OELP Overall reflection
From 25th May to 31th May 2014, our class went for OELP trip to Shanghai and Hangzhou. It was indeed a wonderful experience for all of us. The food and the hotel were also very impressive.
I learned that 东方明珠 is located at Pudong in LuJiaZui, Shanghai. Standing at 468meters high, it is the world's third tallest TV and radio tower. It was the tallest building in Shanghai at around 1994 but was soon overtaken by Shanghai world financial center and Shanghai tower. The unique architecture designs was very impressive.
Chinese schools has different education system and school environment. The Chinese students here have to go though 6 elementary levels,3 junior secondary levels,3 senior secondary levels and lastly tertiary education.They have to take a 中考 at the end of their junior secondary education and a 大考 at the end of their senior secondary education. Every morning, all the students will gather at the school basketball court to carry out their daily exercise. Furthermore, the students in China come down to the court in a very orderly manner, unlike us who come down in a mess. Hence, I can clearly see the difference in culture between us and China.
During lessons, the students' desks are always neat and tidy. Their attitudes towards lessons are very serious. Although their pronunciations of English words may still be weak, they still tried their best to say them out. This is something that we should definitely learn from them because so far, some of our classmates' desk and lockers are quite messy. This is not a good idea because it can be very disturbing during lesson time.
I also learned that Yue Fei temple is a temple built in honor of Yue Fei, a general of the Southern Song dynasty who fought against the Jurchen Jin Dynasty during the Jin–Song wars. The temple was first constructed in the during the Song Dynasty in 1221 to commemorate Yue Fei but it was reconstructed several times in later date. The interesting thing I learned is that we cannot walk into the entrance through the middle door. This is because there is a Chinese culture that the middle door is for the god or Yue Fei to walk in.
What did the Chinese did to preserve and promote their culture? What can Singapore learn from China?
It is important to preserve old buildings for the old and young because of the characters they bring to a neighborhood or a place. This means they bring a certain charm to the place that new buildings do not. For example, one of the places that we visited, Qibao Ancient Town has preserved the old culture of China. It was originally oldest and most famous water towns. Now, it is a popular shopping area which sells clothes, daily needs and of course all the cheap and convenient finger-food. Hence, when we visited there, I could see old wells, and old bridges from the past. This made it unique and somehow I felt like I was in the old Qibao Ancient Town. This is something that Singapore should really learn from because with all the modern, air-conditioned and well-decorated shopping malls in Singapore, all the tourists will not be able to feel the old and authentic Singapore. By coming up with something that really makes Singapore unique, it will attract more tourists to visit Singapore which will eventually improve our economic status.
Improvement to Singapore education system
Singapore education system is now very focused on academics. Students are stressed out because of the upcoming tests, masses of homework, and tuition works. This can be beneficial because in the modern days, in order to get a good job, one has to have good academics results. However, the adults did not focus on the true meaning of education that it is to allow the children to balance between academics and other areas such as arts and sports. Yes, it is correct to focus more on academics but they still have to let the children have a less stressed life. Hence, I will give some suggestions on how to allow the children to balance them well.
Firstly, the schools should come up with more assessments in arts or sports which could allow the students to learn practical skills, life skills and moral principles. For example, some sports assessments require teamwork. In other social lives, we will definitely need to know how to work as a team to complete any project. Hence, cultivating teamwork from young can be useful. Secondly, the school should prepare some simple modules such as educating students how to handle stress, leadership or even wealth management. These can go a long way towards helping the child in the future.
Education should not teach students to pit and compete against one another in an all-out arms race to reach the summit of success but Education encompasses a holistic approach where a child is educated not just in the academics aspect but also in the ethics and moral standards. Some parents apply pressure to the child to urge him to perform well in academics studies. Imposing unwanted negative stress would only cause a strain in parent-child relationship. Therefore, I conclude that balancing academics studies and other areas which are essential to our future lives are the best way to educate students because focusing too much on academics studies may be detrimental to the child.
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