Kai Wai

Post Trip Reflection
Reflections: When I first knew of the fact that we were going to get to go to China during Year 2 CID in Year 1, I thought, despite the newness of the idea to me, that it was not exciting at all. But even today, even after the trip has ended, I feel like going back in time to experience those things I'd just experienced. The idea of going to China where I'd never been to before and going there with my classmates was one that seemed so amazing this year, I'd changed my mind about the trip. And every CID lesson after that, I looked forward to, to hear of who my roommate would be and where we'd go. There was no question on whether I'd choose to go or not, it had always been a yes and the choice of whether to go or not to go had never been in my mind since this year. I decided if this was a school trip with my friends, what was there to worry about? The few thoughts I had was what I'd ask my buddy, whether I would be more understanding of the world, and the knowledge I would gain of Suzhou and Shanghai. But during a debrief my group and Group 3 had after the long day on Tuesday with Ms Huang, I felt angry and that one of the statements made during the discussion was wrong. As we discussed each of our feelings on the making of Suzhou Industrial Park, I got to understand different opinions of which I'd never thought of myself. Anger, the feeling to live there, so on and so forth, but as, to be honest, my friend, said '...Singapore is worse than China...', I could only glare, as much as I wanted at her, to the floor. I could have remembered wrongly, I could have missed out on a few words said before or after that, but as far as I remember it, it was said this way, and coming from mainland China herself... This was what made me feel so strongly, in a negative way, about. Even after saying that and everyone looked at her in silence, she noticed it too, yet guiltlessly said a word of "Ah... awkward silence.", smiling. Insensitive, selfish, these were the only words I could think of, yet I could not say anything, perhaps because of my uncertainty and because she was my friend. That made me want to understand, why would she say that, why, why, why? That made me want to know, did anyone talk to her privately about the fact that she was wrong? That made me ask myself, was I being a sort of coward for not trying to correct her in her words?  Perhaps despite the irony in the fact that she is my friend yet my dislike for her words are great, she let me think further than I would usually. Most of the time, I would smile and be nice to everyone, even if I dislike that person because I do not want to ruin any relationship and create enemies. You could say I am double-faced, but in fact, I feel like I am starting to challenge certain statements I feel are wrong instead of being so accepting of everything on the outside, but keeping the annoyance inside. I believe by this, I can think more on my own, instead of waiting for others to explain before I think, oh yes, this is also not wrong. I believe I am also more self-opinion oriented, rather than in the past, when I always tried to be the one who sat on the fence because everything situation had its advantages and disadvantages. But because of this discussion that took place, despite how immature I may sound, I know I did not achieve my original goal when I first came to China-to be not only accepting and understanding of other's cultures, but appreciative of them too, because of what my friend said. It felt as if she was belittling something and I started to focus more on the negative aspects of China. For example the fact that every few seconds, some stupid driver would honk their car, and that all of them were so inconsiderate for pushing me here and there as if I was an object, which I personally hate. I perhaps have become more openly critical towards many things, on the negative side. I would say this trip was terribly unsuccessful in the category of trying to appreciate different cultures, and opening my eye to discover the beautiful wonders of this big world. But not a failure in the sense that I learn to be more expressive and have my own say on certain subjects. However, despite having achieved my goal, I hope to be able to achieve it in the future, if I go to a whole new place or if I go to China again, perhaps I wouldn't be so stereotypical.
Pre Trip Refection
Just a few days left and we are leaving for Suzhou! I've been counting down and excitement is all I feel. But I know that this is not a trip just for sightseeing and playing. It's a trip to learn, so to make this trip worthwhile, I'll try to absorb all the information I get. I hope to be able to learn more about Suzhou's culture and history, and of course, the famous food there! However, all work and no play makes me a dull girl. So many fun goals to accomplish, like the taking of unglam photos of everyone.XD Anyways, I also hope to be able to buy lots of souvenieurs for my family, friends and relatives.


This is what I imagine Singapore to be in the future, when technology has advanced so greatly, to the point where things can defy gravity, very much unlike now, with the hoverboard which hardly hovers. But they don't just hover, they fly. The sculpture of the Merlion has turned into somewhat a water park. The water sprouting from the Merlion's mouth has become a slide which leads to a swimming pool which floats, and the manes of the Merlion have also turned into water slides which lead somewhere else. Of course, it is a tourist must-see, so there is a house on stilts as seen in fishing village Singapore floating about, filled with tourists. As the tour guide speaks, the house flies around the Merlion for different angles, and perhaps, a birds-eye view of it if it floats higher up. At night, people can't see, of course, so there is a need of lights, in this case, those used for the stage. The lights too, fly around and can change its colour every 30 seconds, with one 'natural' colour, for people to take beautiful photos of it, or selfies with it. Believe it or not, the waters of the Swimming pools and water slides can change its colour. Basically, everything in the future seems impossible, but one day, in the future, it can happen.

















Why should Singapore not be complacent in her achievements

Based on the various articles given to us, the obvious answer is  no. Singapore may have had many achievements, like successful movements such as the first Clean and Green campaign in the 1900s, but that does not mean that all our future efforts definitely will succeed. The first article stated that China once again claimed the title of busiest box port, with Singapore as its closest rival, having claimed the title previously. That showed that there are many countries who can soar past ours, and just because we won in the past, it does not mean we rest on our laurels and have the mindset that we will surely win again, without a doubt. In fact, we should doubt ourselves even more, to find the loops and holes in our country, then will we be able to correct those mistakes and become better, in a never-ending cycle. Thus I believe that Singapore should not be complacent in her achievements.



3 Things I Have Found Out:

1. I have found out, that there are really so many ways out there to promote all sorts of campaigns. Especially the topic we did, whether to implement a one child policy, or have more children.

2. Posters really illustrate what we want to say about the policies we represent. For example having more children, we can draw a picture of a few babies supporting their parents without any difficulty at all, and the parents supporting the grandparents. This really says what we want to say despite being just a picture. As the saying goes 'A picture speaks a thousand words'.

3. The one child policy and the have more children policy, despite being the absolute opposite, both have its own benefits, which makes them similiar, and makes me unable to decide which to support.

2 Perceptions You Have Gained

1. I think, now, that the have more children policy is actually better, because it gives people the freedom to have as many children as they want, they don't live in constrains. 

2. But, in the ever changing world we live in, costs of absolutely anything, maybe even everything, is going up, and people find it expensive to have more children, thus don't. This policy doesn't always work.

1 Question You May Have

What would the majority of a population choose, exactly, more children, or less?

CHINGAY PARADE 2016-LIGHTS OF LEGACY, BRIGHTER SINGAPORE REFLECTION

Just a few weeks ago, we, the Year 2s, were brought to the F1 pit building to watch a rehearsal for this year’s Chingay performance. This was the first time I had watched Chingay live, I have never watched it on television either. I have always known about it, but have never ever been bothered to check up on it, thinking that it was just a boring celebration filled with performances that weren’t attractive to my eyes. I just was never interested in it, but my view of Chingay completely changed after watching the rehearsal live.

A few days before the actual rehearsal, the school had invited a representative of Chingay to come to our school and explain what Chingay was all about. It was there that I found out why Chingay was even celebrated, the purpose of Chingay. It came to me only then, that Chingay was, although it originated from Singapore, not just a local event, but a whole big international event broadcasted in more than 25 countries. Thus I concluded that Chingay was an event to bring together people from all walks of life to celebrate the festive spirit of everyone, internationally. On the actual day, my group members and I took several photographs while admiring the performance as this was an event that occurred annually.

The Chingay rehearsal made it rather diverse in terms of race, culture and religion. I cannot quite remember the order in which the huge, colourful floats came in, but they sure were separated into 3 different components to make each race’s culture stand out, and in a good way.

When it was the Malays’ turn to be in the spotlight, they had used a float which had a makeshift bridge and a roof made out of straw at the side, while performers who had donned traditional clothes stood on the bridge. What was spectacular was the fact that a few of the performers I have just mentioned had descended down onto the stage from a higher one, the sky stage. Meanwhile, traditional music played through the speakers and performers, ones that weren’t surrounded by stage lights but rather, us, drummed to the beat of the music.

As the Chinese’s float came in, I had been surprised to see a gigantic figure of the head and arms of a lady at the front of the float moving, of course, as a machine. Several dancers came in the persona of 大头娃娃, not revealing their faces under the large ‘helmets’ and holding and spinning pretty traditional umbrellas. While on the float, swirls which resembled clouds lined the side of the float, to represent the sky, where the famous legend, the Monkey King, stood, waving his 金箍棒and smiling cheekily. It was so very chinese, in a good sense.

Last but not least, the Indians. I was not able to capture a photo of the float in which they came in, however, there was a photo of  several dancers on the stage, showing off some moves while walking forward at the same time. I cannot say for sure that they were representing the Indian culture, as my memory falters after a few weeks, but I can say that despite that, these performers, whether they are Chinese, Malay, Indian, or Eurasian, represent the whole of Singapore’s culture.

Each race had points that stood out beautifully, but together as one, we stood out even more.

One side of a float said, “Because we are different, we are one”. Because we, the different races, are special in our own ways, we come together as one to become one. And as one, we celebrate the festive spirit of all of us, despite coming from different parts of the world. By emphasising on everyone’s strengths in their culture in each separate component and bring together everyone at the end, yes, the organisers have indeed successfully fulfilled the purpose they put in mind.

But I had never thought that there would be a behind story to this huge celebration. The fact that this event was actually made for a different reason back in the 1900s surprised me, that in fact, Chingay started for one simple reason. That was because fire crackers were just banned, but the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew wanted to keep the festive spirit of Singaporeans, thus made this event as the only time fire crackers could be used, celebrating it during Lunar New Year, as can be seen below.

Just like that, more and more people started to come and admire the performances, and gradually, they made it international, celebrating not only the festive spirit of Singaporeans, but also the festive spirit of every single person on this planet.

Thank you for reading this post about Chingay 2016-Lights of Legacy.

Poverty VS Happiness

What means to be happy? It is often seen by people who are not as wealthy as others as having money. To them, having money means having everything. With money, they can buy almost everything, food, water, anything they would ever have wanted, and it would never run out. But then comes the famous saying, ‘Money cannot buy happiness’. Just because one has everything he or she wants with the money he or she has, it does not mean he or she is would feel happy. Many are still unsatisfied, even if they are rich, and I think that the reason behind their unending unhappiness is because of their loneliness.

There is a great difference between the rich and poor, in terms of the living conditions of both categories of people, but also a great similarity. It is the fact that they are human, and wish to be loved by the people around them, family and friends. It is the feeling of even existing and having someone who knows and cares for one because one is there that makes one a living, happy person. The underprivileged do not have much, but the things that they keep have much meaning and they know that they have a family to support the in difficult times. The rich spend money to have what they want, but most feel constantly wanting more and more, that what they get is not enough, resulting in unhappiness. Dig deeper into this topic, and find that it is not as simple as we would think. 

Poverty VS. Happiness, are they related or are they not? The answer is obvious. Yes. I cannot generalise and say that all the underprivileged are happy despite being poor, and that all the wealthy are not, despite getting the things they want easily. Because there will always be those who hate the life they are living among the poor, and those who are kind and humble among the rich. These different kinds of people either appreciate life, or claim it as unacceptable. As always, it depends.

Having little does not mean being unsatisfied with the small amount they have, but it does not mean there aren't those with great dissatisfaction. Having a lot does not mean being satisfied with having that huge amount, but it does not mean there aren’t those who appreciate what they have and aren’t greedy. Having the money to satisfy our desires gives happiness, but which is short term, but having the people to cheer us on gives happiness and strength, that will last forever. Thus I say that poverty and happiness are related, and that being rich, does not mean being happy.

Kai wai self introduction

Hey everyone! I’m Kai Wai. I’m this year. And I am going to talk about myself.

          I’m from Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School, and I live near that school. It was convenient for me to get to school, but now, going to RV, I got to take a bus for half an hour. But I don’t mind, I like RV a lot.

        I like the colour black, chocolate ice cream, and writing stories. At RV, I get many chances to write because of Quirky Quills.

 

I love Korean Pop and drama. K-drama had always been in my life ever since I started watching them in P3.

    There’s a series I love. It’s the British television series Doctor Who! It is about a time-travelling humanoid alien who has a distinct personality, but hides a dark past.

 I get inspiration from this to write stories.

Lastly, as a person. I am quiet, I usually open up to people who I can relate to. At home, I am a different person. Noisy and talkative. I talk about what happened in school or new stories from Doctor Who to my parents.   

     

Thank you for reading! Hope you found out more about me.

                                         The Extra in the Ordinary

It was indeed, a chore for me to think up a sight in school that is extraordinary, but I finally got the chance to. Last Friday evening after CCA, it started to rain very heavily. I was outside the band room when the rain started to fall, slowly, gradually getting heavier and heavier. The word ‘extraordinary’ means to say ‘very unusual or remarkable’. In this case, I use it to display the uncommon in the common. You may say that it is quite common a thing to happen in school, just maybe not as often, but truthfully, we don’t take much notice of it. This is the photo I took to further explain my reasons:

As you can see, the usually drier grass which covers the ground in which no bricks are placed is flooded. It even almost reaches the height of the water in the pond in the photo on the left, which is truly, to me I dare say, is a remarkable sight. The normal Singapore is hot and sunny, with rainy days occurring not as often, thus I say that this happening is extra-ordinary. It is not normal a thing to see areas of Singapore being ‘flooded’, but to these plants, it is suffocation. And while on days with the usual weather, they cherish the sun, on overly rainy days like this, they probably hate it. Thus to say again, it is an uncommon, not very pleasant occurrence, which is also the extra in the ordinary.