This week we learnt about the monuments of Singapore and their importance. Monuments are types of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event, or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or as an example of historic architecture.
Every country has their own national icon and Singapore has it's own special one as well.
So we were given a question: Can we use the Merlion as our national icon?
My group and I think that Merlion is suitable for our national icon for the following reasons.
The Merlion is the national personification of Singapore. Its name combines "mer" meaning the sea and lion. The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek. The Merlion has a lion head and a fish body resting on a crest of waves. The lion head symbolises the legend of the rediscovery of Singapore and the fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek and represents Singapore's humble beginnings as a fishing village.
I think that we are able to use it as our national icon because it represents how Singapore was found and our historical story. The story is n the 11th century A.D, Prince Sang Nila Utama of the Sri Vijaya Empire rediscovered the island. When the Prince first landed on Singapore's shores, he sighted a mystical beast which he later learnt was a lion. The Prince then decided to name the island "Singapura" which in Sanskrit means Lion (Singa) City (Pura).
There are definitely other icons and places which we can use as our national icon. For example, the esplanade maybe. But I personally feel that the Merlion stands out the best because it shows the story of the old Singapore and how it was found.
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Honest reflection 27/3/15 ( Mr Lee Kuan Yew )
I was really upset when I heard that our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew has passed on.
Although we are all deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Lee, I did not forget his sacrifices for Singapore.
During this whole week, the school planned programmes for the students to have a better and deeper understanding for Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his honorable fighting spirit and determination. During this week, I have learnt a lot from Mr Lee. I might not have know him personally and I am definitely aware of his contributions and how he transform Singapore into such a prosperous country.
He is definitely a hero that all the younger generations should look up to and learn from. When Singaporeans heard the news of Mr Lee's passing, we could see people mourning over Singapore's loss. We could see people and our grandparents’ generation shed tears at his passing. From this, we could see that Mr Lee Kuan Yew was greatly respected by all of us.
He made Singapore, " The Little Red Dot " into one of the richest country in the world. I think that not all leaders have the ability to do that.
Of course, let's not forget that he has been serving the nation for almost his whole life. Even in his last few years, his major concern was still Singapore. Despite stepping down as a Prime minster, he carried on serving the country in many aspects. From this, we could see that he really cares for Singapore.
He had done so many things and it would definitely take me ages to list them out. Although he has already left us, I am sure that Singapore will continue to prosper and his legacy shall always be remembered by all Singaporeans.
The younger generation is perhaps not able to appreciate Singapore’s transformation the way our parents and grandparents do but I am sure that we will learn how to appreciate everything Mr Lee had done for us.
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Honest reflection 20/2/15
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Honest reflection 20/2/15
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Honest reflection 13/2/15 ( China's Economic Growth )
Throughout the years, China has been holding the record for the fastest developing major country in the history of the world, with no signs of a slowdown at present. China weathered the global economic slowdown very well, and is now accelerating out of it thanks to prudent policies, a budget surplus and recent government stimulus. I do not know much about China until this lesson, when our teacher explain more about China. This was when I realized that China had such a great impact around the world.
I have learned that
1. China is ranked the second in the world in terms of total Gross Domestic Product? (GDP)
2. China's population size is 1.3 billion.
3. China is ranked the fourth in the world in terms of GDP per capita. On the average, each Chinese citizen does not get a high amount of goods and services to consume, even though China has a high GDP.
4. China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001.
5. The size of China's land mass is 3,854,082 square miles. A lot of space for office buildings, commercial buildings etc. Rent will be competitive with other countries and there are a lot of free space for economic activities to be conducted.
6. China is endowed with natural resources like, coal, natural gas.
7. China's corporate tax rate is 25%, one of the lowest in the world. This attracts foreign investors to the country to do business.
8. The Americans have been accusing China of keeping the Chinese Yuan undervalued because Chinese exports will be relatively cheaper. Less countries are importing from USA and even Americans are importing from China.
9. China's greatest trading partner is USA.
China had influenced the world greatly as they have natural resources like coal and steel which other countries do not possess. Thus, when China entered the market and open up their country to international trade, lots of countries wanted to work with them. Until now, China have prospered a lot and make lots of products which are needed in our daily life. Therefore, we could say that China has a great impact around the world.
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Honest reflection 30/1/15 ( Singapore's Population )Singapore will not prosper anymore given the dwindling population growth. Working adults in Singapore refuse to start a family as it will affect their career aspects. Having a kid requires a lot of work. You need to be devoted and you have to balance your life between work and family. It needs a lot of time and effort and most working adults in Singapore are incapable of giving up time for family. At this rate, Singapore's population will decreased rapidly in the near future.
The possible situations are that the population will decrease and Singapore's economic growth will not be as good as before. There will be lesser people working, lesser people to help the country and this will greatly affect Singapore's future. Singapore's population is small compared to other countries. And if people still refuse to give birth, Singapore will be even smaller than before.
The government should start encouraging working adults to balance their time between work and family. Come out with ideas with encouraging people to start a family. If this persists, the government should come out with something that will allow the economic growth of Singapore to grow with lesser people working.
The graph depicts that by 2050, Singapore population will decrease and the aging population will increase. This is because Singaporeans are more worried about the cost of living nowadays and they rather work on their career and prosper. This had resulted in couples having lesser kids or no kids at all. And at this rate, by 2050, Singapore's population will rapidly decrease. The agiing population will increase and that will result in lesser working adults in the work force. Apart from the increased burden tomorrow's generations will face, the shrinking citizen population will also mean a shrinking local workforce. So, while efforts are being made to get more Singaporeans to reproduce, immigrants are needed fill the gap to maintain the Singapore core.
With a smaller workforce, Singapore's economics growth will not prosper.
Taxes will increase as well and that will become a burden for the remaining working adults.
With a smaller workforce, Singapore's economics growth will not prosper.
Taxes will increase as well and that will become a burden for the remaining working adults.
Singapore should start planning for the future or we might suffer in future.
Honest reflection 23/1/15
I have been to China and I saw a lot of people children begging on the streets.
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Honest reflection 23/1/15
I have been to China and I saw a lot of people children begging on the streets.
Some of them are children, some are adults. It was really upsetting when i see those people especially children begging on the streets. As i went there with my class, my teacher had already warned me before, I cannot give any money to these beggars. At first I did not understand why but now I know why. After this week's listen, I understand why we cannot donate to homeless people. Some of them might be working for a syndicate and if they don't get a certain amount of money, people working for the syndicate might beat them up. Or some other cases are because most of the beggars we see are not even in need, most of them are just too lazy to work but they need money. If we give the panhandlers money they will think that it is better to beg than to work. Street beggars usually have lack of hope for their lives. So it is common for you to waste your money because they spend their money on drugs. Just making you feeling better cannot be the reason of helping beggars. They became like how the are now because maybe they did not care themselves when young. It is better to sped money on charities. Making the beggars drink too much drug can cause them to dye. Your kind offer will lead them to more serious laziness than ever.
We were given two pictures today. One of them shows a man sitting on the pavement and holding a piece of cardboard. He was begging for money so he can make a phone call to a relative or friend. The other picture shows a lady carry a baby amid standing in front of a man reading a newspaper on the streets. She seems to be begging for money to support her self and her child. At first, I didn't know the background of this two peoples. But after I knew, I realized that we shouldn't judge one persons from his or her over. It turns out the guy, Gilbert, has no money and is homeless. The lady, Delilah, is actually part of a syndicate for beggars. I learnt that before we judge anyone, we should understand and get to know them first.
I feel that in Singapore it is really rare that I will find beggars on streets. It is possible to break this poverty cycle. Programmes like money management workshops allow children to grasp the concept of money and how to use it wisely. Upgrading of work skills allow adults to gain a more competitive edge in job market. With all this, I think that it is possible.
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My December Holidays
I had a quite meaningful and fun December Holiday. It was very enjoyable. I spent my December Holidays going overseas, reading my favourite books, watching dramas, revising, doing my homework and many other activities.
However, I would only like to share about my December trip. I went to Thailand. It was really fun. I went there with 3 of my cousins and also with my uncle and auntie. My auntie is born in Thailand so she went back to see her family members. My cousin and I tagged along because I have never been to Thailand.
The first day after I touched down in Thailand, I was really shocked. The airport is completely different from Singapore. It is not as advanced as Singapore's Changi Airport. However, that didn't stop my excitement. I went to my auntie's house to stay and I met her father, mother and brother. At first, my cousin and I were really shy as there was a language barrier and we couldn't communicate. The only word we knew was how to say hi in Thai language. Their house isn't as good as Singapore's of course. They live near a country side and it is really peaceful. First few days was pretty awkward for me as I do not know them. But my auntie told me that we can use hand language to communicate and I did. Things were getting better after that. Despite the fact that we can't communicate, that didn't stop us from having fun. By the end of the trip, we created our own way of communication and I like them a lot. They made me feel really welcomed despite the language barrier. They took care of me and that is why I could enjoy this trip happily.
Did I forget to mention that they had a dog as well? Well they do. The puppy is called Black. I love this puppy so much that I can't bare to leave him at the end of our trip. I spent my 2 weeks there playing with this dog every single day and I didn't regret it all. I guess one of the reasons is that I love dogs but my mother won't keep one because if my brother's health condition. I just hope that my mother will change her mind in future and let me take care of one soon.
My auntie's brother would bring us to many different places and all of them were really beautiful and fascinating. We are not able to see those attractions in Singapore, so it was a really good experience for me. If I had a chance, I would definitely re-visit Thailand again.
That's all I have to say. Thank you for reading.
(None of these pictures are from Google.)
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