Jing Han (─‿─)

OELP trip reflection day 6

Back to Shanghai, and here we have the Old French Concession（法租界）.We didn't stay there for a particularly long time, just enough to walk around and look. The buildings looks out of place, mainly because they are well, French. The styles of buildings are different, with the two-storied buildings with arching windows. The buildings have shops, of course, mainly restaurants. These restaurants weren't the ones we ate at, but rather  they were foreign restaurants, selling steak, salads, the works. As we walked around, I noticed that there were a lot of youngsters, all dressed up and dining with their friends. I think that was the government's plan, wasn't it? The Old French Concession dates back to the times when the French occupied parts of China, and thus their type of buildings were built. Though the space that it occupies is quite large, and many buildings could be built there, the government keeps them to this day, and I guess it wasn't only because they look pretty. No, I feel that this place was for youngsters to gather, and realize the magnitude of the fact that the French has gotten the opportunity to build actual buildings there. Even if they learnt that they were there, it isn't enough to know, it's the fact that they are able to see it that matters. It is to build a sense of pride and nationalism, I guess. Though it wasn't a particularly glorious time in China's history, it still is part of it, and that is why the buildings are there- to remind them, China had once fallen to the West, and it may happen again. That's why you have to protect and love this country for all your worth.

The view from the Oriental Pearl Tower （东方明珠塔）, is stunning to say the least. The height of this majestic tower is 468 meters in total, or 4.68 km for maximum effect. This picture was taken at the sightseeing floor, which was 263m in the air. That is very high(needless to say, but I honestly still can't wrap my head around it). It is a TV tower, actually, and I was unaware of it. Classified as an AAAAA tourist spot by the Chinese government, there was quite a lot of people. We could see Shanghai's more prominent buildings from here, as well as the Huangpu river, which we had previously travelled on. It was quite hazy, so we could not see much, but I thought that the haze/fog gave the scene and eerie feeling that I liked. Seeing the view from above, there really was a different feeling. The feeling that I felt from so far above was majestic, and I cannot quite out my finger on it, but if I was a Chinese native to China, I would feel proud if how far this city has come. From a mere trading port to a modern city, the difference was due to the effort put in. And look at us now. We're tourists, and we're overlooking the city, along with many others. I think this truly speaks a lot about how far China as a whole has come.


OELP trip reflection day 5

Ah, Dong Men Quan Alley, how much I love you. This place was arguably what all of us had been waiting for. Of course, we didn't even know what it was at first, but when we first entered, wow, this is heaven. Dong Men Quan Alley is basically a shopping haven, with two rows of shops and alleys leading to different places. This street seemed to stretch out forever, and two hours wasn't enough to finish walking this long road. This was what my classmates had been waiting for- a place  to shop and buy souvenirs for their loved ones. As we walked as a group, and walked, and walked, the shops were very similar at first, all selling almost the same stuff. But as we headed further in, the variety of shops grew, and soon enough, we were buying things we couldn't find in Singapore, or was expensive in Singapore. For example, I think at least half the class bought something from a shop called Teahouse. As the name implies, it sold tea that smelled heavenly. Upon sniffing the tea leaved, it lead many of my class mates, including me, to buy a can. And it only costs 25 yuan per can! Of course, this place wasn't only a plain shopping street, the buildings of the shop were not ordinary, but traditional. The gate of this alley dates back to the Qing dynasty, while the place itself was built in the Ming dynasty. It is one of Yangzhou's protected old streets. It used to be a place where salt merchants of hue he past gathered, presumably to sell their goods. The buildings that we see could very well be their home. By making it a shopping street of sorts , it attracts the new generation to go there. While shopping, they can still notice the difference in architecture, and  know that this place has a long history.

One of the places we visited in the fifth day was the former residence of Zhu Zi Qing （朱自清）, a famous being known for his short stories. It was quite a small house, bigger than any of ours, of course. There was an area dedicated to panels of his life, and they were quite insightful. I gleamed quite a bit of information through this visit, and I finally know why he is so famous. Not only did he write, he was also a staunch lover of his country, and was one of the pioneers in modernizing China during the 1920s. He died due to starvation, as he refused America's aid, and thus didn't eat rice that they gave. All this happened a long time ago, and yet we still remember him. He is long gone, and yet his house was preserved. I know, some people think that this is a waste of space, as you can built new houses in that space. However, the government had a reason as to why they didn't demolish this place. It is a place with historical value. Zhu Zi Qing loved his country, and the government wanted the new generation to remember that this country was built by people like him (Also, he was a communist). They government wanted the new generation to remember, this country was built with sweat and tears, and people died because of that cause. Upon remembering how their country came about, they might become more loyal to their country, because they couldn't let down those who sacrificed their lives for theirs to be better.

OELP trip reflection day 4

We went into the room unsure of what was going to happen next, just that we were to perform. We went into that room, and were pleasantly surprised when the the Shuren students kicked off the slew of performance with a play. Then, there was a video, showing the making of the famous Salted Duck Egg. Different cultures, different food. The making of that was to immerse the egg in damp, salted yellow soil for a long period of time. When the soil is removed and the eggs cleaned and opened, the inside  yolk would be a glorious orange. These eggs were native to China, but the method of using yellow soil instead of charcoal was native to Yangzhou. Shuren school gave us an egg each, and all of us were excited to taste the egg. However, as the performances wasn't finished, we couldn't eat it. We handled it with care, and some of us even nestled it with tissue paper in their bag. We could only taste it during lunch.  The shell was easy to break, but the egg whites stuck to the shell, so it was very hard to eat them. The yolk,however, really was a deep orange colour, and was slightly liquid. I bit into the egg, and found that it was salty. Like drink-5- glasses-of-water salty. Needless to say, I wasn't accustomed to the taste, and neither were my peers. As it was really too salty for us, many of us left almost 3/4 of the egg lying there, uneaten. They had once said that it was a delicacy in Yangzhou, and I guess you would only learn to like only if you lived in Yangzhou itself.

Calligraphy has been an important part of Chinese culture for as long as the history books record. Calligraphy, in itself, is merely writing words, emphasizing every stroke of the brush, and expressing  out the meaning of the word. It looks hard, and it is hard, especially for someone with terrible handwriting( like me). Before we got to dip our brushes in ink, we watched a video. In that video, it shows how our current Chinese characters have developed over the years, from a rough sketch of the object in question, to a variety of different strokes. Not only that, when writing calligraphy, there are several ways to go around doing it. A certain way might drag every stroke, leading to joined dots and lines, while some are clear cut, every stroke precise. Also, though we are using the current set of Chinese characters, this doesn't mean that calligraphy is only limited to this particular set. A person can utilize a brush to write characters that haven't been used for hundreds of years, and yet express it wonderfully. To me, that is the beauty of calligraphy. No matter if you don't know how to read the words,you can somehow understand from the way that it is being written. Singapore doesn't have such a culture. We learn about it, and try it out, but it isn't truly ours. Then again, Singapore has a relatively short history of only 50 years, and cannot compare to China's 1000+. Though, I believe if given time, Singapore just might come up with its own unique art form and culture.

OELP trip reflection day 3

 This was the day We first visited Shuren （树人）school. Upon reaching, I was dumbfounded. Of course, the teachers had already said the school was bigger than ours, but  I certainly didn't expect it to be this big. The foyer itself, which was the first thing we saw, was huge. Red banners hung down, and a LED screen broadcasted messages welcoming us to Shuren school. The building was 5 stores high, and stretched out to occupy our entire vision. A camera couldn't capture the entire scene without using the panorama feature. When we alighted from the bus, we were immediately herded to a lift(!), which led is to a room with a screen in front, and the projector above us was projecting a live lesson that was being conducted in the classroom in just beside us. We observed the lesson for one hour, and I realized several similarities and differences. The teachers in both schools utilized the projector and screen, as well as PowerPoint slides, and the students greets the teacher before the lesson is conducted. Discussion time is given as well, and the students participate.As for the differences, the class is bigger for one, with around 40 students in a cramped classroom. The class number is large due to a large population, so that makes sense. There was one difference that I admired. The students were all paying attention, and they seemed to understand everything. When called on to answer questions, they did so promptly, and did not seem reluctant to voice out their opinion, unlike in Singapore, where students go through a mini dilemma before giving their answers. Apart from that, the class was very serious, and there didn't seem to be much laughter and humor. This, I disliked. I found the class boring and uninteresting, simply because there didn't seem to be a "brain break", where students and the teacher laugh because of some small incident. If I had to sit through a whole day like that, I probably wouldn't learn any thing.

From the reactions, I gather that all of us were soundly impressed by their school garden. And by garden, I mean park. It was huge! Though we didn't see a lot of students there, there were still some who walked in a group, or in pairs, happily chatting with one another. The makeup of the garden was beautiful, with a pond and a mini waterfall. Not only that, there were various species of trees (eg. Apple) and flowers. The principal told us that most some of the plants were planted by Shuren's very own students, and this lead me to think about the similarities between Shuren and Rivervalley. We have a mandatory task every year for VIA (values in actions), and I remember our year 1 task was to plant a certain plant, and take care of it for the whole year. Well, at least it was supposed to be like that. I don't know what happened, but in the end, nothing was planted. Anyway, I think there is an emphasis on plants in both schools. Plants as in the importance of them. We have a mini Eco-garden in school, where different species of plants are planted. There is also a small pond amongst the greenery. While our garden was much, much, much smaller them theirs, I think the point of them being planted is the same. To me, both aims to promote how useful green plants are to us. They serve as scenery, to look at when we get really stressed, or after a string of boring lessons. Other than that they  have educational purposes as well. Students get to learn about the different species of plants, and how they look like.


OELP trip reflection day 2

Next, we went to Geyuan  Garden （个园）, where bamboo grew everywhere, and formed a canopy above us, sheltering us from the weak sunlight. It was built a long time ago, during the Ming dynasty, when a wealthy merchant decided to build his home on plot of land, surrounded by bamboo, which he called "loyal". The house is not only beautiful, but it also contains artifacts from the past. The houses are traditional, just like from the Ming dynasty. They are beautifully preserved, though I'm sure they must have been mended and fortified multiple times. This garden, other than being beautiful, serves a purpose as well. They remind people of the past, of China's glorious history. China has gone through many changes, and yet her vibrant history seeps through the city, this garden being one of them. The new generation are obsessed with aesthetics( if I do say so myself), so they most probably will visit this garden at least once. Whenever they come, other than taking pictures of the trees, and the buildings, when they walk through the paths, they learn just a little but more about how the people of the past lived. Artifacts are preserved as well, like the way they used to cook. Not with stoves, but with ovens. Every little bit of the past is a piece of information waiting to be known.



The paper cutting museum. Paper cutting has been an important aspect of China's culture for a long time now, and we got to experience well, cutting paper for the first time. There are those who have polished their skills so well, they could cut most anything, no matter how intricate the design. Here's the thing: a machine can cut paper as well, so what is it that makes paper cutting to unique, so valued? A piece of cut paper can sell for 500 rmb...why? Because of the effort put in. Using a machine to cut paper is a small thing, but if you use only your hands and a pair of scissors to cut out a beautiful design, and spend hours on it,then that is surely worth a lot more than using a machine to cut paper. Hard work adds value. If one dedicates their whole life to passing this form of art, this tradition, then I honestly think that that is worth commending.

OELP trip reflection day 1 


We arrived in China today,  and as the bus we were on travelled through Shanghai, I noticed something. There were plantations, many of them, in fact. Though I think they might be comparatively small, it was still a sight to behold, especially for someone coming from Singapore. If there's one bad thing about Singapore, it was our shortage of land, and that means there's no land dedicated to growing crops like rice, so we import. Of course, it isn't necessarily a bad thing, but wouldn't it be nice if we are rice grown right where we are? Shanghai might be a high class city, but the skyscrapers are all in the background, and what occupied the picture itself, are the crops-food. It keeps the population alive, and helps China's economy as well. These plots of land are so precious, and they can't belong to everyone.



After dinner, we went to The Bund（外滩）, and marveled at Shanghai's breathtaking skyline. Our CID group took a picture with the skyline as the background, as well as doing the visa dance, where we captured the attention of those passing by. To me, Shanghai's skyline is truly a representative of how successful the city is. After all, you couldn't find the same sight anywhere else in the world. Skyscrapers graze the clouds, and the bright lights flickered and changed colors. Words were shined upon the buildings, and all of us simply couldn't take our eyes off of it. I stood upon the steps, and with the frigid wind blowing, I truly saw the skyline. It took eons for Shanghai to be like this, and it has come so far since the 1911 revolution of China, where the country was in decline, and there was chaos all around. All around me, tourists, local people were taking pictures, and there was laughter and joy all around( with the exception of the baby crying  in the background).  In the corner if my eye, I spied an old couple, seated down. Their eyes were on the scene in front of them, and they were talking to one another. When I neared them, I heard what they were saying. It was along these lines: " it's changed so much, so different to back then." " Life was  not so good in our days, now, it's so comfortable, and seeing this sight, it's as if our effort has paid off". Though Shanghai has a longer history, it's similar to Singapore. Our pioneers worked so hard to get us to where we are today, and  so have China's pioneers.



Is the Merlion the best icon for SG?

To me, no. When you look at the Merlion, you see a creature with a lion's head and a fish's tail. How, exactly does that show Singapore in all its glory? Sure, the history of it may revolve around how Singapore, but to be frank, that 'history' is a myth. Sang Nila Utama may have stepped upon Temasek a long time ago, but he definitely didn't see a lion. Lions didn't exist in Singapore at that time. So, why is the Merlion still considered the icon for Singapore? I have no idea.

To me, the best icon for Singapore is Marina Bay Sands. It is part of the city's stunning skyline, and it definitely shows off Singapore's glory. When tourists visit Singapore, they usually make it a point to go to MBS, be it for the casino or the sky garden. It is part of Singapore's attractiveness as a tourism hotspot. Three curved buildings, joined together by a 'ship' on top. Even if it's simply showing the outline, it definitely leaves an impact on those who see it.



In a nutshell, no, I do not think that the Merlion is the best Icon for Singapore. Instead, I think the icon should be the Marina Bay Sands.


China's Golden Age and Singapore
In this lesson, I learnt about what made the Tang dynasty the Golden Age of China. There is a multitude of reasons, one of them being the fact that the Tang Dynasty was when many famous poets like 李白 was born. It was the age of economic prosperity as well.

So the question is, how is Singapore at its own version of the Golden Age?

Our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, passed away on March 23rd, but not before he built a prosperous country. He spent decades improving Singapore. Opening new industries, forging relationships with other nations, implementing the bilingual policy, planting trees, cleaning the Singapore and Kallang rivers, are just some of the many,many things he has done for Singapore. His efforts did not go to waste. Now, Singapore thrives economically, and is one of the top 10 cleanest countries in the world. Though Singapore's history cannot compare the China's 2000+ years, it does very much seem, that we are living in Singapore's Golden Age. Think about it, though Singapore doesn't have poets popping up, many new artists are taking their place. Aspiring musicians try their best for their voices to be heard, and there's even a Singapore Youth Festival specially to let primary and secondary school students shine at what they do. Needless to say, Singapore's economy is well developed, and the country is prosperous. Transportation around the island is convenient,and in schools, students learn about the world and everything in it. There are plenty of academic opportunities for students as well. Honestly, many other countries envy Singapore. Racial riots are sparse, and are broken up quickly. The government governs Singapore for the sake of her people. They are not corrupt, and yet rule with an iron fist. The law is fair, and in Singapore, no one is to be discriminated. Sure, same-sex marriage isn't legal, but it is one little flaw in Singapore's bulk.

All in all, though Singapore isn't completely perfect, it is pretty close. Thus, I think that Singapore is in its own version of the Golden Age.


(Just look at it)

China's economic growth

At the rate that China's economic growth is growing, they are poised to overtake the current world no. 1 in economic growth, the USA.

 

China's economic growth can be attributed to its abundance of land, natural resources, and of course, cheap labor. Many companies, seeing the opportunity, set up factories to make their goods, before exporting them. From this process, a large amount of money is generated, thus adding to China's booming economy.

One-child policy in China

Well, I can see why the government would want to impose that policy. China's population was immense,  with 970 million people in 1979. It proved beneficial, as reports are saying that this has curbed the growth of the population by almost 400 million, though some believe that it was closer to 100 million people instead. In November 2013, the government of China decided to relax this policy. Now, families can have 2 children if one of the parents is a single child. But why did they relax the one-child policy? Simple. Because the fertility rate falls below the replacement rate. The fertility rate in China's biggest cities are among the lowest in the world,  at well below 1.0. China's labour pool decreased by more than 3 million for the first time in 50 years. A more serious problem arises- there are too few young people to take care of the rapidly aging society. However, even with the new two-child policy, not many people are planning on actually having more than one child. The cost of living has gone up, and it is now much harder to support just one child. In fact, out of 11 million eligible couples, only 700,000 have applied for permission to have more than one child.


To sum it all up, with the one child policy, labour pool decrease, the economy suffers. Without the one-child policy, not many people are willing to have more than one child anyway, so it's kind of a lose-lose situation.

Poverty in Singapore
Poverty in Singapore jumped from 16% in 2002 to 28% in 2013. It's an increase, probably due to the increasing prices of well, everything! Those who earns less, now will buy less. Not good. $5 is what 400,000 Singaporeans are left with for everyday after paying for utilities, school, rent, loan instalments and healthcare. No one really sees the poverty when looking at Singapore's marvellous skyline. No one really sees what's happening on the ground, not unless you are them. Poverty is a problem everywhere. The severity of it does not matter. Poverty is poverty. And it's terrible. Which, I reckon, is why there are multiple charities out there helping them. Sadly, they cannot help everyone, and what happens once they remove their support? Will they fall to the ground again? Maybe so, maybe not. Perhaps they can only decide for themselves. Easier said than done. Jobs are hard to get nowadays, especially those that fetch a higher amount of money. What's left are the jobs that no one really wants. And needless to say, they don't pay much. It's a problem with too many problems to solve it.


Poverty won't ever be completely gone, you can be sure of that.


Reflection for the lesson on 23/01/15

It's a phrase everyone knows. " Don't judge a book by its cover". Of course, most people would take that phrase that those who look like they could kill outside, could actually have a big heart inside. Few associate that phrase with the fact that some may look harmless outside, but with a scheming heart inside.

I thought that the lesson taught a valuable lesson. And no, I am not just saying that for the sake of saying it. There are people who cheat, those who are honest, those who are completely innocent, and those who are as innocent as a serial killer. But, we have to know the full story to have a complete "judgement" of someone. We can't trust someone because of what they say, and certainly not because of their looks.

The lady was someone who swindles people of their pity money. I was originally outraged, but then I realised, the pity money does not go to them, and they may get beaten if they don't "earn" enough. They are under the control of a dishonest organization. But does that justify her actions? I think so. I believe she is not doing this because she wants to, but rather because she needs the money, no matter how meager it is.

The man is poor, the woman is poor. On the outside, it looks like this. And then the bomb drops. The man helps other homeless people, the woman works for an organization that cheats people. No wonder why my classmates wanted to donate to the man instead. But I still stick by my decision to donate to the woman. It may not help homeless people, but I think she would appreciate that one dollar, and it could mean that she gets to eat enough for that day, it could mean she will not get beaten, it could mean anything, and I'm fine with that.

Truth is, poverty will never go away. They both are poor,so does that mean they're equals? To me, it means that. Over 3 billion people live on less that $2.50 a day. And they are finding ways to survive. Conning people?  It's a way of surviving. It won't benefit the people being cheated, other than a lesson, but it could go a long way for someone else.


My Holidays
My holiday was pretty much uneventful, but I did enjoy the feeling of getting to sleep till 9am each day.

I spent the first week of the much awaited Holidays gloating about actually having a holiday while my parents were getting ready to leave for work. Heh.

The second week, I spent trying to finish all of my homework for the 2 months. It was a futile effort, but I did finish half, and read a page of 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. That's my reading assignment for 2015, though I didn't think we would be analyzing it till term 2.

Here's my apparent timetable for the next 3 weeks:

• Sleep
• Eat
• Watch anime

Truly inspiring.

Well, I had tuition for maths and Chinese, and I take piano lessons as well, so I wouldn't exactly say I didn't accomplish anything. I finished the homework for them, and my piano teacher said that I was making good progress. So hurrah for that.

I remember being disappointed when I knew that my grandmother wasn't coming down form Kuala Lumpur to visit us. She's done that for the past few years, but something cropped up this year. Something in the form of a tumor lodged inside my cousin who lives in Australia. Poor boy's relatively alright now, he's going through chemotherapy. He's only a year younger than me, and this incident has got me thinking about how age doesn't affect how fragile humans are.

And now we get to the good part.

TAIWAN!

We spent a total of 5 days in Taiwan,where we enjoyed the cool weather that ranged from 9-19 degrees. We visited 台北，台中and 新竹.

The first place we visited was 苗栗南庄老街,which consisted of streets, basically. we stayed there for about 2-3 hours, before heading off to逢甲夜市. By the time we got there, it was already dark outside( granted, the sun sets at 5, and the sky is completely dark by 6pm).

The night market was huge. As inhuge huge. There were a lot of people, and a lot of stalls, and a lot of food. We didn't even get to walk the whole length of it before our legs threathened to give way below us. 'We', as in not including my aunt and mother. Their stamina for shopping exceeds ours by a few hours, and when they want to shop, they're like bullet trains.However, since we wanted travel together, we went back to the hotel together.

台中后里中社观光花市 was the first place we visited on our second day. As the name suggests, there were a lot of flowers. I just didn't expect this much. A sea of flowers would be appropriate to describe the scene. The colours were so vibrant under the sun that my head got dizzy.

纸箱王 exhibited carton boxes, cut and made to look like animals and iconic buildings. The entire time I was there, I couldn't stop thinking about how much work had gone into this.

Nightime saw Sagittarius twinkling down at us from its place in the sky, surrounded my stars glittering like, well, glitter. We were atop a mountain, and the temperature dropped even lower(which isn't a bad thing if you ask me). The hotel we were staying at had heated beds. Heated. Beds. ( Oh, how I wish I could stay there forever)

The third day was hectic.

First, we visited sheep. Oh, how fluffy they are. Oh, how loud they are. Oh, how stinky their faeces are.

Following that, was 九份. Which means, more shopping. You can guess I'm not thrilled with this,but I wasn't about to complain. We did visit a temple.

And then, 十分天灯老街. In which we write down our well-wishes for 2015 onto asky lantern, and then we let it loose to float up to the sky. I remembered that as I watched the lantern that i had contributed to float up, up and up, i felt an urge to laugh. Not because i was humoured by a lantern, but because I didn't know what was going to happen in the year 2015, and i couldn't stop time. I was powerless, and i could only let time run its course.

野柳 was a place most tourist would go. For the rocks that resemble things that rocks usually don't . Things like a Queen's Head. I am fairly curious as to who discovered that rock in the first place, but I didn't dwell on it.

\

Then we came to a seaside. The wind was strong there, and it whipped my hair in all directions. Remnants of shells lay scattered all over the place. The Sun was setting in the distance. It was a glorious sight.

That concludes the third day.

For the fourth and fifth day, we decided to drop the van, and put our hopes of not getting lost upon our map-reading skills. Our first destination? 五分谱. Shopping. Alleys. Shops. Walking. Streets and alleys weaved seamlessly into one another. Turn a corner, and you're in a completely different street. After 4-5 hours, we could finally depart for the place I've been waiting for.

陈品书店is the epitome of Heaven for me. Have you seen the place? It's 4 levels high, and there's books everywhere. Honestly, I felt like giggling when I saw the place. Of course, the books were all in Traditional Chinese, but I was too far gone to care. I only have 3 hours to spend in this man-made Heaven. In the end, I had two books to be bought. As I walked out of the doors, I felt like I was leaving a piece of my soul behind.

Taipei 101 loomed over us as we struggled to get to the train station. Rain fell mercilessly, and my shoes were wet by the time we were safe from the invading rain.

The fifth and final day was spent at西门町, where my mother and aunt saddled themselves with a mission- to spend all their remaining Taiwan currency. At the end of the day, we walked back to the hotel, our arms carrying multiple bags.

As tired as I was, I couldn't sleep that night.

Morning came, and we set off for the airport.

Taiwan, Malaysia, then Singapore in less than 2 days. Soon enough, I wqs back in Singapore, back in the infuriatingly hot weather.

And would you believe it? my first sentence upon arriving home was" Well, I think now is a good time to finish all that homework"