Sarah's (21)

Lesson 1: POVERTY IN SINGAPORE
In today's lesson, I learnt that seeing is not believing.

We saw a guy holding a sign which said "god bless" while in another picture we saw a lady carrying a baby. Both of them were begging for money. Then, we were asked to discuss our opinions in our small groups.  What I said about the guy was that he was able bodied and thus should be able to work. So, he should be working instead of begging. What I said about the woman was that she was using the baby to gain sympathy from others for money, so we should not give her money.  The teacher then revealed that the woman was part of an organisation which made use of many people. The head if the organisation gets the people to beg for money and they would have to give the money collected to them. Then, a portion of the money would be given to the people.  Then, the teacher shared that the guy had just come back from war and he was deaf. Having no home or family to go back to, he had to resort to begging.  The lesson I learnt today was different from most of my other classmates. I was right about the woman but was wrong about the man. The guy looks normal, but he is deaf, so he needs help. If I really saw him, I would not have given him any money because I would have thought that he could work. But if having experienced this and I saw the woman after that, I might have given her some money.

At the end of the day, we can never make 100% correct decisions, so I guess the only option we have is to follow our gut feeling.

Lesson 2: GLOBALISATION

(According to Wikipedia)
Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture.
Though scholars place the origins of globalization in modern times, others trace it's history long before the European age of discovery and voyages to the new world.
Four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and movement of people, and the dissemination of knowledge.
Globalization processes affect and are affected by business and work organization, economies, socio-cultural resources and the natural environment.
Types of globalization:
Economic globalization
Socio-cultural globalization
...
According to dictionary
The process which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale
Simple wiki
Describes the way countries and people of the world interact and integrate.

Lesson 4: Reflection of my classmates' presentations (2/3/15 and 9/3/15)
I think we all can improve on our skills, especially how to work around facts to persuade customers to buy our products. For example, for the things we do not want to bring attention to, we can leave them out, or if they are very important, say it in a way that will allow the customers to see the product in a better light than they will if we just say the fact straightforwardly. For example, instead of saying "even though this product is from China, you do not need to worry about...", we can say "the materials are from the USA etc". Our group forgot to mention the price of the product, and I feel that if we say the price in  way that would seem more appealing to the customer or give certain "discounts", it would make the customer more willing to purchase the product. All in all, we have much to improve on.

ICONS OF SINGAPORE (13 April):

I think a good icon to represent Singapore would be the merlion. The merlion consists of a lion's head and a fish's tail combined to make up the name MERlion. Singapore, once called Singapura, means the lion city in Malay, hence the lion head. Singapore started off as a fishing village, hence the tail of a fish. Combining these two things into one gives us our identity, and one that is unique to Singapore. I feel that this icon represents Singapore the best as it is unique to Singapore. Whenever one thinks of the merlion, they would link it to the lion city. Also, when Singaporeans look at the merlion, it reminds us of our roots, of how far we have come since then, and to remind us to strive even harder for the glory of Singapore and to not take the success of Singapore for granted. Even though the merlion might just be a myth made up by some people of the past, it does not deny the fact that it is famous in Singapore. Just look around, and you can see merlions all over Singapore, for example the one at the Singapore River, Sentosa, and not to mention Singapore's coins! If you observe, you would realise that Singapore's first series coins and the current third series coins have at least one type of coin that has the merlion on it. Furthermore, to celebrate Singapore's SG50, the International Bullion Mint has released the SG50 Merlion Singapore Gold and Silver Coins. This goes to show how much the merlion symbolises Singapore. Thus, I would like to use the merlion as an icon of Singapore as i feel it represents Singapore perfectly.                                         DAILY REFLECTION OF OELP TRIP Day 1 -Bullet train -Dragon Well Tea Plantation -West Lake Cruise -Yue Fei Museum Today, we arrived in Shanghai early in the morning. We took a bullet train to Hangzhou. It was a first for me taking a bullet train so I was quite excited. It was really an eye opener as I had never seen pictures of a bullet train either. Before going on the bullet train, I expected it to be like any normal train with normal seats and expected it to be cramped up. But to my surprise, the interior of the bullet train was quite spacious and comfortable. They had people pushing push carts around selling food and drinks, and they had a toilet in the bullet train too. Though the toilet was quite small and had quite a stench, a toilet was always better than no toilet and there was a long queue for the toilet.  Then, we went to the Dragon Well tea plantation. There, we saw the plants which the tea leaves came from, and saw a demonstration of the process of an uncle drying the tea leaves. We then made our way into a room where we were allowed to try the tea and learnt how tea could be beneficial to our health. They proceeded to selling tea leaves to us. I bought some tea leaves, but afterwards learnt from my friend that the tea was a tad too expensive. At another part of the place, we went and tried the candy that contained peanut wrapped in tea candy. I also bought packets of those and ate them on bus rides for the rest of the trip.  We then left for West Lake to take a cruise. Here is a picture of West Lake while we were on the cruise. West Lake was scenic. Since we were on the cruise, I could smell the distinct difference between the air at West Lake and the air on the roads in China. The air was fresh and the weather was cool, making it ideal to go for a cruise at that time. Some of my classmates and I sat at the part of the boat where it was not covered, so we had the full experience the environment. Next, we went to the Yue Fei Museum. It was quite  a big place and many paintings of the historical times were hung up. The were also many Chinese words and phrases carved into pillars, painted on walls, and hung up in frames, each having their own meaning. There was a big statue of Yue Fei greeting us at the entrance of the museum. There, we learnt about the history of Yue Fei and how life was like in the past. We saw historical artefacts like inscriptions from the past, and also saw Yue Fei's grave. Day 2 -Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum -China National Silk Museum -Chenghuang Pagoda -Song Dynasty City -Song Dynasty Performance We went to the Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum early in the morning. At the beginning of the tour, we saw broken pieces of clay and porcelain under the glass under our feet. Those were artefacts from the olden days. After exploring the differences between clay and porcelain, we went on to learn how clay and porcelain pieces were made. It was an eye opening experience. In the past, all the pieces were handmade and I can imagine the amount of effort put in to create a beautiful piece. The people of the past must have taken great pride in their work. Thus, it makes me feel that the pieces of the past are worth more than modern day pieces as modern day pieces of clay and porcelain all come from machines in factories. Sure, the piece can be flawless, but isn't it more meaningful if you have a piece of work, knowing that someone put in so much effort to create it? Next, we went to the Chinese National Silk Museum. I saw the pieces of art created from silk, and felt the fine texture of silk. We saw how silk was obtained from silkworms. Honestly, I felt pretty disgusted when I saw the silkworms because I do not like worms. Silk was woven into art pieces, clothes, and embroidery. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw how silk could actually be turned into an art piece like a dog which had different expressions on different sides of the art piece. We also saw how the people in the olden days wove silk into brilliant pieces. We saw with our own eyes how two old ladies made use of a big, old wooden machine to weave silk threads together. It was really cool. Then, we moved to the Chenghuang Pagoda. There, we tried the specialty of the place, 'ou fen'. There was also a performance put up for us. Though the 'ou fen' was supposed to be popular, I didn't like it. So, I gave it to Jize who enjoyed it a lot. The view at Chenghuang Pagoda was breathtaking. We were high above so we could look down and see above the trees. We saw the scenic side of China (we could see the west lake from up there), and also saw the more developed part of China (we could see residential buildings). Though the view would have been nicer without the residential buildings, it was still prettier than any normal place, so we decided to take a group picture there.  Thereafter, we went to the Song Dynasty City. The main purpose of us going there was to watch the Song Dynasty performance afterwards. But before that, we got to walk around a small area of the Song Dynasty City. The whole place brought us back to the past, which was the whole point, I guess. The tour guide said that there were rides and attractions that we actually could take. However, because they were too scary we didn't get to go. I think they didn't want us to have a traumatic experience and get nightmares in China. That would be troublesome. We went to a place called 'guai jie' which basically means weird street. There were houses that were upside down, the house of mirrors and many more. We also went to another part of the City where it was like the trick eye museum. We could take pictures in a tiger's mouth! Finally, it was time for the performance. The performance was live and included a lot of effects which made it all the more real. For example, when the scene was set at a river, real water rose out to fill a place in front of the stage, and a bridge was formed above the water. The performance gave us insight into the past, though brief.  Day 3 -Geyuan garden -Shouxi Lake -Chinese Paper Cutting Museum -Bookstore Today, we travelled to Yangzhou via bus. The bus ride was long, so we got some sleep. By the time we got off the bus, we were more than relieved and our legs felt a little numb. When we arrived at Geyuan garden, we took a class picture at the entrance. Geyuan garden was originally a private land. The owner who bought over this land decided to create his very own garden as a retreat. He brought in a variety of flowers and plants, from big to small. The Geyuan garden is now open to the public. In the garden, each part of the garden represented a different season, and though not in season the plants grew. It was a beautiful sight. There were also rocks which looked like art. Overall, the whole place was very relaxing and nice. Next, we went to Shouxi Lake, otherwise called Slender West Lake. The difference between Shouxi Lake and the West Lake is, as the name implies, it is narrower and long. Though Shouxi Lake is a man made lake, it was still quite beautiful. That day, it was not too sunny and it was a perfect day for a walk in the garden. As we were surrounded by water, the air was even cooler. The plants were colourful and attracted many insects like bees and butterflies.   This is a stone fence there. Instead of just making a round knob on the top or a square piece as per normal, they have little smiling lions. Then, we went to the paper cutting museum. First, we were led around the place to look at the many different types of paper cutting distinguished people did. The cuttings were so intricate it amazed me how they managed not to tear the paper. Paper cutting proved to be challenging for me as I am not a gentle person by nature and handling the fragile paper just is not what I am used to. I am also not a very patient person, and patience is much needed for paper cutting. Needless to say, I failed terribly at it. The perk is that i got to bring home a pair of pretty scissors :) This picture shows my friends and I working hard at paper cutting. We postponed going to the bookstore from today till tomorrow as it was quite late and we were running behind time. Day 4 -Ye Chun Chai Sei -Factory Visit @ Volkswagen -Block Printing Museum -Dongguanmen History Street We went to Ye Chun Chai Sei for breakfast this morning. The breakfast was a sumptuous one. At first, all they gave us was tea and tofu. When the other dishes came out, we were excited as we were quite hungry. To our dismay, it was all tofu! It was tofu presented in different forms. Even though the tour guide told us that they would be serving us tofu they cut very thinly, I did not expect to see so much tofu at one time. I was not ecstatic about it and did not eat much. Just when we thought breakfast might be over and tofu would be all that we were getting, they started serving pao! Everyone greedily grabbed at the paos. When they started serving the pao, they served so much that we who were once g=hungry were so stuffed that we could not finish everything. Luckily, we had plastic bags to store the pao to eat on the bus if we were hungry :D                                                           Too much for us! After breakfast, we got on the bus and headed over to the Volkswagen factory to see how their cars are made. We weren't allowed to bring in any handphones or cameras, so the only images we have are those in our heads. We got onto vehicles much like buggies and sat in them to tour the place where the actual process of making the cars takes place. Basically, the work was all done by machines, with little work left to humans to do. It increases the productivity rate this way. Most of the work was to fit the pieces together and do touch ups to make sure the car would be in its best condition like all the rest. There were sparks flying here and there because of friction and fire involved in the process, so I think it was also because of safety reasons that used machines instead of humans.  We went to the bookstore later on. The bookstore was humongous and had about 4 levels, if I'm not mistaken. There were mostly Chinese books there, but there was also a collection of English books ranging from autobiographies of famed celebrities to books about history. The bookstore was filled with rows and rows of Chinese books for every age group and every genre. The bookstore also sold stationary on the upper level but I did not go there. According to my friends, the stationary, including notebooks, were much cheaper and there was a wider variety to choose from in China as compared to Singapore. The same went for the books. The Chinese books I bought were very cheap as compared to those in Singapore. Maybe there was shipment price to consider, but the price of books in Singapore is really expensive. It's a pity though, as I love reading English books and I want to buy them to keep, but money doesn't just drop from the sky. So I rarely buy books and when I do so, I choose my favourite to buy and keep. After that, we went to the block printing museum. There were different parts of the block printing museum, and in the block printing museum, I saw an archive of books (the physical copies) which impressed me. Those books were of high importance and were kept safe in a room which only authorised personnel could enter. There were many different parts like the paper making and ink parts, but what I have the most impression about is the part where i saw this uncle carving things for block printing. He was using a carving knife to carve the tiny words. It must have been difficult. I noticed that the knife cut into his skin which was thickened presumably by the many years of carving before this. Though there was no blood and I do not think he felt any pain, this is proof of his dedication towards this carving and I had newfound respect for him.  Last but not least, we went to Dongguanmen history street. To me, it was the highlight of the day. The place itself again transported us back in time. The walls were made of stone bricks like the olden days, and the stalls were wooden on the outside. We were allowed free time to roam about the area and were allowed to buy things. My friends and I immediately headed to find food because we were hungry (and greedy). We first bought milk tea, then went to buy the twirly potato. It was fun as we had time to relax and enjoy ourselves, talking a lot along the way. Because we ate so much, we couldn't eat during dinner! We wasted a lot of food that dinner.                                                         The twirly potato :) Day 5 -School immersion -Lesson observation/ cultural immersion -Dinner at Lushi Old Mansion -Local supermarket When we first arrived at the school (which was gigantic), I was both excited and apprehensive. I had talked to my buddy beforehand but I still did not know her that well. I was worried that I would not get along with her that well or that we would have a communication breakdown because of my sub standard Chinese. Fortunately, my worry was for nothing. My buddy was as welcoming and as friendly as could be, and we totally clicked. We had some shared interests which served as the 'ice breaking conversation'. It seems my Chinese was not as poor as I had thought and we did not have any major problems communicating. When we had to perform for the school, we had to go to the toilet to change. To our horror and dismay, the toilet doors and sides were below my neck! It was a shock but we coped with it and decided not to visit the toilets again unless we absolutely had to. I guess living in Singapore had really spoilt us. Our first activity after the formal meet and greet and performance was Chinese painting. They also learnt some Chinese painting before that, so we were both able to paint a picture that resembled the printed picture given to us as a template for our painting. Next, we did ribbon tying which was simpler than painting. After all these and a little more activities like dumpling wrapping, in which mine ended up looking all weird and pointy, we went to our buddy's class to observe their lessons for a short while. I attended a lesson where the teacher was trying to discuss the movie 'The Hunger Games' in English with the students. The teacher was using English to discuss the topic but sometimes reverted back to Chinese to make her point clearer to the students. As seen from the picture above, though they still use chalkboards and chalks to conduct lessons, and their desks and chairs look different from ours (made of metal), they make use of modern day technology like the visualiser to further enhance the students' learning. I would like to highlight that the school we went to was a private secondary school, so I am not sure how the conditions are like in the other schools. When we had to leave for dinner, I said my goodbyes to my buddy and boarded the bus. We were seeing them the next day again. We arrived at the Lushi Old Mansion. It was quite grand and they served an 18 or 22 course dinner. There were so many dishes that i couldn't even properly keep track of them all. I learnt that traditionally, there is one seat reserved for the highest ranking at that table (that would be the teacher) and we had to abide by that rule. It is a show of respect for the teacher, in our case. There isn't much to say about this place, just that the food was really good and the whole ambience was nice. It was our first time eating in a place like this and we appreciate it. At night, we went to a local supermarket near our hotel to carry out an investigation pertaining to the cost of living for our CID project. Our OELP trip was not just all fun and games. When there, we were given a time to get whatever we needed to be done done, and to buy whatever food we wanted. Our group rushed to get the tasks completed so we could have enough time to get the things we wanted. However, along the way, we lost a few people and got split up. We spent quite a lot of time trying to find missing people, and the whole incident was actually quite hilarious. Everyone set out to complete the task though, and we finished it in record time. Then, we shopped for our snacks and met at the exit of the supermarket just on time. It was a fun filled experience being at that big supermarket  as we were with our friends :) Day 6 -Cultural immersion at buddy's home -Transfer to Shanghai for dinner  -Night cultural visit to the bund -Free time at Nanjing Road When we arrived at the school early in the morning, we were picked up by our buddies to go  to their houses to see what it was like living in China. We were sent out in pairs and had to message our teachers when we reached and left our buddy's house. Joanne came with me to my buddy's house as her buddy had a singing competition and was not free that day. We took buses to my buddy's house and finally arrived. I couldn't wait to see how her house was like. We climbed up the stairs to her house (there was no lift) and entered. They wore slippers around the house (because the floor would be too cold?) and got us to wear them too. Her house was quite small, like the size of a 3-room flat in Singapore. There were two bedrooms, one for her and one for her parents, a small kitchen, a small toilet, and a living room that was not very big. Still, there was enough space to accommodate us without having to squeeze. At my buddy's house, we never went hungry. Her mother kindly provided us with a lot of food, more food than we could stomach. We played card games at first, then watched some TV. Then, my buddy's aunt came over to teach us how to make dumplings.  When it was sadly time to leave, we took a cab back to the school with my buddy and her mother. On the way to take a cab, we jaywalked across a huge t-junction. My heart was racing as we walked hurriedly across the road. My buddy and her mother seemed to be used to doing this kind of thing, though, so they confidently led us across the road. Jaywalking is common in Yangzhou as I could see from the many people jaywalking whenever we were on the bus. After promising to keep in touch with my buddy, we left for Shanghai. After the 3.5 hour bus journey (in which I slept most of the time), everyone was more than happy to get some dinner before heading over to the bund when the sky became darker. We saw the old colonial buildings which currently hold banks along the stretch of the bund. At night, we went up a bridge of some sort to look at the bright shining buildings of Shanghai at the bund. Truthfully speaking, though the lights were really pretty and nice to look at, I still prefer the old colonial buildings over those new buildings. At Nanjing road, we were warned to take care of our valuables - to always put them in front of us and keep a close eye on them. It was crowded, so we took heed of their advice and watched our bags like a hawk. We then started walking around (free time!). My friends and I mostly attacked the food stalls but found out we couldn't eat very much. The shops there were shops like H&M and Forever 21. It was not quite what i was expecting. I was expecting some kind of night market where we could eat the local delights, but i guess we were looking at the wrong place. I actually left the place very full but slightly disappointed.  Day 7 -Shanghai Urban Planning Centre -On the plane to head back to Singapore At the Shanghai Urban Planning Centre, we were brought around by a guide to explain some of the things they had thee. Then, we were allowed free time to roam about the place. I think this place was also for us to complete the CID work. I don't really have a deep impression of this place as I was not very interested in the place (it was too dry for me). I did see some pretty things though: Summary I had a really great experience in China and one week was really too short to cover everything. Our itinerary was packed, so we had to wake up early and would sleep at around 11 every night. Though tiring, it was fun and definitely worth it. It was made less tiring when we had time to sleep on the bus travelling from one place to another :) It also gave our class an opportunity to bond and forge new/stronger friendship. All in all, it was an awesome trip!