and significance of the Merlion.

Having a national icon will allow people to have a sense of belonging of the country. They would be bonded with this icon as whenever foreigners were to ask about that particular country, the people will definitely show them their national icon and sayit proudly that this icon represents us and everyone else in this country. Same goes to us, having Merlion as a national icon, though it looks unrealistic and maybe wierd and strange to some people, it still represents a nation and people living in this nation.

With the above information, I believe I have gathered the appropriate informations to prove Merlion is our national icon. Though there might be other infomations and evidence but I think this is sufficient enough. If we make Merlion as our icon, whenever there's foreigners visiting Singapore, the first item we will introduce to them would be the Merlion, to show it represents us. I think in order to adopt the Merlion as our national icon, Merlions should be should as souvenirs to the tourists and Merlion park should be a must go tourists attractions to let them know about the Merlions.

In conclusion, I think Merlion would make the best national icon for Singapore.

Blog work

Tang Dynasty was the golden age of China and one of its factor was the strong military force. Emperor Xuanzong discarded the policy of conscripting soldiers that were replaced every three years, replacing them with long-service soldiers who were more battle-hardened and efficient. Though it was more economically feasible , since training new recruits and sending them out to the frontier every three years drained the treasury, but this caused the military force during Tang Dynasty to be strong. A strong country will not suffer defeat easily when attacked and thus economies will not be affected.

Mr Lee was like this ruler as he built Sungapore from a third world country to a first world country and he also strengthened Singapore's military force. He appointed Goh Keng Swee as Minister for Interio and Defence to build up the SAF and requested help from other countries for advice on training and facilities. Mr Lee then introduced National Service (NS) which all Able-bodied males at age 18 needs to serve at. This is to make sure Singapore is always ready to prepare for the unexpected. With strong military force, occurrence of crime will also be low and thus making Singapore a safe country. Being a safe country will allow foreigners to come here, be it tourists or business men. This allowed Singapore to gain profit from tourism and businesses, thus making Singapore in its "golden age".

Reflection about Suzhou industrial park

China's modernisation drive gained momentum in the late 1980s, many Chinese delegations visited Singapore as its a nation that achieved notable economic success within 30 years of independence. The Chinese visitors were eager to learn modern management methods from Singapore and Singapore was also planning Economic Regionalization which focused on overseas investment. In 1992, the idea of developing a modern industrial township with Singapore experience was broached. 

Thus, after rounds of discussions, both governments decided to join hands in developing a modern industrial park in the east of Suzho, which is Suzhou Industrial Park. However, there was a scandal about Suzhou new district where the architectures are almost the same as SIP. Singapore has suffered a great loss but China did not suffer much loss. As the Suzhou city government had only a minority (35%) stake in the SIP, they had a major stake in SND, the city government largely ignored SIP and concentrated on promoting the SND instead. I think it's was quite a shock for Singapore. Since both governments have come to an agreement and yet it seems China did not fulfill it. Apparently, China is not the same as Singapore. The higher rank people might have ordered the lower rank people to do certain things but obeying or not will depend on them. Everything in China will be related to " Guan xi", relationships between each other. I think it was a good lesson for Singapore as we now know certain things is not the same as how it works in Singapore.

But now, after the scandal, the Singapore consortium lowered its stake to 35 percent, raising the Chinese consortium's stake to 65 percent from 35 percent. After making these changes, they earned their first profit in 2001. I think Singapore will be able to earn more profits from now on as we already learned our lesson from the scandal. 

Reflection on presentation

I think that this assignment is a good experience for me. When I was preparing my presentation, I was very confident with my content. I think that I can do well this time and practiced many times in front of mirrors and family members. I have stage fright so the presentation assignment was a great deal for me. When I saw my classmates presenting so confidently, I became more and more nervous, it became more and more scary for me. So when I had my speech, I was very scared and I stammered throughout the presentation. I think it was badly done and was depressed. But after this assignment, I did better in my English presentation. I was not as scared as I was for CID presentation. I think after some experience will help me overcome my stage fright little by little. I felt relieved after my presentation.

I think all my other classmates did better than me. They were confident and did not stammer much. They do not seem scared or anything but presented leisurely. I actually hope that I can be as confident as them. But I think if I can do more presentation and speech, I might be able to overcome my stage fright. I think this type of assignment will be very useful for me.

Comments on Group 3

Group three is very creative, they think of the broom as a multi-purpose broom with magical functions though some are unrealistic. They presented it with a skit which is quite enjoyable for me. It is not so messy and very clear and easy to understand. The members are loud enough to be heard clearly.(I sit at the last row)

What I like is that this group seem quite confident and they are very natural with their skit. The speaker is very fluent and the product they are promoting sounds quite convincing.

However, I think they should improve the assigning of speaker. Some of them only spoke a few lines or nothing at all. They should not just let a few people to do the majority of the presentation.

Reflection of China's economic growth

I think that China's economic growth and opening up of their country to international trade will allow China to gain more profit as there will be more trade and businesses opportunities. There are many countries want to trade with China since China is a big country and their corporate tax rate is one of the lowest which lead to many chances for gaining more profit. With more trading partners, China's economic growth will be even higher. There will also be more employment between countries and this will decrease the amount of unemployed citizens and increase the GDP per capita. China will also be able to improve their bilateral ties between other countries as there are interactions with each other. However, with higher economic growth and more businesses, there will be more factories and industrialization which will result in pollution. The PSI in China is very high with 100 as normal. Many citizens were sick and some children even die of lung cancers due to the polluted air they breathe in. 

The possible implications on Singapore is Singapore will have more businesses as we can trade with one more country which is China. There will be more proft for Singapore and also be able to form friendship between the two countries. Singapore is also able to set up businesses in China and by doing so, there will be more jobs available for the unemployed citizens as they can go to China to work. Since China has strong economic growth, they are very trustable and Singapore can sell products to China's market. 

In conclusion, with the economic growth in China, there will be many countries willing to work with China and trade when China opens up to international trade. It is profitable not only for China but to other countries as well. But China should also think about their environment. With more money but resulting in citizens getting unhealthy is not good.

Dwindling population in Singapore

My prediction:

If the population growth in Singapore continues to decline, I predict that in the future, the population of the elderly will be much higher than the younger generation. This will in turn cause the economic growth of Singapore to decline as the efficiency of work will also decline. This is because with lesser younger people but more elderly, there are lesser people working, which results in lesser man power in Singapore since the elderly needs retirement. Furthermore, Singapore is a busy trading port so man power is very important. In the worst case scenario, the port might come to a halt or jammed. So if the population growth in Singapore continues to decline, this will affect Singapore greatly in terms of economic growth.

Singapore can give bonus money for those who give birth since most of the citizen's excuse was not enough money to give birth. The government can welcome more foreigners to work at Singapore so that there will be no worries in lack of man power. Singapore can also educate the young generations and develop them to have a successful career and contribute for the country. 

Poverty in Singapore

Source: http://yoursdp.org/Population/poverty.png

Reflection:

In this picture, these people pick cardboard sand o not have a proper place to sleep at. I think their main income is from selling the card boards and other rubbish. Most of them are th elderly. It was actually a shock to me as Singapore is a prosperous country and its actually quite rare to see people who does not have a proper place to sleep at. To me, poverty in Singapore means your income is small but you are still able to have a proper place to rest and sleep. 

I have read a report online. It says that in Singapore, poor means people who earns less than $3000. But at year 2002, it means people who earns less than $1000. The poverty rate in Singapore has increased. Furthermore, if Singapore were to compare to other high-income countries, Singapore may be the richest country but we also have the highest poverty rate among them. I initially thought that poverty rate in Singapore should be low since Singapore is so prosperous. But after I researched about poverty in Singapore, the result is actually a shock to me. I realized that I have been oblivious to the society in Singapore. But i also realizes that the definition of poverty in Singapore and other countries is different. For example, in Singapore, people considered poor are those earning less than $3000. But in Africa, the definition of poverty would means people lack of basic human needs such as food and water. However, these people still needs help. I think that if possible, we should help them whenever we are.

Sources

http://thehearttruths.com/2013/10/28/poverty-in-singapore-grew-from-16-in-2002-to-28-in-2013/

Life experience:

Sometime, I would see people performing while begging for money and they are mostly disabled. Some sell tissue paper and snacks. Once there is a man in wheelchair selling 4Ds. A woman took pity of him and give him a $2 note. The man, instead of being grateful, he threw the money away and shouted at the lady for looking down at him. I realized that even though they are poor and their income is low, they have pride and do not want to be looked down at.

December Holiday reflection

For my December holiday, I spent majority of the days at home eating snacks and watching anime. But on 5/12/14, I went to AFA(anime festival asia) with Shi hui and Gloria. It was held at Suntec city convention hall annually.

On that day, I was very excited. We meet up early in the morning so that we do not have to queue for a long time for the tickets. It was very fun and everything was new to me since it's my first time going. There are lots of cosplayers and I took photo with them. They look awesome and cool. I also met a famous voice actor for an anime I like and it was an unforgettable experience. Furthermore, there was DJ called DJ TEKINA//SOMETHING aka Yuyoyuppe from Japan and the atmosphere was very high and exciting. But it's a bit disappointing as there were no cafés this year. It was a tiring day but fun and I bought a lot of souvenirs.

That day was very memorable, it feels magical to see all those anime characters to come to 'life'. I hope to go there again next year with my friends.

~yizhi