Aaron ✈ ▌▌

SELF-INTRODUCTION

Age: 13
Birthday: 8th April 2002
Hobbies: Going out with friends, Listening to music, Gaming

About Me:

My name is Aaron. I am of the age of 13 and turning 14 this year on the 8th of April. I am Singaporean and was born at Thomson Medical Center in the year of 2002. I've been living at Jurong West Street 91, for around a decade now, since a few years after I was born. As you can probably tell, I am a male.

After 6 years of education in Xingnan Primary School, I was enrolled into River Valley High School. During the 6 years in my primary school, I have forged strong bonds and friendships with my classmates each year and created memories that would last for years to come. Joining River Valley High in 2015, which was my dream school due to its ideal close location to my home and also its seemingly good reputation for its academic results and also other aspects, brought me into a new learning environment with people I have not met before. Joining this school was probably the best decision I've made my whole life as I met an awesome bunch of people who I can call friends as we go through thick and thin and overcome all odds to reach where we are today. I am also part of the Volleyball CCA where I can play my favourite sport with my great teammates. I enjoy working with people and also making new friends.

One of my hobbies is probably going out with my friends to hang out, watch movies or even play sports together when we have free time of school to bond and have fun, and when I'm going out with my primary school friends in particular, I am able to talk to them and catch up on how their lives have been.

My next hobby is listening to music. I personally love hip hop music, also known as "rap music" or "black music" as I find it interesting how rappers are able to convey their own life stories/incidents or express their feelings, thoughts and emotions and turn them into a form of a rap (rhythm and poetry) song. When I listen to rap songs, I'm able to understand the story behind the songs and how the rappers felt or thought. It also acts as a form of motivation for me. My all time favourite is Eminem, also known as Marshall Mathers, as he is able to turn his past that was full of pain into songs that tells his life stories that makes people understand how he felt when a particular incident happened, and he does this so well. He also went against all odds to become the first successful "white" rapper that people of the world acknowledge due to him never giving up when he fails.

My last hobby is "playing" computer games. Personally, I don't see it not being a "feasible" career or dream like most people would see it as these "games" have big tournaments with big prize pools that have people playing it on a competitive level who have a career just by playing that particular game competitively as their profession. As time goes on, the e-sports scene is growing bigger and bigger and I see it as probably one of the biggest things that is to come in the next few years. My dream is to probably be able to have a e-sports career and prove to everyone that if you are determined to achieve something, anything is possible.

My Holiday:

My holiday was not very spectacular. Other than finishing homework/assignments given to us by our teachers and catching up on my weaker subjects, I was involved in the Wushu Mass Display for RV60. Throughout the holiday, there were many rehearsals for us due to the large number of students involved in our section of performance. Thus, it was often very tiring and exhausting after hours of practice. However, it was, in my opinion, worth it as we managed to see the success of our performance on the actual day itself. Surely, everyone heaved a sigh of relief after our performance ended. I also had to go back for CCA training sessions at times but due to the clash in timing of RV60 and my CCA, I often had to go for RV60 as it takes priority over CCA. Lastly, I managed to have some time spent with my family and friends to go out to bond and have fun eg. playing sports, watching movies, etc. Overall, the holidays was pretty hectic and I barely had time for myself to do the things that I want as I was occupied with something else most of the time.

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Picture Of The Swing At "Scholars' Court"

Life is like a ride on the swing. When you're born, your family helps you to build the foundation of this swing. As you grow older, day by day, you will build upon this foundation laid down by your family as the swing grows bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And one day, you will eventually finish building this swing. Throughout the many years in your life, many people will join you on this swing, be it your classmates, schoolmates, close friends or even just friends in general, and many will decide to leave you too. These people on the swing with you will accompany you through your ups and downs, overcome challenges with you, and always be there when you need them most. They go through thick and thin with you, treat you with respect, encourage you, cheer you up when you're sad, and help you solve your problems to the best of their abilities. They share the happiness of your successes, the sadness of your failures, and the joy and laughter from the moments spent just with you. Seeing you smile makes them happy, and seeing you cry will make them sad. Through your tough times, they will always be with you, willing to overcome all difficulties with you.

Family and teachers, also play an equally important role in our lives. They are like the support of this swing and the drive behind the swing that keeps us going, and motivate us to be the best that we can be. When we feel like stopping, they will always be there to encourage and help us, and give us the "push" that we need to go even further, and reach even greater heights than we expect ourselves to be able to achieve. The unconditional love from our parents, the patience of the teaching by our teachers, are surely something we all should be grateful of, as if its not for them, we wouldn't know where we would be today. They give us the courage and the confidence in whatever we do, and support us even when the whole world might be turning against us. They help us in the pursuit of our dreams as we reach out for the stars, and ask us to hold on when we don't succeed and never, ever give up trying.

As years goes by, everyone will eventually grow old, and the people that accompanied you throughout the many years of our life will also leave you sooner or later, and the force behind the swing that allows you to press on will weaken day by day. And one day, you might just find yourself alone on that swing, with nobody else in sight, and thats when the swing, will finally stop.

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Poverty & Happiness

Related Or Not?  

Is poverty and happiness related in any way? Does being wealthy necessarily mean that people will be happy? Well, unfortunately, that is usually not the case. But why, you may ask? Doesn't being wealthy mean that you can buy whatever you want, and make everything convenient for yourself? And doesn't that make a person happy? Well, yes, to a certain extend, but it does not make a person truly happy.

Singapore is renowned for being one of the richest countries in the world. It has the 7th highest GDP per capita in the world and have the highest percentage of millionaires of 17% in its population. However, reports have shown that Singaporeans are not happy when compared to other countries. Being wealthy does not mean that you will certainly be happy. Some things just can't be bought by money. Things like your relationship with your family and relatives, friendship with the people around you, and happiness and memories from the times spent together with them. Being financially successful is equally important as learning how to be happy. Singaporeans tend to sacrifice what is truly important to them for the sake of making more money. We take on jobs which we don't have a passion for, just because of the higher pay that we would receive and future prospects. We sacrifice the time we could have spent with the important people around us because we are too blinded by what we think truly defines happiness— financial success. In the long run, we feel unsatisfied and unhappy in our fancy clothing and accessories, and expensive property, because we were unable to realise that happiness cannot be determined by one's wealth which we made many sacrifices for. Money without family and friends, and enjoying what you do is worthless and ultimately, failure. We are also "structured" to focus on the problems instead of strengths, what is missing instead of what we have and should be grateful for, while other countries look at things at a more positive perspective, which is why they are generally more happy and grateful for what they have even when living in simplicity.This is also why Singaporeans are also quite well known for blaming and complaining about things when we have much more to be happy about.

All this factors ultimately affects why Singaporeans tend to be more unhappy than happy. Only when Singaporeans are able to change their mindsets of having to be able to 'achieve to be happy' to having to 'happily achieve', will we be able to truly live our lives and be happy for who we are and what we have.

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Chingay 2016 Reflections

"Airborne Stage"

Chingay Parade 2016, themed "Lights Of Legacy, Brighter Singapore" is the 44th year that this parade have been held for with more than 8000 participants from various Singapore communities since the first Chingay Parade on February 19, 1973, and this year is a special year, as it celebrates 50 years of Singapore's independence as a nation and the opening of a new chapter as we strive towards another 50 years of success. It also celebrates the hard work and commitment of our founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew and other founding fathers and the values that they embodied such as Racial and Religious Harmony, Caring for one another, Resilience and Meritocracy that made Singapore what it is today from just a small fishing village.

"Lights Of Legacy, Brighter Singapore"

 February 19 1973, was the day the first ever Singapore Chingay Parade was held, partially due to the ban on firecrackers a year ago in 1972. To address the issue of the lowered festive mood of the people, the People's Association and the Singapore National Pugilistic Association decided to organise a street parade from Jalan Besar to Outram Park that featured floats, acrobatics, Chinese traditional lion and dragon dances, stilt walkers to bring back the festive cheer of the people. It first started with mostly the Chinese taking part in the parade but it gradually shifted towards a more multi-racial parade when the Malay and Indian communities starting joining into the performances in 1977, and also started inviting overseas groups to join in as well to better strengthen the core values that our founding fathers all believed in.

First Chingay Parade in 1973

  In my opinion, the organisers have successfully fulfilled the purpose as they managed to bring together everyone in Singapore regardless of what race they are, what language they speak and what religion they believe in, and even bring in our fellow overseas friends to join in the parade performances as well that truly promotes racial harmony and working today as one Singapore towards a brighter Singapore through the well-planned series of performances by various groups of participants and also involving the spectators as part of the performance through the "sea of lights" caused by the LED mini light bulbs that brought the everyone at the event together and united as one.

Japanese Community

Malay Community

As the years progresses, Chingay has become Singapore's unique tradition and is no stranger to us Singaporeans. Everyone looks forward to it every Lunar New Year, with spectators up to 180 000 expected to turn up this year. This year theme is "Lights Of Legacy, Brighter Singapore". As the name suggests, this year's Chingay is the brightest ever with the biggest full-scale illuminated show and inspired by our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's legacy that he had left behind, and the core values that he embodied that hopes to bring Singapore onward for another 50 years. The illuminated performance included 3 000 Singaporeans, each wearing costumes with bright LED lights, accompanied by dazzling floats that read "Voyage SG 100" and "Lights Of Legacy, Brighter Singapore" and LED prop used by the participants of the performance, and not to forget, the fantastic large scale lighting effects and breath-taking fireworks that shone the lights in the darkness and performances that included stunning aerial acts and colourful multi-ethnic performances. The spectators were also given each a LED mini light bulb, that filled the venue with blinking, shiny lights. The whole sight was stunningly beautiful. These lights presents Singapore's confidence in continuing the journey towards a brighter and better Singapore. I could feel that each and every one of us at the event somewhat shared a bond and connected with one another as we celebrated a national milestone and the beginning of a new journey.

"Voyage SG 100" Float & LED Lighted Participants

Overall, this year's Chingay performance was a huge success and is shown through the hard work and commitment displayed by each and every single one of the participants in practicing and almost perfecting their performances to bring us Singaporeans a spectacular performance that will be forever etched in Singaporeans' minds. It also delivers an important message that we should never take our previous successes for granted and should strive together as a nation towards creating a better future for many generations to come. Lastly, big thanks and props to all who participated in the performances and giving it your best.

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3,2,1,Reflect! 

 3 Things I Found Out:

1. The possible rationale behind the implementation of China's One Child Policy and Singapore's Two Child Policy.

2. The direct and indirect consequences of the child restriction policy in both short and long term.

3. Posters are designed and put up to help publicize the implementation of such policies.

2 Perceptions I Have Gained:

1. It is difficult and challenging to convey your message and convince the public through the usage of posters.

2. We must not only see the short term effects but also be able to foresee the difficulties or consequences we might face in the long run.

1 Question I Still Have:

1. Why did it take about 35 years for the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) to realise the consequences of their One Child Policy and finally decided to change it?

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Should Singapore Be Complacent Of Her Achievements?

I think that Singapore should not be complacent despite her achievements. High achievements and good progress need hard work and a lot of time put in to be able to accomplish it. Being complacent will only do harm to the country because Singapore will become an incompetent country when compared to other big nations like China and the United States. This will cause us to lack behind other progressing countries and not allow us to improve on other areas of our country to achieve even greater heights.

China has retained its title as the world's busiest container port for a fifth consecutive year and this time widening the gap with Singapore as the second world's busiest container port. The lead by China has increased to around 1.3 million boxes than the initial 1 million boxes. Shanghai, Shenzhen and other ports in China are also dominating the global container-shipping market. This shows that China has successfully made more even progress than Singapore throughout the years in the area of container-shipping and Singapore will have to do much more in order to catch up with its leading competitor and other competitors who are catching up to dominant the global container-shipping market and do better than them. 

The communist leaders of China are taking lessons and learning from Singapore on how to develop an economy under one-party rule and tackle possible problems such as transportation, environment, health care and waste disposal. They are also keen to learn about how Singapore see things from an international perspective and gain knowledge on crisis management and services. This is because of the successful development as a hub of the Southeast Asian economy during decades of People's Action Party rule and how they have help Singapore overcome some of the nation's problems which are similar to those in China. Despite this, Singapore should not take this success and prosperity for granted and should continue to strive harder to improve on what we have achieved as a nation and be prepared to overcome various challenges that are to come in the future.

 Being complacent of our achievements may also cause misunderstanding and disharmony between countries and this tension will not do any good to the relationship between them. The Vice President of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla, said that Indonesia should not have to apologise to its neighbours for the haze and instead should be thankful for the months of fresh air that the nation's forests have brought. I agree with him to an extend that we should learn to be grateful for what we have and not be fully putting all the blame on Indonesia for its forest fires and haze as there are also other factors that are not being taken into account for this. Singapore should avoid conflicts and disputes with other nations to strengthen relationships and promote harmony between them which may help us when we face a crisis and in need of help.

We should also not be complacent of our achievements as we will also have to overcome other problems that we will face in the future and should not take our current success for granted as we move forward towards a brighter future for Singapore. Current problems that are surfacing include climate change as one of  our environment problems. Dry spells cause reservoir water levels to drop below normal and the plants around the nation were turning brown. Lalang and forest fires fires spark all over Singapore and this problem was so severe we almost had to do water rationing. Fortunately, with the aid of our desalination plants and NEWater output, we managed to pull over the crisis. However, we should stay vigilant and expect more of these kind of droughts,  heavy rains at unusual timings and we must be able to cope with it and overcome the problem. Singaporeans have to put together a collective effort and take responsibility in the shaping of our and future generation's future. Everyone plays a part in protecting our environment, our home, and let our actions speak for our words.

As much as China learning from Singapore's ways of overcoming our initial problems, Singapore is also learning as much from China and their methods of governing the country. Singapore has to work hard to stay relevant and competent to other countries. By working with China, we can continue to bring our countries to higher levels and upgrading it by making necessary changes that will benefit our country. We should remain humble and not be complacent in order to learn our countries strengths and turn it into our own country's strength. Singapore will have to constantly evolve and adapt to deal with the changes in the demanding needs of the country. Doing nothing will result in Singapore becoming irrelevant and eliminated from the global stage.

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Singapore: Blast From The Past!

As we now relish the harvest of our founding fathers in the 21st century, we ought to reminisce about Singapore's amazing tale of a sleepy fishing village that defied all odds to prove others wrong and transform itself to become a first-world metropolis. A story full of twist and turns, ups and downs, tears and bloodshed.
Singapore was once just an island at the end of a peninsula, but trade flourished under the British colonial rule after modern Singapore was founded in the 19th century, it turned into an important entrepot trade hub, attracting immigrants from all over the world.
After World War II, Singapore was led into self-government due to the increasing nationalism, with the People's Action Party winning the first elections and Mr Lee Kuan Yew taking the position of the prime minister. Despite PAP's successes in governing Singapore, Singapore still faced problems such as the lack natural resources, declining entrepot trade and job scarcity. Thus, deciding to campaign for merger with Malaya, in hopes of turning the situation around.
Finally, in 1963, they merged to form Malaysia. However, instead of what PAP thought that this would benefit the economy greatly, there was a increase in racial tensions, ultimately leading into fights and riots, taking lives of many and breaking families across the country. This had to lead to the separation from Malaysia and leaving us in the sea of wildness, uncertain of whats ahead in the future for Singapore.
Nonetheless, Mr Lee didn't give up hope. He grasped all the help that he could get, and build this whole country from scratch, pushing us from the bottom all the way to the top, with skyrocketing economy, jobs for everyone and the welfare of the people taken care of.
Today, Singapore is a prosperous nation, all thanks to the hard work of our founding fathers, that make Singaporeans proud to be Singaporeans. We have a unique story that no others have, that we hold close to our heart, that motivates us to thrive even harder, and carry on this legacy that our noble founding fathers have left behind. If not for them, where would Singapore be today?

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Pre-Trip Reflection

Shantang Street in Suzhou, China

With just merely three days left to our trip to Suzhou, China, we ought to have in mind our expectations and goals for this valuable learning trip. We should reflect on what we have analyzed from the resources that were provided by the internet, and what know what we would like to find out more and draw a comparison to Singapore and the information given by the various online sources.  

I believe that this trip will provide us with many new and interesting learning experiences, but only if we are able to grasp the many opportunities given to us and overcome the inner fear that might be holding us back from developing ourselves to become better, stronger and more confident individuals. Who knows when would we ever get such opportunities to try out the many different things that are outside of our comfort zone. Thus, I hope that the class would be able to seize every opportunity ahead of us and strive to be more proactive and willing to experiment new things that may not be commonly seen in the practices of Singaporeans. Also, it is a rare chance for the class to be more bonded together and bring everyone together as a class, as one 2G.

I expect this trip to be able to add on many more interesting facts to my prior knowledge of China, their unique Chinese culture passed on from generations to generations, their practices and beliefs, through the visiting of museums and viewing of artifacts, places of high historical value and getting to know more about its history or culture, and how it has contributed to the success of China today. Apart from its long history and authentic Chinese culture, I would also wish to find out more on China's governing system, trade development (economic policies), environment conservation efforts, and their education system. 

I look forward to having the exchange with the students from China, as it not only provides us with some information about their education system, which we can later compare with Singapore's education system, but also provide us with some insights on their practices and beliefs, and their living conditions. From that, we can also see a difference between the lives of a teenager in China and in Singapore. I am also excited to visit some of the famous streets and places, for example, the Shantang Street which has more than a thousand years of history and an astonishing night scenery, and get to know about its history and the story behind its existence, accumulating with the background knowledge that I have already gotten through online researches.

Ending off, I would like to discuss some of the questions that I would like to ask and find out more about Suzhou and China as a whole. Firstly, I would like to ask about the rationale behind some of China's "infamous" policies, namely the two child policy, etc, and the current state of the government. Secondly, I would also like to ask about their success in implementing economic policies that allow China's economy to skyrocket, and how they are going to address the implications of its growing economy, pertaining to social issues when the top 10% oppresses the bottom 90%, decreasing employment rates and environmental problems (climate change). Finally, in what ways in their planning of the education of the future generations, help to produce capable leaders and individuals that uphold strong moral values.

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 Post-Trip Reflection!

Year 2 Suzhou OELP
Name	School	Class	Stream	Period of Internationalization Experience	Country of Visit
Aaron Chee Zhen Ming	River Valley High School	2G	Integrated Programme	20 May to 26 May 2016	China
Reflections: I chose to go on this trip, because I did not want to miss such a golden opportunity provided by the school to go overseas and experience the living conditions and culture in China, to learn beyond our textbooks, and get to know more about the Chinese’s traditional practices and beliefs first hand, through conversations and exchange of knowledge, trying out new things, etc. When I chose to go on this trip, I entrusted myself with my own learning, and that I will grasp every chance to improve myself as a person and my seemingly little knowledge, compared to what lies in this big world. I strived to be more proactive, and try to maximize every moment during this trip, to learn, to evolve as a person. I hope to be able to learn more about the traditional and authentic Chinese culture, their practices and beliefs, and also their governing system, their policy decision making, their education system for the younger generations, and the standard of living of the working men and women of their country. Are they living on minimal wages and living in poverty? Are they able to afford proper healthcare? Are they able to send their kids to college?  One thing I feel strongly about, is that the Chinese people there, are mostly very friendly and kind, and are very willing to help one another and always spare a thought for others. They treat one another just like family, regardless whether they know you or not, converse like they’ve known for years, and make them (and me) feel the warmth of what we call home. It makes me truly understand what it means to be one country, one people, and that we are all in this together. One person that taught me more than what I could achieve in class, is definitely the tour guide. She was very willing to share her wide knowledge of China and its culture, and made this learning trip a more fruitful one as a whole. However, I would like to specially mention a person that has also helped me get more insights on China, who is my buddy’s father. He was kind enough to share some interesting facts about China, specifically Suzhou, their history, how was life like back then, which aided me in my learning, in one way or another. One thing that I’ve learnt that impacted me the most, is from my buddies’ fathers, which is no matter what, what is most important to us, is to lead a happy, healthy and fulfilling life, and spend time with the people that truly means everything to us. I feel that we are often too blinded by the fact that in order to be successful in life, we need to have a high paying job, many branded cars, big houses, etc, and that in our journey of pursuing our materialistic aspirations, we forget about what life is truly about, and what is the meaning of life.  In future, I will definitely be more appreciative of the culture and history of different countries, as each of them has their own stories, their values, their lessons, their messages, which they wish to convey to their people. While we strive to advance forward, we ought to remember the past and the people who sacrificed their lives for the greater good of the country and the people, who brought us to where we are today. I hope that not only the government, but also each and every one of us, will do whatever we can, to preserve, to protect, and defend our history, our story, and pass it on to the future generations. I hope to bring back from this trip, the importance of preserving our unique culture and history, and that industrialization is harming the environment that we live in. Climate change is real. The world needs to start cutting down on carbon emissions, and start taxing fossil fuel companies for the harm that they are doing to the environment. We need to transform our energy system, away from fossil fuels, into energy efficiency and clean, sustainable energy, such as solar and wind energy, or mankind will forever disappear from the face of the Earth.

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OELP TRIP TASK

Trip Task 1 (Cost Of Living):

The $10 Supermarket Challenge!

In Singapore, with SGD$10 (RMB$50), you can buy 20 bottles of Mineral Water (from NTUC)! That is SGD$0.50 (RMB$2.50) for each bottle!

(Each bottle is 550ML)

However, in China, with RMB$50 (SGD$10), you can buy a whooping 100 bottles of Mineral Water! Each bottle cost RMB$0.50 (SGD$0.10!) and is also 550ML. 

Level of Satisfaction of The Standard/Cost Of Living

From my buddy and his family's perspective: 

They are able to support and provide for themselves, which include proper housing, electricity with essential electrical appliances, food and clean drinking water, clothing, sending their kids to school for an education, etc. (which probably means that they are not living in poverty and having minimal wages). Thus, they are somewhat satisfied with the standard of living as they have the essentials to live a simple and good life.

From the tour guide's perspective:

She did not really specify to what extend she is satisfied with the standard of living in China, but she did mentioned a good point. She said that due to the difference in the average middle-class wage in both Singapore and China, it is difficult to conclude whether a country has a higher cost of living than the other. I believe that we should all take this major factor into consideration before coming to a final conclusion. (Singapore's average wage is higher than that of China's)

Supermarket: Similar Or Different?

Similarities:

Goods are categorised in their various sections. (Category panels are also put in place for consumers to direct themselves to the various specific sections)

Plastic bags are available if you so wish to use them.

Cashiers are mostly very old or rather young.

Differences:

The manufactured goods are categorised and organised more neatly in Singapore than in China. Category panels are also placed more consistently and in places where it is "easier to spot" for consumers' convenience sake in Singapore than in China. China's goods are also mostly manufactured locally, as they do have the ability to do so. (China plays a big role and dominates in the global manufacturing of products)

Consumers are charged for plastic bags almost everywhere (not just in supermarkets!) in China while plastic bags are not commonly seen charged in Singapore in order to not "deter" customers away as it poses an inconvenience for consumers. Plastic bags are also in a sense given arbitrarily in Singapore, which poses a huge threat to the environment. I believe that Singapore, can too, learn from China and play a part in protecting our environment, for the sake of the future generations of mankind.

I believe that in terms of the cashiers' service (politeness/attitude towards customers, billing efficiency, providing bags/helping to bag sold goods, etc.), Singapore has done an arguably better job providing a more pleasant experience for consumers than China. This may be due to the fact that in order to increase the efficiency of which customers can pay for their products (because of the large number of customers per day), they are willing to sacrifice some of the quality of their service, which in my opinion is a reasonable trade-off. 

Trip Task 2 (Education):

Observe. What Do You See?

 The teacher uses a very captivating way of teaching, which is able to grab the attention of the students and engage them in the lesson, by asking questions that guides the students' path of thinking, keeping the students thinking about the rationale behind a particular thing, giving time for students to lay out what they currently know and plot their thoughts, etc. The students are generally very well behaved during lesson time and pays rather close attention to what the teacher is currently talking about. Something more important to note, is that the students there do not shy away from asking questions/clearing doubts, they are not afraid to make mistakes (like my buddy, although he "made a fool of himself" during class) and getting involved in the discussions that are currently taking place. I think that Singaporean students are too afraid of making mistakes, because they do not want to feel ashamed or become a laughing stock of their peers, which is, in my opinion, a big reason as to why talent potential is limited or "capped", and we cannot maximize our full potential to achieve greater things. The classroom learning environment is very conducive, with air-conditioning, amazing BenQ screen displays, and long whiteboards for both teachers and students' convenience. (soundproof walls would have been a great touch-up, though not fully necessary) However, I've realised that their infrastructure are rather weak and already crumbling, in fact, not only their school, but most parts of the country is suffering from bad infrastructure buildings. One great example, was during a class lesson in Lida Middle School. Apparently, the front door of the classroom was broken, and the school had to ask a worker to come and fix the issue. However, the worker was busy hammering away on the door, which caused great disturbance to the concentration of the students and the lesson that was taking place at that moment in time.

Their School Life Story

Living in a tensed and competitive learning environment, always stressed to surpass their peers to lay a good foundation for their future.

Learning of their own traditional and authentic Chinese culture, practices and beliefs.

Playing of sports (mainly basketball) with peers during free time to relief stress from studies.

 

Students are provided with good platforms and facilities to develop and showcase their skills. There are many opportunities given to perform their individual talents.

Youth & School Culture 

 It is said to be that they are rather sporty, and prefer to play sports like basketball most of the time, in school or during free time. My buddy and his father also mentioned that it is a very competitive environment in school, and there is much "tension" between peers and the stress to surpass one another in their studies, as "only 33% to 50% of secondary students can move on to high school", quoted from them, and only being in the top 50% will "secure" you a spot to receive a higher level of education. Thus, resulting in stiff competition among students for opportunities to prove their high caliber. This has its pros and cons, with one of the pros being that it compels students to be motivated and work hard for their own future, which will be able to maximize each and every one of their potential, and greatly increase productivity and develop more scholars/leaders and highly skilled talents that are soon-to-be the assets of the working class of the country. However, I believe that each and every student, deserves the right and the chance to receive a higher level of education, and take charge of their own future, not just the top 50%, who are presumed to be "better" and more "useful" for the society, than the bottom 50%, which is not always the case. I think that all students, should have access to a quality education, and have equal access to educational resources. Every student, should be given equal opportunities to develop their individual talents, and be able to seek help from teachers in school or out of school (via consultation, tuition, etc.), without landing themselves in high student loan debt, and not being able to support themselves and their family, after graduating from universities and entering the work force.

 What Can RV Learn From Lida?

I personally think that RV can adapt to how Lida is able to create a conducive environment for learning, through the installation of air-conditioning (and possibly soundproof walls), having more and improving on our facilities to meet the needs of the students and their learning (such as having long whiteboards for teachers and students to write on, having screen displays for PowerPoint slides installed behind the sliding whiteboards to save space, etc.), and also the methods that the teachers adapt to engage the students into the lesson and guide the students' line of thinking, which can improve the students' understanding significantly.

Trip Task 3 (Heritage & Monuments):

Think, Reflect!

狮子林，苏州 (Lion Grove Garden, Suzhou）

 今年我校特地安排了每个中二的学生参加一个中国的学习之旅。我很荣幸能够去到中国学习他们的传统习俗和文化，也很感谢我校给我这次机会让我扩大我的眼界。我的班被派到苏州，江苏省的大城市之一，因为它的花园和保留好的传统建筑物和老街而出名。在苏州的七天里，我们去了许多有名的地方，有观前街，山塘街，苏州博物馆，等等不能错过的历史地点。但我觉得最能够代表苏州的地方是狮子林。这是因为它有效地体现出了中国的传统文化，有古早的建筑物设计、汉字和吉祥动物的雕刻、和展现出了以前中国设计风格，有山、有水、有树、等等。这符合了苏州著名的原因的其中之一：它保留下的中国文化特色。狮子林是一个和尚在元朝时段建立的。今日，它因为它像狮子的太湖石而出名。这些充满太湖石的石窟有一个九条路线，串过二十一个山洞和有三个层次的迷宫。我和同学们有了一个很愉快的“探险之旅”，但差一点就迷路了！导游也和大家分享了不少知识和这里的故事。其中有一个很“有趣”的故事。清朝乾隆皇帝曾多次游览狮子林，而为这个花园写了三个字，“真有趣”。但因为有一个人夸皇帝的字写得好，尤其是那个“有”字，所以决定把这个字赐给他，现在只剩下“真趣”这两个字。
 

Heritage VS Modernisation

What if one day, modernisation takes control over the progress of this world, and all of the heritage and culture is neglected, no longer preserved or protected and is demolished for urban development and economical progress? How will we answer to the future generations of mankind, when they ask about what happened in the past, about how life was back then, about our past practices and beliefs? Each culture is unique and different from each other. It carries its own stories, beliefs, ideas, values and messages that it wishes to convey to its people. Our culture forms part of our identity, who we are as a person, and how similar or different we are from one another. Our culture forms our past, our stories, our memories, and our history. Without the past, how would we be here today, and even advance towards the future? The past, allows us to reflect on prior events and experiences, and plan more smartly for what lies ahead of us. Hence, it is of paramount importance, to preserve, protect and defend our unique culture and heritage, that can never be replaced or recreated by modernisation and technology.