Personal reflections (Proposal to suggest improvements to the Singapore’s education) — Liang Shi Wen (09)

Introduction

During our trip to Taipei, we visited two schools there, including Taipei Municipal Jianguo high School, and Wulai Elementary School, a local school for aborigines. Through this experience, we gained more knowledge regarding the differences and similarities between school life in Taipei and in Singapore. Furthermore, we got to know a little about their school syllabus and extracurricular activities through the various lessons and performances they presented. It was also a brilliant opportunity to make new friends and it was truly an enriching and enjoyable experience.

 

Observations of Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School

 

Although Jianguo is one of the top schools in Taiwan, which has the top 1% of the nation’s cohort in their school, surprisingly they emphasised a lot on freedom. This idea of ‘freedom’ is also unique, and many of the RV students were surprised by this as it is almost impossible to find such a system in the schools of Singapore. Their freedom allows students to do whatever they want during school hours, such as engaging in sports and leaving the school to buy food during lunch breaks as well as creating their own clubs. Although it was optional for the students to join clubs, hardly anyone wasn’t in a club and their school alone had more than 80 clubs! However, the most surprising thing was that students were allowed to sleep and eat in class, (although this might depend on the teacher) and they were also not punished for not bringing their textbooks to class. When I questioned this system, my guide answered saying that this was part of their culture, and the school trusted the students to take charge of their own learning.

 

Observations of Wulai Elementary School

 

Wulai is also a rather unique school, as it was a school for aborigines, although they welcomed students from any part of the world. They even had a Caucasian in their midst, although she wasn’t an aborigine. Their school life is also more relaxed compared to the students of Jianguo and RV. They do not have as many subjects, and some of their teaching methods were also hands-on based, and we were lucky to be able to experience their Mother Tongue (Atayal), Art, and PE lessons. During lunchtime, the students were alsoexpected to clear their cutlery and even wash them, and this was common practice for them and a great way of instilling responsibility within those students.

 

Observations of Singapore Schools

 

The students in Singapore experience much more stress, and have stricter school rules and greater demands from both teachers and parents. It is also more difficult to gain approval to set up new CCA's and the choices are also limited when it comes to picking our CCA's. Furthermore, some students do not enjoy their CCA and dread attending their sessions, and this in turn becomes an obligation, unlike the students in Jianguo who attend club activities out of their own willingness. The teachers in Singapore are also very strict when it comes tothe class rules, and the students would never be allowed behave in an unruly way in Singapore schools, especially if there are visitors, as they care greatly about their school reputation. We also have shorter meal breaks that only last for 30 minutes, and most of us have very long school hours due compulsory CCA after school hours and Supplementary/Consultation classes that are required for some students.

 

Improvements to Singapore’s Education

 

In my opinion, a little more freedom and cutting down on the workload would be ideal for Singaporean students in Singapore to truly utilize their talents. Many students in Singapore are experiencing immense amount of stress, due to huge workloads and high expectations.I myself have seen friends who refuse to sleep at night to study in order to fufill expectations and not disappoint the people around him/her, and in turn neglected her health. While such actions might improve their grades, is it worth is to sacrifice your health for this?

 

I feel that extended lunch breaks would be a good thing to learn from these Taiwanese schools, as longer breaks would give student more opportunities to engage in sports, visit the library and revise study materials for the next lesson. Allowing an hour of free time would be extremely beneficial for students to refresh themselves after studying for a long period of time, or even ten minute breaks between each lesson would be great. However, excessive freedom wouldn’t be good as students with less sense of responsibility mightslack more than study, which can also impact their studies and futures negatively.

 

 -Tegan Liang Shi Wen (09)

Reflection By Laetitia Keok Yu Qi (2H)

Proposal to suggest improvements to the Singapore education

Introduction

On our trip to Taipei, Taiwan we were involved in an immersion program with two schools we visited, Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School for 2 days, and Wulai, a local school for half a day. Throughout this entire experience, we gained much knowledge about the many differences and similarities between school life in Taipei, and in Singapore. On top of that, we managed to catch a glimpse of the extra curricular activities they engaged in, and their school syllabus. Furthermore, we made many new friends, and it was truly an enjoyable and enriching program. 

Comparison

Whilst there are a few similarities between both the schools, and schools in Singapore, there are significantly many more differences.

 Firstly, taking Jianguo High School as an example, the atmosphere of the school was significantly more relaxed and less stressful as compared to what we were used to. The students there are given a lot more freedom as compared to the students in Singapore schools; for example, the students are allowed to go outside of school to purchase their lunch, and are even allowed to eat in the classroom whilst students in Singapore are required to consume all food in canteens. On top of that, they have a huge variety of up to 80 clubs which the students join or set up, out of willingness and not out of obligation; they take a lot of responsibility in setting up these clubs and it is very apparent that they enjoy every part of it, unlike in Singapore, where it is harder to gain approval in setting up CCA's and they are given very limited choices in picking their CCA's, in addition, a small group of people in Singapore schools do not enjoy their CCA's and dread going to it. Lastly, the students are trusted to take responsibility for their learning and to develop a good learning attitude. This is clearly displayed when we had a chance to be in their classes, I noticed that a few of the students came in late to the class, some were using their cellphones, and even a few were sleeping. The teacher, however, did not reprimand them and instead ignored such behavious and continued with the lesson, this showed that the students in Jianguo were expected to take charge of their learning as afterall, what they would have learnt would benefit them, and not the teacher. This style of teaching would hone a sense of responsibility in them. In contrast to schools in Singapore, where the teachers are very strict about the class rules, and the students would not have been allowed to behave this way in Singapore schools.  

Next, we have the local school, Wulai. In Wulai, we were exposed to many different classes, ranging from educating the students on their local dialect, to arts and crafts lessons, and even physical education. There, I observed that the atmosphere of the classes were very lively, and the students were all full of zest and energy. Furthermore, they were all very hospitable and welcoming. The students had great rapport with the teachers, and i found that they were able to crack jokes with the teachers, something that would have been very less seen in Singapore schools, where students maintained their distance with the teacher. The sense of initiative and responsibility was also something not to be missed in Wulai. During lunchtime, the students were all expected to clear their cutlery and even wash them, very much unlike the students in Singapore schools, who only were expected to return their cutlery to the respective stalls. Not to mention seeing every single one of them finish all the food on their plates, before taking a second serving, whilst in Singapore, many of us choose to take more than what we can finish, and end up wasting food; this showed that the students were taught, from young, to treasure what they had and to take only what they can finish. Lastly, we took part in their physical education lessons, where we were challenged to a friendly relay race of basketball, of course, we lost but what awed us were the skills of the students there. It was also raining but the students continued playing till they finished the race, I admired their perseverance as a few of us gave up and went under the shelter as it started to rain.

Lastly, both the school had lessons in their curriculum which allowed them to learn different languages/dialect, for example, Jianguo had lessons on Japanese, German etc. while Wulai had lessons for the students to learn the dialect of the aborogines. Singapore schools, however, only allow certain students to be able to learn other languages.

Improvements

Extended Lunch Breaks: Schools in Taiwan give the students an hour to have their lunch, whilst Singapore schools only give students half an hour, or less. I feel that with more time for lunch, students not only have more time to eat, but they may also browse through books in the library, or do some sports, this would also allow them to prepare themselves for the next lesson, and to revise for previous lessons.

2. Opportunities to Learn Different Languages/Dialects: I feel that this would make lessons less dull and would also provide the students with more exposure to different languages. On top of that, the students may also be able to pick up a language that would benefit them in the future.

3. More Ownership in Our Choices: This would allow the students to take charge of our learning and to do what we feel is right, instead of the teacher constantly reminding us. We will understand the importance of learning, and take responsibility in our studies.

4. Balancing Studies and Non Academic Areas: School life in Singapore is often very stressful, and we are given less opportunities to take part in non academic areas such as music lessons, art lessons etc. and more focus is put on academically based subjects. A balance between both aspects would make school life a little less dull, less stressful, and more enjoyable. Afterall, we have to work hard and play hard. As the saying goes “all work and no play made Jack a dull boy”.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

REFLECTIONS

Chu Fei:
I really enjoyed our trip to Taipei for OELP. Firstly, it was fascinating to get up close to their peoples' culture and learn about Formosa's aboriginal way of life by be it interacting with students Wulai aboriginal school or visiting museums. Secondly, I also learned a lot about modern Taiwan, and their advanced technology which boosted their ever-growing economy. Despite having a fast-paced society like Singapore, Taiwan stays in tact with their traditional ways and beliefs. For example, Taipei 101 building has a total of 8 segments which was believed to be lucky number in Chinese culture. Also, Taiwan has a lot of bustling night markets kept alive unlike Singapore, in which our "Pasar Malam" heritage is slowly fading into obscurity. Thirdly, I got to spend more time with my classmates and bond with them throughout our 7 days together. We also got to make many new friends that we met at both Jian Guo High School and Wulai Aboriginal School during the very enriching student exchange programmes. All in all, I find this OELP trip to be utterly life-fulfilling and has definitely broadened my horizons.

Shi Wen:
In my opinion, the OELP trip to Taiwan has been extremely meaningful and fulfilling. It gave us an opportunity to step out and experience something different from our everyday lives. It was a pity that some of our classmates were unable to come along on this trip, but it was still a wonderful chance we made full use of for our class to bond. For instance, practicing for our various performances such as the skit and dance items for the schools in Taiwan certainly helped us to make new memories and trained our teamwork. This is important as teamwork plays a humongous role in our lives, for many activities can only be carried out successfully with good teamwork and collaboration between people. Several life skills such as independence were also inculcated in us, for during the trip, our parents were no longer there to do everything for us, and we had to take care of ourselves. This would be vital in our lives in the future as we have to be able to do so without depending on others when our parents grow old, and when we go into the working world. This trip also helped us understand new things as well. For example, it was a brand new experience interacting with the students at Wulai Elementary School, as they are aborigines. They all have very rich traditional cultures, but I realized that even they are becoming more modernized, and they are just like you and me. Although we should respect and admire their culture, we must not stereotype them to be less developed or as people who still hunted for food, for it is simply no longer the truth. Furthermore, I realised that there are many different educational systems, and being extremely strict and stiff when it comes to rules may not be the only way to achieve academic excellence, but instead the opposite, freedom might also achieve the same result, as we have witnessed in Jianguo High. In conclusion, I am grateful for being given this opportunity for this OELP trip was very meaningful, filled with many fresh and exciting experiences that taught me many new things.


Laetitia:
Our 7 day OELP Trip to Taiwan was an entirely new experience for me, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Learning about Taiwan's rich history and deep rooted culture was my main takeaway for the entire trip. It was extremely interesting to learn about their customs, ways of life, traditional practices, and the contributions of their historical figures, through visiting museums, watching the change of guards and visiting schools. At the end of our 7 days at Taiwan, I also walked away with a newfound sense of responsibility and independence, given that this was the first time I have spent away from my family for such a long time period, I slowly learnt to do things for myself, without the help of my parents. To add on, I got to know more about my class, as we bonded through various activities, we grew closer by day, cultivating teamwork between ourselves. One of the more fun parts of the trip were the school immersions at both Jianguo High School and Wulai Local school, we learnt about the vast differences between Taiwan's and Singapore education system, and made numerous new friends. To say the least, the Taiwanese's hospitality and kindness really touched my heart, and made my visit to Taiwan so much more enjoyable. Be it the busting streets of the night markets, of the polished tiled floors of the museums, I loved every bit of the trip. This trip has been so memorable and fulfilling, and I am more than grateful to be given this opportunity to visit Taiwan.

Shi Rong:
I think that the OELP trip to Taiwan was very fun and interesting. This was because I got to know more about Taiwan's culture and was also able to bond with my classmates through the many different activities held. Taiwan's culture has a very rich history and an extremely interesting culture, which I had a lot of fun learning about. One obvious contrast from Singapore are the many tribes found in Taiwan, this was truly a new experience because we had never known about tribes before. However, I feel that my favourite part of this entire trip was Taiwan's changing of guards, another aspect Singapore does not have. Taiwan's changing of guards is a sign respect towards the many influential figures in their history. In Singapore, the guards use malay to shout commands. However, in Taiwan, the guards use chinese instead. This is very special as I had never seen and experienced this before. It is an extreme test of discipline as the guards had to stand still on a platform and are not allowed to move for over an hour. Having achieved this difficult feat, I really admire their determination and strong will, as not everyone would be able to stand, unmoving, for such a long period of time. As the days passed, I to got know more about my friends and got closer with them. Even though going to the museums were pretty dry and dull, this trip was a whole new learning experience for me. Hence, I think that the OELP trip to Taiwan is truly a memorable one.

Owen:
For me, I feel that the whole OELP has been very meaningful. Even though some of our classmates were unable to go, the activities we did during the trip bonded us as an entire class. We went through lots of fun together, and took care of the people who fell sick. This trip has taught us many things too, for example, we managed to understand the culture of Taiwanese aborigines better. Understanding the culture of other races and religions, allowed us to learn the importance of respecting different cultures, since Singapore is a multi-racial country, we must learn to respect everyone's culture, so that we can be united and stand together as One Singapore. We also learnt to better manage ourselves, without our parents being around to help us to do things. In other words, we learnt to be more independent. This is one of the life skills that will be crucial for us in the future. When we grow old next time, we have to be independent, so that we are able to take care of our parents and manage our own family, and not depend and rely on others. We also learnt the importance of teamwork. We demonstrated teamwork when we performed the dances and acted out the little skit we had to showcase to the students from Jianguo High School and Wulai Elementary School. Teamwork is important, as without teamwork, the dance and skit we performed would fail terribly, because dancing and performing a skit are mainly group activities which requires the collaboration of different people. In the future, we will find teamwork very important during work, as teamwork usually leads to the success of companies. In conclusion, I think that this OELP trip to Taiwan, Taipei has been very fun and enriching, as it had taught us many things we did not know of before we went for the trip.

OELP DAY 6

CONFUCIUS TEMPLE

In the morning, we went to the Confucius temple to learn more about Confucianism. The temple looked majestic, and was beautifully designed to the style of Ancient Chinese. Inside the temple, there were many ancient carving and paintings, and all of them have Confucianism meanings in them. What amazed us is that there was a 4D theater in the Confucius temple. It was really unique as we rarely get to experience 4D theaters in Singapore. Besides, having a modern 4D theater in an ancient museum is really surprising! We learnt a lot from the visit to the Confucius temple, and we hope we can go there again next time.

GOLD MUSEUM

In the afternoon, we went to the Gold Museum in Jiufen to learn more about old gold mine, such as their history, how to differentiate between real gold and fake gold, how people in the past dug gold, and we also got to see see and touch a huge gold bar. Touching the huge gold made Owen feel very rich, and at that moment  he thought dreamily about all the riches he wanted to get in the future. However, Shi Rong advised him even though Owen could be very rich, he must also be happy, because happiness is very important. Throughout the whole visit at Gold Museum, we enjoyed it a lot. (Wow such Owen Shirong fluff)

JIUFEN OLD STREET

After that, we went to Jiufen old street to do some shopping! IT REMINDED TEGAN SO MUCH OF THE FAMOUS MOVIE SPIRITED AWAY!!! (AND THE TOUR GUIDE SAID JIUFEN WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MOVIE ) There were all sorts of items on sale like ginger tea, calligraphy brushes, prank toys, caps, clothes and souvenirs. There was one particular shop that left an impression on us as they sold shirts with adorable designs, and what's more, they were hand painted! The prank store we visited was also very fun, (think Harry Potter) and the store owner had great marketing skills. He allowed us to try our some products, and introduced the funniest and most interesting toys to us. For example, there was a fake camera that would shoot water out, a mini toilet bowl that would do the same, and the best was a can of potato chips (that looked very real) that has a huge contraption that would shoot out when you opened it. We definitely had a great laugh! Furthermore, we got our dear medic Ming Han (really) early birthday present — a first aid kit filled with sweets (from sophosca) to express our gratitude for taking care of our sick people on the trip . In all, we had a fantastic night (though the dinner was rather...horrible) at Jiufen, and we definitely want to go back there again!

The toilet bowl is supposed to spray water at you when you lift the cover up. The duck is supposed to shock you when you squeeze both of its wings.

OELP Day 5

WULAI

On Day 5, the first thing we had on our to-do list was to go to Wu Lai Aboriginal School. We were welcomed into the school by fellow smiling students and were led into the hall for a traditional African drum performance. The performance was utterly amazing with a catchy beat, however, to our surprise, one of the student performing started singing in the Atayal language. Her voice was astounding and beautiful to listen to even though we might not understand the meaning behind her words. Soon after, we were given a short introduction to the school and a very interesting Atayal language lesson. We were taught basic numbers, words like "Thank you" or "How are you?" in Atayal and also words that describe animals the Atayal people hunt in the forest of Wu Lai. To test our knowledge, we were sent off a scavenger hunt for pictures of these animals hidden around the school and present them to the teachers in the Atayal language. It was a really fun experience as we got to explore the school and got to bond with the local students. After the scavenger hunt, we got to taste the famous local food of Wu Lai: braised beef with rice (卤牛肉饭）and curry noodles cooked with vegetables and bamboo shoots (竹笋). We were all famishing after the scavenger hunt and dug into the food happily. After lunch, we got onto the arts and craft lesson which we learned made cards for our fellow buddies in Wu Lai and vice versa. We wrote down personal messages and our contact details before weaving colourful yarn thread into the holes made along side the card. We weaved the threads into a diamond design which symbolises good luck in the Atayal culture before decorating the card to our hearts' content. Lastly, we played against the friendly students of Wu Lai in a game of basketball and obviously we lost, despite the fact that we have numerous basketball players in our class. It was still a memorable experience though before we parted with the exchanging of our handmade cards. All in all, We had a really memorable and enriching time with Wu Lai students.

After the immersion program, we went to the Atayal aboriginal museum to learn more about their culture and traditions. We were introduced to their way of life and saw many artefacts that the Atayal people uses in their daily life such as spears, swords, bow and arrow, musical instruments(口簧琴）, cutlery, etc. They were decorated with traditional carvings or adorned with colourful woven cloth handmade out of nettle plants. We were also introduced to the different types of Atayal traditional costume worn by different Atayal tribes in different parts of Taiwan or for special occasions and events. The Atayal people can also be differentiated by their piercing and tattoos marking on their body that were made when one becomes of age or accomplish a task for one to be accepted into the tribe. We also learnt about the hunting methods or the Atayal people and the different building structure used for different buildings built on a specific type of land. After our tour in the museum, we were let to our own devices for an hour to explore the old streets of Wu Lai to purchase souvenir and popular snacks such as Japanese style Mochi (麻糬).

RAO HE NIGHT MARKET

After our trip to Wu Lai, we headed to the highly anticipated Rao He Night Market. Rao He Night Market was bustling with life by the time we arrived and we quickly broke up into separate groups to explore the 600m long street. There were food stalls everywhere of different cuisine: Japanese pancakes and omelettes, seafood barbecue, Thai banana pancake and milk tea and authentic Taiwan snacks. After drooling in queue for our food, we woofed .down our delicious meals and went off to explore the rest of the street. The street also had shops offering trendy clothes and accessories for youngsters at great discounts such as snapbacks, sneakers, printed shirts, pants, denim shorts, etc. Shopping till we drop, we headed back to our hotel hauling shopping bags in our hands.

Wu Lai

  

Diamond symbols on a bridge that represent good luck and ward off bad omens in the Atayal Culture.

Delicious curry noodles with vegetable and bamboo shoots (竹笋）served at Wu Lai Aboriginal School.

Rao He Night Market

GERMANY VS. BRAZIL :\

FIFA World Cup⚽️ in Brazil was amazing 🎉🎊🎉🎊and the most depressing, saddening highlight match to watch was obviously Brazil vs Germany🇩🇪 (T^T). With Neymar Junior and his fractured vertebrae out of the match, it was kind of predictable that Germany would be victorious but to a certain extent. However, to my extreme surprise, Germany crushed Brazil to 7-1. Yup, that's right. SEVEN TO ONE!!!!! It was really hard to watch as the match slip into Germany's hands, breaking the record by scoring three consecutive goals in 76 seconds. But what struck me the most saddening was this old man standing on the sidelines holding a World Cup trophy replica in his arms tightly, with tears in his eyes (obviously a Brazil fan with yellow green jersey and a hat with pinned with badges). He must be a very loyal fan to the Brazil team giving the grief that was practically written all over his face. However, after the match, when I thought he would be shaking fists and pouring curses all the way home, he did something else. Despite the fact that his beloved team lost tragically, he handed his World Cup trophy replica to a young Germany fan with a gracious smile and his lips forming the words "Take it to the final! As you can see, it is not easy, but you deserve it, congratulations!" It was really heartwarming and moving to watch his act of sportsmanship and kindness to that young Germany fan. Of course, you must wondering, who is he? His name is Clovis Acosta Fernandes. 😇 

Chufei

Sad stuff :\

    

OELP DAY 4

JIANGUO MUNICIPAL HIGH SCHOOL

The next day, we headed over to Jianguo for our second day of immersion. We were all extremely excited and were looking forward for it, as we had enjoyed ourselves tremendously the day before. As we drove into the familiar school gates, we could see the smiling faces of the students, already waiting to welcome us into the school, we felt the rush of excitement as we immediately knew it would be another enjoyable day!

We were briefed shortly by a teacher and then headed to our respective classrooms. We were split into three classes, each class set to use different timetables, there was an Earth Science lesson, and the teacher was very nice. He taught us how to operate a telescope and how to use it. The lesson was in Chinese, so most of us did not understand the terms and did not really get the lesson. However, the enthusiasm of the teacher made the lesson really more interesting. There were also English lessons, and the students had a debate session showing the lawsuit between Frankenstein and the monster he created. Even though the students did not use English a lot, they tried their best and were very funny when they spoke. There was also a music lesson, in which we learnt a japanese song, and the teacher even got some of us to demonstrate in front of the entire class. Lastly, a few of us attented the maths lessons, which to our surprise, was easier that what we had expected. All of us also had a chance to attend the foreign language classes for either Japanese, German or French, it was extremely interesting as most of us had not ever attended such classes before. 

 

ESLITE BOOKSTORE

At night, we went to the Eslite bookstore. We heard from the tour guide that it is very famous for the items being sold there, especially its books. When we arrived there, we saw that there were many books alright. But the Chinese books were written in traditional Chinese, and we, being Singaporeans, could only read and understand simplified Chinese, and not traditional Chinese. Therefore, the Chinese books there didn't really suit our taste. There were also English books, but there was a lack of them. There were also manga books, and both Chu Fei and Shi Wen really loved the wide variety of manga books there.