OELP reflections -- Jing Xue

So, 

No doubt we had a whale of our time in Taiwan. We see souvenirs we bought from Taiwan from our wardrobe, but the most important souvenirs are obviously the lessons learnt.

So,

We went to various places that we never went before ( I think ). Where we shop around in Night Markets, visit the grand memorials and had an exchange programme with JianGuo High School,

We brought back lots of memories and lessons learnt. Well, that's why I'm here to share there memories and lessons to all of you!

1. Visits to memorial halls and museums:

    Visiting such places is a chance for us to explore the history of Taiwan. Well, what's the use of knowing THEIR history? Instead of just limiting your knowledge of Singapore's or China's history, why not learn another country's history to expand our tiny minds? Besides, learning other countries' history helps us to analysise the historical causes as we know what, back in the past, caused the present outcome of today. We can compare Taiwan' history with Singapore's and we will eventually know why individual countries have its own unique culture. E.g. Singapore is a multi racial society. Why? Because in the past, there were a few riots in Singapore between races. Singapore was also an international trade port. Hence, there is a need for a multiracial society and peace between races to prevent such riots to happen again in the future. As we know, Singlish is our common language, and part of our culture. If we happen to travel to another country and it happened that the person you're talking with in the foreign country speaks Singlish, you immediately know he's Singaporean. Singapore's history has an effect to today's Singlish. In a multiracial society, Singlish ( = English with a mix of other languages ) has naturally developed to ensure that we can communicate better with other races.

See? We can now see how history affects the future. If Chang Kai Shek hadn't escaped to Taiwan with his precious Jadeite Cabbage, the museum wouldn't have been that famous. 

2. Taipei 101

     Look at Taipei 101. Look at how tall it stands. Look at how it withstands such weather patterns in Taiwan. It may seem impossible to build such a tall building. But in fact, nothing is impossible.

Taipei 101 was the world's tallest building. It has a damoer to prevent it from swaying when there is an earthquake or strong winds.

Actually, the key that unlocks what seems impossible is thinking. You don't know the solution to it until you think. Take taipei 101 as an example. The architectures may not have thought of this idea or having the damper until they actually worked hard and think.

Taipei 101 actually inspired many other tall infrastructures like the one in Dubai. 

Hence from this, we can learn that nothing is impossible. Just put on your thinking cap and think. Eventually, a solution will magically appear, and you will enjoy what you reap.

3. JianGuo High School

     What does schooling means to you? Is studying the only thing we do in school? Feeling so stressed  out in schools of Singapore? Well, schools in Taiwan totally differ from Taiwan. I expected to see hardworking and hardcore students in JianGuo High School, one of the top school in Taiwan. However, I was totally shocked to see students sleeping and playing computer games in class. Some didn't care what the teachers were teaching in class, as if the teachers are talking face to face with a wall. The teachers neglect their actions and continued their teaching, without even scolding or punishing them. Even if students forget to bring their homework, teachers wouldn't care much. In addition, students can wear any shirt to school and their lunch break is an hour long, where they can even go out of school to buy their own food.

So much freedom in Taiwan makes us jelly. However, freedom has consequences. Students slack in school and could still get good grades because they will attend long hours of tuitions ( cram schools ) after school. So, they put tuition in their first priority instead of school. In singapore, not many students attend tuitions and their main source of education comes from the school. This is likewise in Taiwan.

However, Singapore students seriously faced too much stress. Competition is high and it will take a lot of effort to enter a good school like RVHS. Singaporeans are Kiasu, where they want to ace in every subjects. Hence, students must attend additional courses like piano lessons, art classes and tuitions.

I recommend that the school can put in some effort in reducing our stress level. RVHS is considered a rather stress-free school as compared to other competitive schools in Singapore. Occasionally, events are held here and there to help the students relieve stress. But I think that this is not enough. Students can be granted longer recess and lunch breaks such that they can slowly enjoy their food instead of rushing to get back to class.

Freedom is an important element in learning. However, too much freedom has its own negative consequences. A balanced freedom will be great.

4. Wulai elementary school :

   Looking at the students there, so cheerful and carefree they are when they attend school. Their school is significantly smaller than RVHS, with no field at all plus a track so small equivalent to a quater of a regular running track.

   They are from different tribes, mainly atayal. They lack technology, their school facilities are so few that RVHS looks like a huge palace compared to the school. However, they seemed to be enjoying what they have.

   Who says we need technology to make us happy? Yes, technologies give us convenience, entertainment, and it improves our lives. However, without technology, does that mean we will bring a frown on our faces everyday?

   No. Simply because living life to its simplest is the happiest thing in life. We don't need complicated  technologies, nor we need expensive handbags or iPhones to make us happy. I talked to my buddy, he said that the iPhone 4 hadn't even came out in their city during that period. But, he seemed contented even though he didn't have an expensive samsung or iPhone in his pocket.

    So, who says technology makes us happy? Yes, it makes us happy, but it is not necessary to have it in our everyday life. Without technology, living life to its fullest and living life in the simplest way is the best way of living life.

     Be contented that we are already fortunate to be living in singapore, with high standards of living. We ought to empathise those suffering in LDCs like africa, those unfortunate ones that needed our sincere help.

Daven Lim (27) Overall Reflections for OELP trip

Over the 7 days spent in Taipei, I went to many places, saw many different things that are not in Singapore, and most importantly learn a few lessons from it. To me, this OELP trip was a really meaningful and memorable one. Our class bonded more than ever with one another in this trip as we had to spend time face to face everyday, and we even took care of one another when our friends fell sick. Here, I would like to share some of my thoughts and lessons learnt during this trip.

Lessons: 

Firstly, I learnt that failure does not mean impossibility. In life, we face many setbacks, challenges and failures, and if we do not persevere, we would never overcome them. To me, giving up is definitely not an option. I think that we should not be afraid to make mistakes, because there is always a chance to stand up from where we fall and try again. Failure is education, and I believe that every time we fail, we learn from our mistakes and never repeat them again. As Edison failed over 9000 times to invent the light bulb, he did not give up. He said that he had learnt over 9000 ways not to build a light bulb, so why should he give up? He eventually succeeded and he proved to us that so long we persevere, nothing is impossible. Failures do not determine impossibility, and we should believe that we can succeed no matter how many times we failed. This came to me when I was in Jianguo High School and I saw a group of jugglers from the circus club performing. They only had 3 months of training as the club was new, and they did not fear failures and mistakes during their performances. They failed countless times, failing to catch the balls and pins almost every time they juggled. They even challenged themselves to 4 balls or pins! Every time they dropped the balls or pins, they picked them up every single time and continued to juggle, trying their best to keep the momentum going. Even though they never seem to succeed, they persevered, and eventually they managed to complete their performance at the end, without anyone dropping balls or pins. I went up the stage to try juggling, and I could not even juggle it for 3 seconds! I believe that giving up is never an option, and we should try our very best, despite failures. 

Secondly, I learnt the importance of traditions and history of the country. I am sure that without the past, Singapore would not be what she is today, and we would not be living in this comfortable home of ours today. We have to be grateful of what people in the past had done to develop Singapore. Without traditions, there will not be today. Traditions are also important, and I feel that there is no point of living in a modernized city without knowing the traditions and how this city came about. Farming may be looked down upon because it requires hard work and the profit is very little. But what if all u have now was just land with soil? Without money and technology? Without traditions, there would be no 'starting point' for the development of technology, which we use daily... We have to learn and cherish our traditions because they may help us to pull through difficulties in harsh conditions, just like how people in the past had gone through with the traditional ways and methods when they were much poorer back then. Traditions have many benefits, that is why countries have museums to preserve them, and we must learn to cherish them. The iPhone and other types of phones might become a traditional item 100 years later, but they are still important because without them, it is hard for us to communicate with each other when we are not interacting face-to-face. History is also important, as people learn from mistakes made in the past and avoid making the same mistake, and people can improve on traditional 'items' of the past. Take the iPhone as an example. If it was not introduced today, there might be no improvement on the technology of the phone in the future. For example, music instruments can be invented from the idea of sounds made by tribal people in the past, which I saw in the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines. Therefore, I believe that without the past, there would not be today. 

Thirdly, after visiting the Atayal Museum, I learnt about the way of life of the tribal people. Men had to learn how to shoot and kill an animal with a bow, and also leant how to set up traps to trap them. Without these skills, they would die due to lack of food and moreover, they would not get to marry any woman because a woman in the same tribe would want to have a skilful husband who can hunt and provide for her. I learnt to appreciate many things, in my life in Singapore, with plenty of food and clothing for me, and a warm and cosy home, unlike the forest. Even though there is so much stress in Singapore, whereby we have to study, I feel that it is a rare opportunity to study, in the point of view of those people living in the forests. Studying can help to improve ourselves, in character and knowledge. I learnt how to appreciate the chance to study, the abundance of food and clothing provided for me and also, the comfortable conditions I am living in today. Compared to the tribal members living in the forests, my life is far from poor. No matter how stressed am I, or how small my bedroom is, I will learn to cherish them. I find myself very fortunate to be able to live under a stable roof, to be able to have 3 full meals a day, to be able to study... Appreciation is important, so we will not take what we have for granted. To be able to stand in the shoes of someone who lead a poorer life than us can enable us to appreciate what we have, and I have learnt to appreciate what I have. 

Thoughts: 

Firstly, I feel that Singapore's schools should give their students a little more freedom -- to let their creativity have a chance to 'show itself' rather than being 'buried deep under the sights of people', and to let students to try to find information on their own before teachers teaching them. For example, I feel that students should have a chance to find an explanation for a certain science philosophy and research on it. Students can explain it either through their own creativity and process skills or experimenting it out themselves, which can help them learn much better. Since it was the students who have found out the information, hey would have already thought through it many times and it would be more effective for them to be able to remember it. Teachers can help them add on to their knowledge. I am sure that there would be cases when students come up with an interesting explanation or philosophy, and students can expand their knowledge 'scope'. Also, this can help them in developing their process skills and thinking. Granting students some freedom like this, allowing students to learn not only from textbooks but in other unique ways, can greatly benefit them. As mentioned earlier, failure is education. There is always bound to be a failure in providing the correct explanation, but by letting students make mistakes, they can learn from them, rather than learning the correct concepts from teachers everyday. By making mistakes and learning from their failures, it gives students the chance to explore more and think more. Students' knowledge can go so much further, learning new knowledge as they explore and think more in depth. Their creativity does not get 'buried deep under the sights of people' -- students' abilities would not get unnoticed and students' brains think and process information and new explanations much more efficiently. Students would have a chance to challenge themselves with more complex information and this greatly benefits them. This came to my mind when I was joining a lesson in Wulai Elementary School. The teacher did not teach the students how to weave shapes on a paper using strings. She let us think, explore and learn how to weave shapes on the paper, and this made me learn how to weave strings with many different methods. Failures made me learn ways that is unsuccessful to weave shapes and it greatly increased my learning horizon. The teacher only helped us if we had any problems and sometimes she asked us to figure a way out ourselves instead of helping us. This way of learning makes students rack their brains, allow their creativity to flow and allowing them to think more. 

Secondly, the actions of the students such as sleeping in class in Jianguo High School made me feel that they did not respect the teacher, and also, they gave us a bad impression of themselves. Part of 'freedom' that the school gave the students was to do anything in class, except heavy mistakes that break rules such as wearing slippers to class or gambling with cards. However, to me, I think that such freedom given to the students can be beneficial to them whereby they can learn to be responsible and take ownership of their studies and learning, such as deciding on whether to pay attention in class. Also, when they did not score well in examinations, they can learn to be matured to change their learning style, such as paying more attention in class.

However, these actions may backfire. The students go to school to study, but if they do not pay attention in class, they would not gain more knowledge and information, so they might not appreciate schooling. Their learning attitude can worsen as when their academic results drop, they would feel sad and might affect their studying attitude. Their character might also worsen as they would not learn how to respect... They would not also learn that studying can have a huge impact in their future working lives. They do not understand how poor children in other countries are craving for education, let alone studying in a top school like Jianguo High School. 

If 'freedom' was introduced to RVHS, I would not recommend too much freedom but instead, continue to pay attention in class and abide the rules. I feel that the purpose of learning and studying is to improve ourselves, in terms of character and knowledge. I prefer to be rule-abiding, rather than being 'free', because overtime, rules would become good habits that students have in the future and also let them know how to differentiate from right and wrong.