SWEEPS

Reflections for OELP

Monday, 23 June 2014 | 03:13 | 0 comments

Reflections for 25/5/2014

Today it was exciting siting on the high speed rail for the "first time", actually I rode on it before but I forgot all about it. It really was fast. When we reached He Fei, we had a very bad traffic jam there and I even saw two car accidents in such a short period of time. The traffic in China is far from Singapore, Singapore traffic is very orderly but China's one is just in a mess. Also, the toilets in a restaurant we went to for lunch had no toilet door. The food there was pretty horrible too. However I liked the 三河古镇 tour, it was really very informative and historical. I learnt about the famous people in Anhui who made a difference to China, and I feel that I have learnt a lot. However perhaps we should not move from one place to another so quickly, my feet felt like cramping around the time when the journey ended. I liked the figurines of people that appears sometimes in the wooden stores, because they looked so real I initially thought that they were real people. Their actions also suggested the type of lifestyle they have in the past. The dinner was awesome compared to lunch and the environment is much better.

Reflections for 26/5/2014

Today we went to Hefei No. 45 Middle School and I had a really really nice experience. There were more than 60 students in each class and all of them were really bonded, proactive and friendly. When we walked in, we were greeted with this friendly atmosphere. Their school was really different from ours as they only had three levels, each class had more than 60 people and their level had a lot more classes than us. We had six levels, and each class had around 30 students. Their school did not have a canteen, they had a 2 hour lunch break I which they go home and eat their lunch. I personally think that this is better as it ensures that there is time to eat. Their school normally does not have much CCA activities, but their lessons are until around 7pm. There were bells in their school, which reminds the teachers when to stop the lesson. After each lesson, there will be a little break and everyone will run to their friends and start chatting. When the bell rings again, it means that the next lesson is going to begin and they all settle down. Sometimes over the speaker there will be an exercise that students do by rubbing their nose bridge and temple, etc. This makes them feel a little more energized. The students were also really enthusiastic in lessons. Whenever a teacher asks a question, they will immediately try to compete with each other by answering first. However sadly to say in Singapore, whenever the teacher asks a question, the students won't be so proactive and there will be a long silence and then someone speaks. In worst cases, the questions will not even be answered. The students were also very attentive during their lessons. When I felt like dozing off during the math lesson, all the other students were listening attentively and were even taking notes. Thus I feel that their school is way different from our school. Another thing that was different was the toilets. My teachers recommended us to go and visit the toilets because they were really an "eye-opener".

5 Things I Love About RV

1. Clean toilets

2. Teachers that are not that loud

3. Beautiful architecture

4. Many facilities

5. Classmates that speak English

Reflections for 27/5/2014

Today we went to Anhui Museum. There was a tour guide there to teach us about the exhibitions and I didn't get much of the things she was saying as she said them to fast. However I managed to make some sense of what she was saying and piece them together. She told us about the ancient pots they used to use. We also learnt about the 文房四宝 in Chinese History which were used to write in the olden days. The trip to Anhui Museum was quite fun. Due to the change in plans, we did not go to Hefei No. 45 Middle School again. Instead we went to China Intangible Cultural Heritage Park where I witnessed something that was horrifying. As an animal lover, I was horrified to see animals being forced to fight and getting beaten. I saw roosters fighting, their feathers flying all over the place. It was really terrifying to see animals getting injured just for the entertainment for the audience. Actually, we as the audience were not even entertained, we were more like horrified to see animals being treated and tortured like that.

CSI (Anhui Museum):

Colour: Bronze

Symbol: Square tiles that look like mazes

Image: On the outside of the Anhui Museum Building

Animals Mistreating:

I feel sad for these animals. They were just born to fight just for entertainment, they get injured, their feathers fly, they might even get killed just for our entertainment. However to put it frankly we weren't very impressed. During the dog race, one can see that the dog was underweight, which means that they were forced to build up stamina while starving. These animals were really pitiful, they have to train to run everyday. Imagine ourselves being them, not getting enough food, starving but are even forced to run many many meters. Wouldn't you be really sad? Next we went to see the circus and it was just as terrifying. The lions and tigers were getting beaten to do some lame tricks like rolling over and they can't do anything about it. They cannot escape from that hell. Even though I think of it as that way, maybe there's another side to that story. Maybe the people training and torturing those animals didn't want this to happen too, but they cannot quit this job as it's their only way of living. I think I judged these people too impulsively. This also had made me realise the difference between Singapore and China. In Singapore, something like this is against the law but in China it's not.

Reflections for 28/5/2014

Today was the day everyone was anticipating for in the trip. We were going to climb the famous HuangShan. I guess most of the class knew and heard about the beauty of that mountain. When I first received the news and told my mum that our class was going to Anhui, she asked my dad, "isn't HuangShan in Anhui?" My dad answered yes. I was curious too, as in the senior's presentation, they said that they went to climb that mountain. So, I asked my mum what was so special about that mountain. My mum told me that it was one of the most beautiful mountains in China, and possibly the world. She also told me this phrase that people use to describe HuangShan's scenic beauty,"五岳归来不见山, 黄山归来不看岳”. Basically, China has five really beautiful mountains. This phrase says that if you go to those five mountains, then you no longer have the need to see any more mountains. However if you go to HuangShan, you no longer need to see those five mountains. It means that HuangShan is basically the best of the best. When I confirmed that I was going to HuangShan, my mum was actually jealous of me. Thus I was really really excited to see the famous HuangShan everyone loved. The beauty of that mountain didn't let me down. HuangShan was by far the most beautiful mountain I have seen (actually might have been the only mountain I saw, I forgot) and it's scenery at the summit really takes one's breath away. We immediately forgot about the ache in our legs, and everyone must have thought that it was worth it. Seeing the actual HuangShan was nothing like seeing the pictures of it, and one will truly admire the beauty of HuangShan. I wouldn't mind living at the submit and stare at the mountain all day, but the mosquitos there were too irritating. The smooth rocks were really a sight to behold. Our geography teacher should have been there. That was too bad. Anyway, the beauty of HuangShan can neither be described in words nor by pictures. I would recommend everyone I know to go up there. It really takes one's stress away just like that. The air there is really fresh too. I hope that one day, I'll visit that mountain again.

Reflections for 29/5/2014

Today we woke up super early to see the sun rise on the mountain. To say the truth, it wasn't really anything. I mean, the place where we watched the sun rise was really squeezy with all those other tourists and our whole class. To me, it was just like seeing an orange ball in the dark sky. However, climbing that mountain worked me up in a sweat and I was wide awake after a while. I felt that there was no need for a windbreaker as it was rather hot to me. Even though the sunrise was not as beautiful as I had expected it to be, it was still beautiful. (It's a sunrise, so naturally it's really beautiful) once the sun was high up in the sky, we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep. I couldn't sleep, though, so I played in the hotel room. In the later part of the day, we went to 宏村 where we saw many ancient buildings. We also saw people actually living in those buildings their whole lives, shocking. I wouldn't be able to live in that building that is so humid and dusty and stuff. I admire those people. Actually I didn't really learn anything there, I feel that we just kept going through rooms that looks the same as there were glasses and paintings and tables and chairs in each room. Everything looked like a maze. I couldn't understand what the tour guide was saying though. Perhaps it will be a good idea if we hire one that speaks Chinese and one that speaks English or just translates the important things? Because some people like me are really bad at Chinese and just can't understand a single word.

Reflections for 30/5/2014

Today we went to lots of different places. Which is to me, more rooms of paintings and vases and tables and chairs and archways that don't look any different. And like yesterday I didn't understand anything, with the exception of the Tangyue Archways as I researched about it for presentation and the story behind each archway was translated into English on a board beside each archway. It's a good form of praising someone, though. I'd like to have one built for me, but I don't think I did anything really outstanding and helpful in this thirteen and a half years of my life. Oh well, I'm still young. For the nigh lecture, I kind of slept through a good quarter of it. I was really tired running from place to place during the day. However, I am proud to say that I understand quite a bit of the lecture, and I took down notes. What troubles me is that the lecturer keeps saying hard work hard work hard work. Hard work will give you good results. It will get you far. I don't know how many times I've heard this. This is true, but I came to OELP to let go some of my stress. I wanted to relax. However, I feel irritated about hearing this kind of stuff when I want to have fun. I mean, give me a break, I don't want to hear the same thing over and over again, 365 days a year. So I was a little irritated there. The hotel we sleep in was scary. It was circular.😱

Reflections for 1/5/2014

Today we went to shop. I initially thought it will be fun, but it was not as fun as I had expected. I ended up only buying red tea and green tea, but I was nevertheless still quite satisfied. My father told me to buy some tea when I went to Anhui as he was a tea lover. I think he was quite happy with the tea I brought back home. Next, we went to the West Lake. The tour guide said that that place was the place where many love stories were formed, and that you will have a +50% chance of the girl of your dreams excepting your marriage proposal if you proposed there. However, I think it just looks like a normal lake. Maybe I can't appreciate the beauty of the lake. We took a boat ride and the tour guide said that the water was just 1.5m deep. If that were so, I wondered, why do we need life jackets, we could just stand up normally and at least our nose will be above water. The tour guide later answered the question in my head that even though the water was not deep, the mud is deep and could sink. Well, that explains it. After exploring around the area, we hopped on the bus to the airport, ready to go back home. I was torn between feelings of happiness and regret as we approached the airport. I was happy to be able to go home at last, where there were clean toilets and loving parents. But at the same time, I wanted to travel around China again with my friends forever. Living in hotels, having fun, not needing to do homework, forgetting about stress, a carefree time. However we had to go back, and I dreaded the sleepless days of stress and exams ahead of me. On the bright side, shortly after, the December Holidays will be coming when we can totally relax again.

Done by:

Shen Yang (16)

Reflection!:D

reflection page

The Beijing National Stadium, also known as the bird's nest to many, was built for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The architectural structure, is not only an arena for the opening and closing ceremony along with other sports events, it also symbolizes as a glory to the Chinese. After being thought as lagging behind in many aspects as a country, China is finally able to prove its ability that they are on par with the others, through this well-designed arena and the arena's ability to withstand major shocks as Beijing is one of the most active seismic zones in the world. The arena design is not only able to showcase the country's modern side but also able to incorporate traditional beliefs into it. The circular shape of the stadium represents 'heaven', while the adjacent square form of the National Aquatics Center (Water Cube), is a reflection of the Chinese symbol for Earth. The harmony between heaven and earth is displayed through the design of the infrastructure. Their innovative ability to incorporate modern design and traditional ideals can be a great lesson for all of us.

Wang Kexin (21) 2E

Great Wall Of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger, are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. However, little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall are from the Ming Dynasty.

The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn period between the 8th and 5th centuries BC. During this time and the subsequent Warring States period, the states of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from rammed earth, stones, and wood. This is to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears. During the Ming Dynasty, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime, and stone. The size and weight of the bricks made them easier to work with than earth and stone, so construction quickened. The Great Wall of China is very spectacular, thus making it a must go to all tourists in China. However, there is a misconception that the Great Wall of China can be seen from space. No matter how big or great it is, we can never see it when in space. Although I personally did not see the Great Wall of China before, I believe that everyone should take a look at it because it has remained since Ancient China and has a lot of historical records. Thus I think that everyone should go and enjoy the view, as I guarantee that it will be a mermorable experience. In fact, the next time I go to China during the holidays with my family, I'll be sure to drop by and take a look at the Great Wall of China😁

Shen Yang (16)

兵马俑

The Terracotta Army, commonly known as the 兵马俑 or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses", is world renowned collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife, it took 11 years to finish this spectacular masterpiece. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his afterlife.

The figures, dating from around the late third century BC, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. They vary in height according to their roles, the tallest being the generals. These wonders consist of warriors, chariots and horses. It is estimated that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians.

It is believed that these sculptures were made ordered by Qin shi Huang to accompany him on his journey afterlife, after his death.

There are four main pits associated with the terracotta army, located about 1.5 km east of the burial mound, approximately 7 metres deep. The army is placed as if to protect the tomb from the east, where all the Qin Emperor's conquered states reside. Pit one, 230 metres long 62 metres wide, contains the main army of more than 6,000 figures of ferocious looking soldiers. It has 11 corridors, most of which are over 3 metres wide, paved with small bricks with a wooden ceiling supported by large beams and posts. This design was similarly used for the tombs of noblemen and would have resembled palace hallways. The wooden ceilings were blanketed with reed mats and layers of clay for waterproofing, and then mounded with more soil making them, when built, about 2 to 3 metres higher than ground level. Pit two has cavalry and infantry units as well as war chariots, thought to represent a military guard. Pit three is the command post, with high-ranking officers and a war chariot. Pit four is empty, seemingly left unfinished by its builders.

What confounds people the most about this amazing discovery made by farmers at the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province in 1974 was the facial variation of the soldiers in the terra cotta army. Examined closely, almost every facial variation of modern Chinese man can be found amongst the warrior figures. Out of great astonishment, some people may guess the artisans practiced divination, by which they could predict the appearance of Chinese people living over 2,000 years later. Every facial expression of each warrior differs, there are no two warriors in the whole army that shares the same feature.

To me, I felt greatly amazed and awestruck when I learnt about this incredible architecture hand made, moulded back in the Qin dynasty. It took great work, and much sacrifice to come up with such amazong craftwork, even the minor, little details like the depressions on every soldier's face was carefully handled and made. It would by highly impossible for me to even make a single soldier by myself, I would have messed up terribly even at the start. Thus, I truly admire the craftsmanship of the builders who built this terra cotta army, they inspire me greatly by the determination, hardworking value and perseverance they have put into assembling this majestic burial.

In a nutshell, the terra cotta army has become a large part, a major constituent in China's interminable history, it is nearly impossible for one, including me, to miss out on this large, wonderful part of it.

Tan Jing Wen (19)

Beijing olympic stadium

The stadium reflects the event played host to both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 29th Olympic Games in 2008 as well as the game's track and field events.the stadium also reflected that extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years,to get to host the olympic.The "Bird's Nest" National was designed to embody the Olympic spirit of "fair competition". According to china,It tells people that freedom is possible but needs fairness, courage and strengths.The spectacular Bird's Nest stadium also hail pas the finest arena in the world and the centrepiece of the most expensive Olympics in history, is full of hidden symbolism.

In Chinese mythology, the sun is represented by a circle and the moon by a square, reflected by the shape of the bird's nest and the Water Cube aquatic centre opposite, reinforced when the venues are lit at night, red for the Bird's Nest and blue for the Water Cube.The shapes also echo the Chinese symbols for male and female, and are built either side of the north-south axis road which runs in a perfect straight line for three miles through Beijing, centred on the Forbidden City and china believe that this stadium is designed to last for 100 years and withstand a force eight magnitude earthquakes.I learn that from the way the stadium is built, there is no room for gatecrashing,

Charlotte lim

Tiananmen Car Blaze Reflection(BaoBin)

It was concluded that it was a suicide attack by people from the Uighur group which is known for their 'terrorist' attacks in XinJiang. This incident showed me the inner conflict building up in China for religious differences.This means to China that its at a tipping point and any further incidents would cause a riot or a cold war. We can see that the terrorist purposely targeted the Tiananmen due to its sensitivity in politics and many tourist visits the place. The terrorist know that it would immediately generate a lot of discussion in China as well in overseas news agencies. This brings back the dark history of the location famous for attracting protests.We can learn that religious dispute in a country can deeply affect the welfare and safety of the country negatively, we should put against religious differences and grow as a country instead of having inner conflicts.This rings a bell for the China government to start clearing up the existing hatred circulated China to prevent further incidents.

BaoBin(30)

Our Product!

1)Over the past 3weeks,I learnt many interesting things,and also looking forward to May when we can go for our OELP trip which I feel would help me bond with my class.Anyways back to the subject.The most valuable CID lesson so far was the picture of the vulture and the child.This picture describes how the vulture is waiting for the hungry child to starve till her death.Upon seeing how weak that child is and how skinny she was,it made me feel guilty and sad at the same time.It wasn't her fault that she has to born and to have to starve to death. In the picture, she was crouching on the ground as she is too weak to stand on her feet.This particular picture made me pity her a lot.I also felt guilty as I realised how fortunate I am to be able to have food and shelter everyday,but yet I neglected it as I tend to waste food.I was born into a family to who cares and feed me but that child didn't do any wrong so why isn't she as fortunate as me.It isn't fair that he has to suffer.....

2)I choose the colour red as the colour red in Chinese culture usually means good luck. So like the red packet which is given every Chinese New Year, it is a symbol of good luck in the coming.Red also symbolises enthusiasm,joy,fortune as well as fervor. As depicted in the picture, the borders of the red are darker in colour, which symbolises the past unhappiness I've suffered so far. The brighter shade of red resembles me hoping for a better year coming for me as I await the Chinese New Year.

I chose this symbol as it signifies that good luck as prosperity's is coming in my way.The word 福is turned upside down as it means 到, so I am anticipating eagerly for good luck and prosperity to shower me with wealth of many aspects this coming year.

I chose the picture of an aeroplane as it let me have a feel as if I'm going to soar up in the sky and stand out in the crowd.It lemme remember that I will score with FLYING colours in my upcoming examinations.Charlotte

For the first lesson, we were introduced to CID2. We were supposed to start a blog that we will be using for the upcoming lessons.
For the second lesson, we learnt that a picture paints a thousand words. We were given two pictures of beggars, and were asked that if we had a hundred dollar bill, which beggar would we give. After learning the background of the beggars, I realised that looks can be deceiving. A beggar can carry a baby and ask for money from the people who pity them. I feel that if they have no handicap, they should find a job as I think that working pays more than begging. We also saw a picture of a vulture awaiting a girl's death so that it can devour her once she's dead. From that picture, I began to understand a little about how the outside world is really like. In Singapore, the people closest to beggars I see are the old uncles who sell tissue paper here and there or the people who play instruments, hoping that someone will give some money. I have never seen a beggar really begging in Singapore. Which means that there isn't much poverty in Singapore.
For the third lesson, we were supposed to have done the photo challenge (school spirit, life, fear, happiness) and we presented our photos to the class.

For the Colour, I choose blue as blue signifies peace, unity, loyalty, and confidence. I want my secondary two life to be peaceful and fun.

As for the symbol, I choose the peace sign because once again, I want a peaceful school life with more ups rather than downs. I just hope I can get pass this year without feeling so stressed that I want to die.

As for the picture, I chose new year food and ang bao. This is because that's the two things that we look forward to most on Chinese New Year. I hope I will get a lot of ang bao money and that I will get to eat very delicious food on Chinese New Year.

Looks so delicious😍😍😍

If I get a lot of money and save it, whenever I look at the amount of money in my bank account, I will feel very 爽.

Shen yang (16) 2E

Tan Jing Wen (19) 2E

1) During the past three weeks of CID lessons on Monday, I've picked up many meaningful and valuable lessons on life from Mr Wong. So far, we have learnt that for OELP trip, our class will either be heading for Taiwan or China during the OELP trip later in the year, and that during the trip, we have to observe the civilians' culture and their way of life. During the lessons, we have also familiarized ourselves with the expression, "a picture paints a thousand words". Now, I fully understand and appreciate this expression, and how we can actually use it as a guiding factor when we snap shots and pictures in the future, it will help make our pictures more enriching and meaningful in a certain way. People will view our pictures from different perspectives, from different angles, and have multiple views on a particular picture. It usually depends on the attitude and how they view it, positively or negatively. To me, I feel that to get a clearer view of a particular situation, we don't actually have to crane our necks and strain our eyes to fully understand the situation, we can just simply put ourselves in the shoes of the other characters involved in the situation, and view the situation from their perspectives, their point of views. We should all learn to do this, so as to understand the other party's position and mindset during conflicts in the near future, so that we could resolve them amicably and friendly, perhaps even becoming more knowledgeable from the conflict, becoming more open-minded about things in our lives. So, after reading the stories of the characters in the pictures, I've learnt that we have to understand the picture's background and the person's history before coming to a conclusion of that person. That lesson has also taught me not to judge a book by its cover, and that looks can be deceiving. That lesson has already achieved its goal- to understand the importance looking beyond just what is on the surface during reflection. On our last lesson, we had to sharpen our observation skills and observe the people and happenings going around in our school. We also had to do a presentation on the pictures we chose that depicted school spirit, happiness, fear and life to our classmates. To take those shots, we even had to focus on the factual descriptions, process description and emotional descriptions of the people taken in our pictures. I really enjoyed myself while my classmates were presenting their pictures, because I really like meaningful things, and most of their pictures had a story and description that fit those shots perfectly. Lastly, the entire cohort of year twos went on a learning journey to watch the incredible Chingay preview yesterday ( 25th Jan ) to observe and appreciate the performances put up by the performers who spent much time and effort training and preparing for the show. I had a whale of a time yesterday cheering for them with my classmates and teacher and a few supportive seniors, and wallowed in the vast amounts of happiness that day. Personally, I felt that it was a good three weeks spent during the CID lessons taught by our teachers, and I look forward to the upcoming ones. I sincerely believe that all of us would improve in character development from this course and become more patriotic Singaporeans who have various perceptions on things in the future. I express my gratitude to all the teachers who have done so much for us. :)

The colour gold is the perfect colour to describe my feelings, as it is the colour of success, achievement and triumph. Gold is associated with abundance and prosperity, luxury, prestige, value and elegance, and the psychology if this colour, gold, implies affluence, material wealth and extravagance. This bright and cheery colour represents the optimism bubbling inside me, adding a ray of hope for me as I look forward to a smooth and shiny year ahead of me. Good is a magnificent colour, and I wish that my life would be led as well as the way this colour stands out among the others. To me, it is a beacon of light and hope in search of a better life this year, and a chance for me to pour away all of the unhappiness I've experienced before.

Sonten represents the divinity, the unity (triangle) expressing itself through the three fundamental Qualities of Being: Love, Intelligence and Power (Love, Light and Strength – the circles), a symbol that stimulates in the human being the awareness of the connection between human and divine. This symbol can also be used for restoring balance and wholeness in case of confusion and emotional instability or in case of negative energetical influences. I wish to gain all three qualities that this symbol has, anticipate for the Chinese New Year and express more love and care for all those around me in this new year to come.

Anticipating the rain to fall, crashing down to the ground for the very last time, so that I'll be able to see the colours of the rainbow once more. Troubles, please be gone as the year passes, because I'm currently hoping and praying for a wonderful year heading toward me to replace you.

In the past three weeks, we had three CID lessons in total. During the first lesson, we formed groups, in which we will be working together for preparation for the OELP trip. We were briefed on what we will be expected at the end of the module, and what we will experience during the trip. The homework that was assigned for us was to set up a group blog, and to post our reflections on how our holidays were spent on it. The next lesson, had much more in content as we were introduced to the beggars of other countries, and was given a scenario of two beggars and who will we choose to help. The teacher also showed us a picture of a starving child on the brink of death while a vulture awaits to eat it. We had to complete a reflection for this lesson, researching on poverty in Singapore, and taking photos of our school life in RV (photo challenge) The third lesson, we had a mini test for our observation skills of our classmates. Our group also presented our Photo Challenge to the class.

The lesson I learnt from this module thus far, was about the poverty of Singapore. If I had not done research on it, I would never realize that there is actually quite a high percentage of Singaporeans under the poverty range, I would also not be aware of some of theirs situations and the government's effort to help them. It was an opportunity for me to know them, and to be grateful for the things he things that I have.

Wang Kexin (21)

I chose the colour maroon as it is the darker shade of red, which is the acknowledged auspicious colour by the Chinese. Red also indicates my excitement for the new year. The darker shade represents the little bit of sadness that I am feeling as I will not be able have a reunion dinner with my brother and other relatives.

This symbol represents a year and the end of it. For the Chinese, the Chinese New Year indicates the end of the previous year and a start of a brand new one, and many often say putting a full stop to the past year. For me, a year is also like a cycle, starting and ending on the same date.

I chose this image because i feel that every year is a journey on a road to discover new things, be it knowledge or others things. The end cannot be seen and you will not know how long it will, what will happen and what will be gained at the end of it. You will only find out when you have the courage to take a step to venture it.

Wang Kexin (21)

During the past three weeks CID lesson. We were first introduced to this new CID lesson plan and settled the administrative stuff. The second lesson was more interesting as we learned about pictures being able to tell a thousand words. The activity was very engaging and I was shocked to see how our perception of a image might horribly stray from the truth. This taught me a valuable lesson such as what we initially perceive is not necessarily the truth. We carried on with the next lesson looking thru friends blogs as they present their assignment to the class.

CHINESE NEW YEARRR!

AngPao are red and they are coming!

Time to receive hong pao money

Traffic jams when traveling back to Malaysia

One may think that there is no poverty or beggars present in Singapore. It is true that there not many who plainly sit and beg for money, but scenes of less fortunate people begging for money by playing musical instruments, selling packets of tissue paper are not unfamiliar. We may often see the elderly or the disabled doing the above to earn a living for themselves, it is a way for them to make ends meet.

Still, they are not the only people who have financial issues here in Singapore. Many others are struggling to provide for their families, trying their hardest to provide enough food for the family, to pay the school fees of their children and their bills. It really is difficult to accept the fact that 26% of us Singaporeans can actually earn less than $1000 a month. However, as compared to some countries, beggars begging for food in Singapore, are counted as little. In certain countries, one can possibly espy beggars lining up the streets or even people dying due to starvation. Governments are aiding these needy by giving them scholarships, or through other mediums, but it definitely is impossible to reach out to the whole group of them. The rest depend on the more well-off to earn money, or earn a living from being street artists, as stated above. We might be unwilling to give our hard-earned wealth to such people in need of ours, some even question their true source of income. I do not think that that is a very sensible thing to do, as it may insult the other party. No one on this planet would choose to stoop so low just to make such cheap money. Some of these people might be con men trying to cheat us of our money, so we should also think twice before doing so in such situations. Such mentality of ours might result in people who are really in need of our money to suffer the inability to buy a meal to stave their hunger. We are all humans, all of the same kind. I feel that all of us should have the heart to lend a helping hand to these less fortunate people, helping them out if it is within our means. One act of kindness could possibly make a difference between life and death of a person. In a nutshell we should open our heart out to these poor people, and express more care and concern toward them.

Holiday reflection

Tan Jing Wen (19) 2E

I had quite an enjoyable time during the end-of-year holidays, especially when I was with my family most of the time. This holiday enables me to strengthen my relationships with each family member, spending some quality time with them. To me, family is the most important factor in our life. Without them, life wouldn't probably so fulfilling and wonderful today.

Even though I did not travel overseas during the holidays last year, I had quite an amazing time here in Singapore as we had a lot to do over this period of time. On the 8th November, I sat for my grade 6 ballet examinations and had the same, the highest grade in my class. In December, I took my erhu grading exam ( grade 2 ) with Vesy, Kexin and Jia Rong. During the exam, something really unfortunate happened. I went into the examination room before Vesy did, and greeted the examiner before playing my grading pieces. Halfway through the first piece, I realised that there was this tiny green insect on my left hand and I got quite a shock, I think the examiner noticed me furtively blowing my left hand while playing the piece. Anyway I made a mistake for that piece as I was trying to shake it off my hand but to no avail and it finally came off when I ended the song. I was really annoyed then that that green insect caused me to make a mistake for that piece, but it has also taught me something valuable- not to get easily distracted.

My holidays were more than just examinations, of course, I spent the rest of the time shifting house. From Clementi to Boon Lay, the condominium Summerdale which is right next to my school. I really appreciate all that my family has sacrificed for me, just to let me stay near the school for my own convenience. We spent almost two months packing up and settling down, and I hardly had enough time to do my revision for school. It was really quite a tiring experience for me, but it was an enjoyable and meaningful one as I get to do this with my loves ones. This is my third time shifting house. I guess I'm a really lucky person to get such privileges to have such a nice and warm family, to get to live so near to the school, and one whose parents are able to provide for.

During mid November, my sister's friend, Celestina, her sister, my sister and I went to ion orchard for a shopping trip. We headed straight for the cinema to book our tickets which were priced at $7.50 each. After buying our tickets, we headed for TCC to have our lunch. We all laughed and giggled unnecessarily for no good reason at all, and it was rather awkward the entire time. However, we shared stories during our lunch, on our school lives. After having our delectable lunch at TCC, we rushed all the way to Daiso which was at the neighbouring mall to buy some snacks to eat during the movie, before heading back to the cinema to watch The Desolation of Smaug at the cinema. We ended our day on a happy note, waving o each other as we started on our journey home.

One of the immensely fun times I had was when my parents' secondary school friends came to our new home for a housewarming gathering, we barbecued with Samson, Samuel, Bryan and Brenton. Even though they were all of the opposite gender, we had a really enjoyable time together. We played games of catch, monkey, and hula hoops together. My dad encouraged me to drink a whole bottle of liquor and I did, and I also had to help my mum's friend to finish her bottle too.Samuel who was fifteen that year, was forced to drink red wine and we all laughed when he did. All in all, we spent the entire night laughing and eating, sharing our life experiences with each other. I really hope to see my new found friends again soon since we got on so well that night. The party ended at 11.50pm that night, I could still remember when the guests left. I felt really bloated and warm after drinking all that liquor, and went straight to bed after clearing up with my family members.

A few days later, we celebrated Christmas with our maternal cousins, all thirteen younger than me, not considering my two younger sisters. We swam in the pool and ate 8 large slices of pizza for lunch, and played numerous exciting games together in the living room. We exchanged Christmas gifts and watched Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters together, and spent much time chatting animatedly and sipping coke even though we gather together every Saturday at our grandparents' house. I love my cousins, especially the younger ones, two of whom are four this year, ten years younger than me. We took many many pictures, and ate log cake during the party. That party was also considered one of my favourite days during the holidays.

In a nutshell, my holidays last year was a really interesting one, and I've realised how much my family meant to me. We are just like magnets, forever attracted to each other. Nothing will ever be able to break the strong ties and bonds that bind us together, no matter how strong those forces are. Wherever we are, we could still have so much fun together, feeling the warmth and joy each one can bring. Family is my top priority, as long as we're together, I feel happy and content.

I CID Holidays Reflections:

That December Holidays was one of the worst holidays I ever had. Firstly, I had to go to CCA every Tuesdays n Fridays until mid-November. It's not that I don't like my CCA or anything, it's just that in my primary school we didn't need to go back to school for CCA and it was my first year so I wasn't really used to it. But because of that I had to balance between CCA, homework and fun. In primary school, there wasn't homework during the holidays too. I wish I was back in primary school TT^TT... I didn't go overseas too. I could've gone if I wanted too, but I didn't want to go china because I was scared that I couldn't finish my homework.

For many many days I was alone at home because my mum n dad had to work n my bro had to go to school for some random reason which I don't know. I think he's hanging out wif he friends on some days and having CCA on the other days. I didn't go to anywhere nice during the December Holidays except for Gardens by the Bay. But that was a disaster also. It was my fault because I forgot that I had CCA on that day and we were supposed to go somewhere by bus. However I forgot all about it and went to Gardens by the Bay with my family and halfway throughout, I checked my phone and realised that I had ten missed calls from my CCA teacher and my CCA mates. Then i read a message by my teacher saying,"where are you? We r all waiting for u at the foyer. Are u late or something?" Then I remembered that I had to go to CCA n I face palmed. This is all true, by the way. At the next CCA session I got scolded by my teacher for making everyone wait for me. So to sum it up nothing good happened to me during the holidays TT^TT. THE END

Gardens By the Bay:

Shen Yang (16) 2E

CID reflections

My holiday was the same like how it is every year. At the beginning of the holidays I spent most of my time doing all my school homework. At first, I was really frustrated with the amount of homework I had to do, however, after I had completed all my homework, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Best of all, I acquired new knowledge. I spent the second month which was December relaxing, performing and earning some allowances. I was invited to perform at Velocity Ice Skating Christmas show. This was my 4th year into the show. I was really excited and started to busy myself with choosing my music, cutting it, choreographing my own moves, shopping for costume, going for rehearsals and of course not forgetting, counting down to see my Australians and Canadian friends again. The day finally arrived and the most enjoyable part of my holiday began -3 weeks of performances!! I love performing and enjoyed the time when I smiled at the audience and they returned my smile. There are times when I was really tired but I still force a smile on my face and dance in front of the audience and I was rewarded when cute little kids started clapping and dancing along with me. In between shows, I enjoyed playing pranks backstage with my friends.Though they were all in their 20s,they are still very playful and childish which was good. For example,when I was backstage lying on the floor sleeping before my shows,they put ice on my neck to make me jump up. What I found was most memorable was how my friends, Colin and Zara together with me doing daring dance secretly behind the workers back. Though they got suspicious several times and we had to run into hiding behind walls before they caught our act, we still managed to complete our dance dare and capture all these in video. 3 weeks flew past and the night before they flew back to their own countries and I flew to Korea for holiday, we all cried really bad and hugged each other which was a so called 'tradition' every year. My holiday in Korea was great and I learnt a new skill - skiing. By the fifth day in the ski resort, I was skiing like a pro and venture to the intermediate slope. It was pretty funny to see my parents fell and fell as they could not control themselves. We took part in a ski competition too but I didn't win anything...We spent another 4 days shopping in Seoul but I didn't buy much stuff as I found the things pretty expensive. I did eat a lot of food though. I felt really bonded with my family and felt really happy to be able to spend so much time with them. I am really glad that even though this was just another ordinary school holiday, but I felt that this entire two months of holiday was a fulfilling one and I made good use of my time

Our dance dare:)

Skiing in Korea

This Colin Ratushiniak.He was the one that kept throwing ice at me He is a skating celebrity.I miss him a lot

This is Zara Pasfield:)I love her.Her father is a famous skater.I miss her

CID holiday reflection The year end holidays was surprising longer this time round. I was able to step out of constant studying and spend more times on family. Basically, this holiday was more of FAMILY than STUDY.

For the first two weeks, it's purely spending time with friends, now and then. I didn't touch a single piece of worksheet that two weeks and purely relaxed my mind and body.Closing to the start of November,my grandmother(from my Mum's side) visited Singapore and stayed in our house. Our family,together with our relatives in Singapore went over to the Singapore SEA Aquarium. The experience was splendid! We could view the fishes from enormous aquariums and even had the chance to touch starfishes.

After my grandma went back to Malaysia,we also visited my parents hometown in Malaysia too. The location and surroundings over there definitely isn't excellence compared to Singapore but having a new surroundings such as farms around you is always refreshing. There wasn't anything really special that we did,we just went around touring and went for dinner together with my grandparents.

One of the reason we went back to Malaysia was also the fact that we are celebrating the birthday of my grandmother (Mum's side). It was a huge celebration and almost all of my relatives turned up for it. It was fun having the company of cousins that I normally cannot meet in Singapore.

After the trip, I knew it was time to start my pile of homework, I created a checklist and promised to complete at least 2 assignment per week. Weekdays was probably completing worksheets,house chores and cleaning up. Weekends was reserved for family time :> There wasn't anything really exciting that we did during the holiday but overall it was amazing that I was able to compensate the time loss spending with my family due to rv's demanding school life. Hopefully 2014 would be a year where I can try and find more time for my family.

BaoBin(30)

CID Holiday Reflections

My December holidays was not as exciting as I hoped it would be, but nonetheless I still had a great time.

For the first few weeks I went to school to complete my Design and Technology project for the competition. The process was enjoyable but the journey from my house to school was really tedious. Summing up the whole journey, it took 2 hours. The results of my project was pretty satisfying.

Initially my family had wanted to go to China but decided not to as I had gone during the June holidays. My parents were not at home in the day so I spent the days alone, doing my homework and practicing my Erhu mainly. Everyday I prepared lunch for myself. From fruits to spaghetti, seaweed soup, noodles to kimchi fried rice. It was fun to cook my own meal but annoying when I had to think up the menu. Yet, I still love cooking. Jiarong came over for a few days to practice erhu together, I improved a lot and was glad to have a companion. On the 6th of December, Jiarong, Jing wen, Vesy and I went to NUS for our grade 2 Erhu examination. The grading went quite smoothly, although I was really nervous and made a mistake during my second piece as my hands were shaking really badly. The whole process was five minutes and my fate was decided after it.

The following days were back to normal. The only activity I had was watching the movie, Frozen, with Yuzhen, Jiarong, Boya and Sinyee. The movie's story line was good, like most of Disney's movie though I enjoyed the songs most as I love musicals. We had a great time together.

The last week was the most anticipated as my brother was finally back from the States, not the 24th. He would only be back for a month so we made use of the time as much as possible. We watched anime, had turkey during Christmas Eve (which was quite disgusting as it tastes like chicken) and watched variety shows and movies. We often joke around, leaving myself defeated. (He is really good with his words). He bought me a pair of rollerblades and we went rollerblading near my house. I had a delightful time but at the same time, I am dejected at the fact that my brother would be leaving after a month to continue his studies. I really wish he would stay a bit longer. Humans are greedy in nature, the more you, give the more one wants. I should be glad that he could spare time to return and I really am.

In all, I had a great time and am looking forward towards the new year ahead.

Wang Kexin(21) 2E