Brian's holiday reflection

During the December hols, I went to Australia with my family. At Australia, we went to many places and seen some of the most peculiar things. For example,I went to the yuan chek caves and saw the many variations of rock formations that could be found in a cave- stalagmite, stalactite, crystals and many others. I have also seen many types of animals like the kangaroo and koala. I have also went to the Australian outback too. I saw the peculiar side of nature. For some weird unknown reason, the Australian pinnacle dessert is actually cold. I was wearing a jacket the entire time. Though there are strong sun ray beating down on us I enjoyed the novelty of this experience. From this holiday i have learnt to appreciate nature more and learnt far more than what can you learn from the classroom.

This is the picture of pinnacle Australia. I trekked through this unbeaten path and was astounded by the Magnificant rock formations. It was mind blowing as it was educational. This was one trip I will never forget.

Anqi Chingay reflections

After watching the chingay parade, I felt that Singapore is very racial harmony country. The Chingay Parade is an annual street parade held in celebration with the birthdays of the Chinese deities or the procession of the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin) as part of the Chinese New Year festivities. Although chingay parade is an Chinese event, other races all  appeared in the performances and help to make this celebration successful and share the joy of Chinese New Year together. The performance is separate into parts where different races brought up their wonderful dance and  unit costume with the colour that represent their race and culture. There is many different races and culture but everyone work together to form one nation, one Singapore like how many organs work together to form one people. Watching the chingay parade as a level is very fun and memorable. I hope we can go as a level to watch performances like this again.

Anqi poverty in Singapore reflections

During CID, we discuss about poverty in Singapore  And the teacher shown us a video about the living condition of some foreign construction worker working at orchard road. I was thinking, working at orchard road, such a high class place, their living condition should be good but I'm wrong! Their living conditions were horrible. Their hostel were infested with pests and they have 5 to 6 people cramped into a small room. They have bad ventilation and their kitchen doesn't even looked like one. Their toilet is like a hole on the floor and it will flood when it rains. Although I'm not living in big houses or in luxury places but I felt fortunate to have a roof that can block me from the rain, proper toilets, kitchen and a clean room to sleep in. Although the MPs knew about this incident and visited their hostels but they do nothing at all. I think they should help the construction workers as they does earn very much and they come to Singapore just to earn money for their family back in their country. They are humans too so I don't think they should deserve this treatment.

Rachel Tan's Holiday Reflections

During the holidays, I spent most of my days at home watching dramas and television programmes. However, in December I went to Hokkaido, an island near Japan. I went there for 10 days, and had a whale of a time there playing with the snow and bearing with the cold. The food there was really great and they have the best ramen ever. The service provided there is really good too, and I was very reluctant to go home. On some days, I also went for CCA, which was boring, as my CCA did not organize any outings or fun activities.  

Leong Hao Ming Holiday Reflections

For my holiday, I went overseas to Phuket. Phuket is well known for its beautiful beaches and environment. Over at Phuket, the people's way of life is totally different from ours in Singapore. They depend on fishing, they depend on labour to earn meager salary, while in Singapore, majority of our jobs revolve around office jobs. The houses there are also completely different from ours. Their houses might be run down and old, but they still continue living in them just because the don't have the sufficient money to rebuild houses. The people there prefer giving birth to males than females , just because of the fact that in their belief, women are useless but man could become taxi drivers or cleaners. In short, only they could support the family while woman were unable. After the trip, I realised that in Singapore, we're considered lucky to have a safe country to live in, to have a comfortable environment to live in,can't most importantly, equality and equal rights 

Anqi Holiday Reflections

During the holidays, I went to NKF for via. My role is to arrange files of the NKF patient. Through this via I have learn more about the community. Although Singapore is a well develop country, there is still a lot of old poor people who can't afford to pay for kidney treatment. After this via, my view about the charity had also changed. At first I felt that charity did not really help the people and use most of the raised fund for themselves like their salary but now I learnt that most charity aren't like that. For example, NKF subsidies fully for the poor to have kidney treatment. I've a lot of fun during this via, if I've a chance I would still want to do it again.

During CID, we discuss about poverty in Singapore And the teacher shown us a video about the living condition of some foreign construction worker working at orchard road. I was thinking, working at orchard road, such a high class place, their living condition should be good but I'm wrong! Their living conditions were horrible. Their hostel were infested with pests and they have 5 to 6 people cramped into a small room. They have bad ventilation and their kitchen doesn't even looked like one. Their toilet is like a hole on the floor and it will flood when it rains. Although I'm not living in big houses or in luxury places but I felt fortunate to have a roof that can block me from the rain, proper toilets, kitchen and a clean room to sleep in. Although the MPs knew about this incident and visited their hostels but they do nothing at all. I think they should help the construction workers as they does earn very much and they come to Singapore just to earn money for their family back in their country. They are humans too so I don't think they should deserve this treatment.

Leong Hao Ming Chingay reflections

After watching the Chingay Parade, I understood the meaning of ' Colours of Fabrics, one people' Chingay Parade itself is a large scaled event that showcases the many different tradition and costumes in Singapore. The Chingay parade itself would never have been possible if there wasn't the help of the many other races including the Malays, Indians, and many others. Just like the different colors of fabric, regardless of our different cultures or beliefs, we come together as one to make this parade a successful one. Not only for Chingay parade, Singapore boasts a Multi- Racial society that consists of many other races. We work hard together, regardless of our race just to make our country a better place to live in. This is what is represented by the theme of Chingay 2014, Colors of Fabric, One people. We might be of different races, but we are bonded and close to each other just like the different colors of fabric sown together.

Brian's Chingay Reflections

After watching the Chingay parade, I realised that only with the all the races working as one would the entire show be such a big success. The most memorable part of the show was when all the different races were dancing together. I felt that it was not easy to build up such a harmony between races and to maintain that mutual trust and love for each other is no small fit as well. Furthermore, singapore is the only country that could really build up this strong bond, unity between the races, between us that would enable us to work together not just in the parade but in everything we do. Not just to make it complete but a success. Moreover, I feel that when all the races, people of all distinct cultures work together we would have that wonderful sense of achievement. Yes, we may be of different race, different culture but throughout the entire process and when we finally see the end product of or hard work, it kind of unite us, bond us and let us truly feel that we are truly one people. Lastly, through this Chingay parade I truly understood the underlying meaning of ~colors of fabric,one people~

Rachel Tan's Chingay Reflections

After attending the Chingay parade 2014, I learnt that Singapore was a multi-cultural count with many diversities, but we are still one nation, one Singapore. I felt that my favourite part of the parade was when we all stood up and started being 'high' along with the music, which was nearing the end. We did cheers and waved our pompoms along with the music. At that time, I could feel the 'RV spirit' between us, when everyone was high together, it felt like we were one big family. Nevertheless, the parade was fantastic and the dancers did a very good job. I especially liked the small ones, their ages probably ranging from 5-7 as they were smaller than everyone else (and super cute) but still danced very well. In a nutshell, I felt that being given the opportunity to experience the Chingay Parade 2014 was wonderful and I hope we will be given this opportunity again!

Brian's Poverty Reflections

Poverty in singapore is something that can be easily illustrated. Throughout the years that we have lived, we have seen many living examples where poverty in singapore has been surprisingly prominent. There are people living under HDB flats, some are making cardboard beds to live in, and others though with a home are constantly harassed by loan sharks/debtors. I feel that this is queer as singapore is a country of much affluence. It is unnatural to see so many poor people around when the country's economy is booming. We being able to study to such levels are very fortunate. Out there, in the cold abyss that is the world, many people are suffering aftershocks from a war and maybe the pain of a broken heart when war began. Others, are living a life of misery with no food and water to sustain their lives. However, we as singaporeans waste, exploit our own resources; always being "kiasu" and biting off too much than we can chew. Hence, we should live a life of thrift, and know the value of money as not all of mankind are as fortunate as us. 

Leong Hao Ming's CID poverty in Singapore reflections

Today during our CID lesson I knew more about poverty in Singapore. The clip shown was about these construction workers building a luxury condominium, yet their living conditions were devastating. Many of them lived in one small cramped room and all their belongings lying around all over the room. The ventilation was very bad, there were pests all around like them for example cockroaches and lizards. Worst of all, there was a dirty drain with filthy water near their kitchen. After watching the video, I was devastated at how poor their living condition was. They had to cook food near a filthy drain, they lived with pests at night, and nobody bothered clearing up. I realised after the video that we were extremely fortunate to have a comfortable and clean environment to live in. I knew about how the workers were paid so less for many hours of labour yet at the end of the day could not relax at their dormitories. I hope that the developers can do something for them, to provide a more comfortable environment for them to live in. The government should also do something about this. These construction workers build homes for us to live in and they deserve credit for their hard work. 

Rachel Tan's CID reflections for Poverty in Singapore

During today's CID lesson, I learnt about poverty in Singapore. We were shown a video of the living conditions of this foreign worker in 2009. They were building this 'luxury condominium' in Orchard Road. Their living conditions were terrible, it was cramped, infested with insects and had no ventilation. I was honestly shocked, as although I knew about their bad living conditions, I never knew it was that bad. I used to live in a HDB building, and there would be an old homeless man living on the void deck. He would have this gigantic bag of items with him, and would always sleep on the benches. I always pitied him but as a child, was always to scared to go close to him. I also learnt that the difference (inequality) in Singaporean's pay was rather high, comparable to China. I think I am very fortunate to have a proper roof over my head and to be able to afford an education, books, clothes and more. I honestly feel quite bad for spending so much money on clothes now. I really hope that the government can do something about this, maybe help poor homeless people adapt back into society by giving them a job to do, or by improving the living conditions of the foreign workers in Singapore. 

Introduction to our Group

This is our CID group, from left, Leong Hao Ming, Brian Woon, Rachel Tan, Yee An Qi 

Rachel Tan introduction- I'm Rachel Tan, the leader of this group and a proud member of RVCO 吹打 section. Like most people, I love eating and sleeping.

Leong Hao Ming reflections- I am Leong Hao Ming and I am from the Volleyball team. I am the Blog Manager of the group and I usually like to read and exercise whenever I am free 

Brian Woon - I am Brian and I am the note taker. I am from the Infocomn club and I usually like to read 

Yee An Qi - I am An Qi and I am the resource Manager of the group. I am from Girl Guides and I usually like to read Japanese books. I am currently learning Japanese as my third language