Chingay Parade reflection

  When I knew that we were going to the Chingay Parade, I was really excited as it was my first time seeing it live. Although I've watched it on the TV before, it was really different live and I really enjoyed myself a lot there. Everyone was really enthusiastic and the atmosphere there was very 'high'. This year's theme for the Chingay was 'Colors of fabric, One people'. I felt that it was really conveyed through the different kinds of floats which represented different races and cultures. There were a lot of performers who look proud to represent their religion to perform in the Chingay Parade. There were even little kids performing and I think it was really cute and brave of them to be able to do that at such a young age. 'Regardless of race, language or religion', Singapore is a multi-racial country and everyone lived together peacefully. Externally, everyone looks different but underneath, we are all humans and are one people. We learnt to respect one another's cultures and embrace it. I think everyone who went enjoyed themselves and after the parade has ended, RV cheered together and I think that really united us. I was also grateful for the efforts that the performers had put into this performance. The months of hard work and preparations for this parade was really touching. 

- Hui Qing (6)

Reflection on the past three week

  I've learnt not to be so quick in judging people based on their first impressions. Wait until I've found out more about them then decide. Many times, we have judged a person on just the first encounter. And many times, that led to misunderstandings. I've learnt to dig deeper and learn more about their personalities and character and not judging a book by its cover. The person might not be how we assume them to be, leading to misunderstandings. 

  I've also learnt that there a 3 stages to a picture: Factual, Process, Emotions. Factual is just describing what you see in the picture with just a look. While Process means to describe and elaborate more about the small details that might not have caught your eye with the first look. Emotions is to really dig deeper into the picture and focus on the smallest details, understanding what the photographer is trying to convey in that picture and see it in his point of view while also reflecting at the same time. I feel that there is a lot to learn and understand from just a simple picture. 

  We were also told to observe the school life in RV. We go to school 5 days a week, and yet not many of us bothered to observe what is happening around us. This lesson has taught me to be more observant and aware of my surroundings. We were supposed to take 4 pictures which represent School spirit, Fear, Happiness and Life. Through this activity, I learnt that it is in fact really to convey the message through a photograph and it has to be at the exact moment to be able to do that. A lot of hard work is put into a photograph for it to be a good one. 

- Hui Qing (6)

  

CNY colour, symbol, image

2014 is the year of the green wooden horse and the color green is also the color of growth, the color of spring, of renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy.

2014 is the year of the wooden horse, taking over the year of the water snake.

The dragon dance is often performed during Chinese New Year. Chinese dragons are a symbol of China, and they are believed to bring good luck to people, therefore the longer the dragon in the dance, the more luck it will bring to the community. The dragons are believed to possess qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. The appearance of a dragon is both frightening and bold but it has a benevolent disposition, and so eventually became an emblem to represent imperial authority. The movements in a performance traditionally symbolize historical roles of dragons demonstrating power and dignity.

- Hui Qing (6)

Chingay Parade Reflections

When I was told that I would be going to watch the Chingay Parade 2014, let's just say I was excited. I told myself that going to the Chingay Parade would enable to me to take some great pictures for my camera. As a photographer myself,  I found myself unable to say no to any chance for me to snap a good shot for my camera.

However, at the Chingay Parade itself, though I indeed was busy with walking around and taking photos from different angles, I found myself more immersed in watching and enjoying the Chingay performances. With such a vibrant display of colors, the wide array of performances, and the immense range of costumes was simply astounding. I enjoyed the Chingay Parade 2014 thoroughly.

Personally, I felt that this Chingay Parade 2014 really shows Singapore as one multi-racial united society. With the theme being "Colors of Fabric, One People", it really conveyed the message that Singaporeans from all races and religions, old and young, are united as one, as one Singapore. Not to mention, the painstaking amount of effort and the time taken out of the many performers' daily schedules. The effort these performers put into bringing the message into action was really worth it. Also, the Chingay Parade is a reminder to us Singaporeans of our heritage. The Chingay Parade has a rich history, dating back all the way to the 1970s, and the fact that we still celebrate it forty years later is a sign that despite the fast pace of rapid technological advancement, Singapore still remembers, respects, and continues to cultivate its cultures and traditions.

-Ian (26)

Chingay Parade Reflection

  Before I went to the Chingay Parade, I thought it would be boring watching the floats as they were all the same. I was just going there to take pictures and complete the CID power point. However, i was amazed by the floats and the dances. There were all kinds of floats from different cultures and they were colourful. Not only that, the floats had light which made it more beautiful under the night sky. During the parade, i saw many ethic costumes from different cultures like India and Chinese. The dances were also entertaining and there were also musics that hyped up everyone. The light effects were cool and the dark sky made it even better. This made everyone feel like dancing to the music too. The dancers were all professional and had practised well before performing. I learnt the different cultures of Singapore and learnt to appreciate the cultures. With that, I can tell that Singapore is united as one regardless of the different races. This was a very different and great experience as we went with the whole Year 2 cohord and bonded with each other. We even cheered together and everyone was really enjoying themselves and were shaking the pong-pongs in the sky while dancing. I can sense the spirit that RV has and we were really bonded even though we were from different classes. At the end of the parade, there were fireworks and it was really captivating. Everyone was enthralled and began taking photos. There were also confettis and everyone started to try catching them. I had a great time and it was worth it spending the saturday night there. I hope there will be more of such events as it was a great experience:)

-Keefe (25)

Chingay Parade Reflection

When I was going to the Chingay parade, I just wanted to take pictures for the CID presentation and get my work done for CID. However, during the Chingay parade, everybody was bonded together and there was a lively spirit somewhere in the atmosphere. I could not help but joined in the fun too and started cheering along with the rest of the Year 2 batch. Generally, I enjoyed the Chingay parade and I think that we were very lucky to be able to watch it live with our friends because we get to bond together. The Chingay parade showed me that Singapore is a multi-racial country and other races can also celebrate Lunar New Year with us too by performing in the Chingay parade as part of the Lunar New Year celebration. This proves that Singapore is united as one, regardless of race. I like the floats because they were very beautiful and colourful. They really lighted up the whole place and made the Chingay parade appealing to watch. The performers were also very professional, apart from a few who looked lost when they were performing. The performances were all very exciting and some of them had small kids. Nearing the end of the Chingay parade, many of the Year 2 students started standing up and chanting our school's cheer "Strawberry Shortcake Blueberry Pie". I could sense RV's unity and school spirit at that time. Everybody was very hyped up and cheered. Some of the performers were looking at us too and everybody had a smile on their faces. This goes to show that everybody enjoyed the Chingay parade and it brings out the unity in all of us. I hope that the school can bring us to such an event again to experience the unity of not only our school but Singapore.

-Kah Ghee (15)

Chingay Parade 2014 Reflections

When I went to the Chingay Parade, my mind was only focused on completng the CID homework. But I ended up enjoying the show a lot. There were many performances wearing different costumes from different races. It made me realize that even though they were all different people from different walks of life, they were still one Singapore. The floats and dances were very colorful and beautiful and I enjoyed the floats the best. The floats featured the different cultures of different races like Indian, Malay, Chinese, Thai and many more. The floats allowed me to take a closer look at the cultures of the different races and learn how to appreciate them. Then the last segment was about jobs in Singapore. I felt that the conversation. Between the people with differen jobs was very interesting and meaningful. They were talking about their jobs and what they do and despite all their differences, they were still one Singapore. Also, at the end of the parade, our school started to chant our school's signature cheer, "Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry Pie". I was very touched and could not help but chant along and go crazy with the rest of the Year 2s. It really showed me RV's school spirit and unity. It was enjoyable and insightful experience for me and I hope that I can attend something like the Chingay Parade again.

-Jessie (02)

2013 December holidays

During the holidays, I did not really do anything exciting. I mainly stayed at home or go out with my family and friends. During mid-November, my family and I went to Malaysia to visit my family and friends. We stayed there for around 4 days. I really enjoyed myself a lot as it was a time for us to relax and have fun without worrying about anything. The food there was really cheap and delicious too. We mostly went about shopping and going to fun places with our family. The four days quickly went by and soon, it was time to go home. I was really sad and disappointed that our trip ended so quickly. We only get to see our family and friends about once or twice a year and every time we come back to Malaysia, I feel really happy and enjoy myself a lot. I always look forward to the annual trip back to Malaysia. When we reach Singapore, my parents and sister all went back to work after a few days so I was mainly alone at home. Even though it was kind of boring sometimes, I still managed to entertain myself and go out with friends to spend time catching up with one another. I also met up with some of my primary school friends and  caught up with each other. The holidays passed very quickly and soon, the school reopened again. I really look forward to the next holidays!

- Chuah Hui Qing(06)

December 2013 Hols

I didn't have the most eventful Dceember Holidays ever, but I still found myself having a blast. My expectations of myself during the December holidays were to just stay at home burying myself in homework or playing video games every day, but that wasn't the case.

During the December Holidays, I went to Hong Kong with my CCA mates (and a teacher) (and some other additional people from Science Centre) as a reward trip for winning at NJRC 2013. This trip was special as it was the first time I went travelling without my family, but instead with my friends. Apart from being that, it was also the second time I was travelling overseas, my first being about six or seven years ago.

I don't feel like writing a day-after-day diary that documents my entire trip minute detail by minute detail, but I had a greater time than I thought I would. Though I wasn't going to every shopping mall buying everything I could and end up going back to Singapore with an almost-empty wallet, I did enjoy the bonding time I could experience when going out with my friends. We talked about stuff like our childhood, our school lives, and our future love life (um...) while walking, over meals, in the tour bus, et cetera. I really enjoyed visiting all the tourist attractions and making memories of the time I had there. Too bad my phone's battery always died before I could get to any part I wanted to take a photo of.

My first time riding a roller-coaster was also during that trip. I rode on an indoors roller-coaster where the scenery inside was lights out with a few glowing decorations, effects, and things of the like. Turns out despite it being an indoor roller-coaster and all, it felt horrifying. I couldn't do anything, not even scream. All I could do was cling on to the ride, my glasses, my bag, and dear life. I'm never riding in a roller-coaster. Ever.

In a nutshell, this was the entire highlight of my December Holidays in my opinion. Got to travel overseas for the first time in a (very) long time, bond a bit with friends from my CCA, bought some souvenirs from Disneyland home (and a mortifying roller-coaster experience), and overall really enjoyed myself. Maybe that sense of dread of realizing school was starting that came in 20 seconds after countdown on New Years' killed my holiday mood, but not my memories.



-Ian (2G)

Group Photo

From left: Chuah Hui Qing (6), Jessie Boey (2), Oon Kah Ghee (15), Ian Lim (26), Keefe Tan (25)

Poverty in Singapore

Poverty in its simplest form is the lack of the basics necessities required for quality of life. These basics begin with food, clothing, shelter, and clean drinking water. There are many causes of poverty, the main ones in Singapore being the high cost of living and high competition. The main groups of people who are most susceptible poverty are the lower income groups and the elderlies who are not supported by their children.

In Singapore, it is highly unlikely that you will find beggars lining the streets or see starving children walking the pavements, scrounging for food. The poor and needy in our society struggle with “relative poverty” —simply defined as that their financial resources fall substantially below what is needed to pay for the necessities of living in Singapore.

Due to various factors like health issues and family circumstances, they struggle to survive on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, they are caught in a vicious poverty cycle, with little or no means to make a better life for themselves. Their children are often not able to do better than their parents due to lack of access to knowledge and educational support. For example, the child would quit school to work and supplement the family’s income, simply trying to put food on the table.

Mr Ang and his wife, both in their 40s, live in a four-room HDB flat with five children. Their ages range from eight to 23 years old. Mr Ang works as a driver, earning $800 a month, while Mrs Ang is a homemaker.

Four of their children are visually-impaired.

Two of the oldest children attend daycare at the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped. While their fourth child is studying in polytechnic, the third and youngest children have behavioural issues, and are unable to pursue further education.

Some concerns Mr and Mrs Ang have are paying their bills, caregiving and long-term planning for their children’s future.

The above is a true story. And there are more families faced with similar (or worse) situations in Singapore. While most Singaporeans are able to benefit from Singapore’s success as a fast growing economy, there is a segment that gets left behind, living from hand to mouth, struggling to stay afloat.

Begging is illegal here, under the island-nation's Destitute Persons Act, carrying a fine of up to $3,000 or imprisonment for up to two years for repeat offenders.

But poor people can still be found, often selling packets of tissues outside food centers. Or spending the night on benches near their jobs to save the transport fare home(they are commonly called "sleepers").Or collecting empty soft drink cans out of trash bins.

Singapore does not have as high percentages of impoverished residents as those in the less developed world, and its poor tend to go unnoticed amid the country's steel-and-glass opulence.

In a studio apartment officially known as a “one-room flat” in public housing parlance along Circuit Road, 40-year-old Madam Tan Bee Hong takes care of seven children. Her husband, a welder, earns $1,600 a month. He is the sole breadwinner of the household.

Both Madam Tan and her husband did not complete their primary school education. With children ranging from two to 13 years old, she chooses to stay at home.

“If I go out to work, I would have to put the children in childcare, which is too expensive,” she says.

Behind a stellar economic performance and an impressive GDP per capita - highest in the world at $65,048 in 2012 - Singapore is still home to a small but persistent group of people who live from hand to mouth.

These are people left behind because of stagnating wages. Despite prolonged debates over various policies and effort needed to boost their incomes, economist Yeoh Lam Keong says that addressing this issue requires reforms at the institutional level in education, housing, healthcare and immigration policies as it is a long term structural problem.

While the factors impacting the poor’s plight are complicated and often involve systemic issues like housing and employment, and although it may take many generations to overcome, some things can be done. One way is to focus on the younger generation. Programs like money-management workshops allow children to understand the concept of money and how to use it wisely. Upgrading of work skills also allow adults to gain a more competitive edge in the job market, while better coping with economic challenges.

It is critical that the young remain in the education system, and that they receive the best support they can to gain the knowledge and skills for a better future. 

Photo Challenge

a) School spirit

Five ghosts of school spirit

b) Happiness

One of our classmates, Sheryl, is smiling happily while she is bonding with her friends.

c) Fear

Everybody fears homework.

d) Life

Everybody is busy with their own things.

2013 December Holidays

  During the holidays in 2013, I had a great time. I hanged out with my friends and we had a great time bonding together. We went for the movies and had a great time chatting.  When i had free time,i started gaming,watch movies online,chat,cca and alot more. The boys in my class played the same game, so it was fun seeing each other online. We could chat in the game and helped each other out. It was fantastic playing together but I think it's important not to get addicted.    Then,my coach went overseas and my cca was stopped. So once per week, I went to play basketball with my cca mates. Not only could we bond as a team, but we could also practise instead of lying down at home. It was enjoyable and we had joy playing as a team. Secondly, we could also help each other out by pointing out how he could improve.There were lots of advantages in this.

  It came to december then I started doing my homework. There were heaps of it. However, I still went out often and neglected my homework,but thankfully, my friends and I helped each other and we finished it. In this process, we learnt from each other and could also bond as a class and it was marvellous.

  There were 2 months of holidays but it felt like 1 day. I had fun and learnt a lot this holiday and i look forward to the next one.
-Keefe (25)

2013 December holiday

2013 December holiday

During school holiday, I stayed at home most of the time. When I was staying at home, I would read most of the time. I read to increase my knowledge and vocabulary and upgrade myself. The books I read are interesting. However, I don't read hard copy books. I downloaded an application called 'Wattpad' on my iPad. Wattpad has many books but not all the people who wrote the books are real authors. That is one of the reasons why I like reading Wattpad books. We don't need to be a real author to write a book. We can write a book in Wattpad and post it for others to read and enjoy.

I also practised my flute everyday when I was at home. I needed to practise songs and improve my own playing because I am in concert band and my section has very few people so everybody needs to be good in their playing to make the whole band sounds good. It was also fun and enjoyable to be able to play a flute. However, there was a period of time when there was no band practice so my section leader suggested that we should meet up twice a week and practise together so we all could correct one another and give suggestions for improvement. In this way, we could also bond together as a section.

During the holiday, there was also a class outing organized by my class committee. I had fun during the class outing and I think that the class committee did a good job in organizing. Besides that, I also met up with my primary school friends and we went ice skating together. I personally think that it was a good experience as we got to talk and catch up with each other while we played. I really hope that we would still keep in contact.

I also went overseas for a week during the school holiday with my family. We went to Sydney and Melbourne. As we were unfamiliar with the place, we went with a tour group. The tour group was quite small and everyone was friendly. My brother even made a friend the same age as him. We went to lots of places to see nice scenery and unique animals in Australia, like koalas and kangaroos. Although the season there was supposed to be summer during that period, it was so much colder than in Singapore that I even caught a cold. However, when I was walking on the streets, I saw many people not wearing jackets and thick clothes. I was very curious so I asked my mum and she told me they were adapted to the weather in Australia so they won't feel cold naturally. I enjoyed my stay in Australia and I hope to go there again. The culture in Australia is so different from Singapore so I would like to go there again and learn more next time.

Although my holiday was spent quite boringly, I had improved myself and gained many more knowledge during that period of time.

-Oon Kah Ghee (15)

December 2013 Holidays

During the December holidays, I spent the first two weeks of the holidays completing my homework. After I'm done with my homework, I played computer games and read books if I stayed at home. Nothing much happened during the whole of November. 

During December, I went to Bangkok for a holiday with my family and relatives. When we reached on 5 Dec, it was quite late at night so we checked into our hotel and went out to eat a quick dinner. The next day, we first went to an amusement park called Dream World. There we played many rides including a roller coaster, viking ship, haunted house, snow town and watched a 4-D show. We stayed there for the entire afternoon and in the evening, we went to Chocolate Vill. Chocolate Vill is a place to eat, filled with many European style buildings. We went there to eat and to look at the beautiful scenery. Then we went back to the night market near our hotel. After walking around the night market, we went back to the hotel and I found out that someone had stolen my phone. The zip to my bag was open and my handphone was gone. I was extremely upset but there was nothing I could do. I could only blame myself for being careless. On the 7 Dec, we went to Bangkok's floating market. There we saw many people selling food, clothes, bags,souvenirs and many more. We went around the floating market for an hour before we returned back to land. Then we went to a few temples before heading back to the hotel to call it a day. On 8 and 9 Dec, we went shopping at the various shopping centers around out hotel. On the 9 Dec in the evening, we were heading home.

Chocolate Vill

I also celebrated Christmas at my house with all my relatives. We had a party on Christmas Eve and counted down to Christmas. New Year's was also celebrated the same way. On New Year's Day, I didn't do anything in particular other than preparing for school the next day.

- Jessie 2G