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.