Sheng Feng's blog

~OELP Yangzhou Day 3-4~

In day 3 and 4, we went for a school immersion programme in 树人学校, however, we went to the same schools but in different location. In the first day, we went to the school which was built later than the first. It was quite far from the hotel we lived and it was at a place quite remote. There were very little buildings around the school but there were some construction around. Firstly, we went into a room with a live projector showing a Chinese classroom LIVE! I feel that we have a lot to learn from the people there. They take notes extremely attentively and they are very proactive in classes. Every time the teacher asks a question, people would be rushing to raise their hands to answer her question which is really a rare sight in our school, especially our class. They would also wait for the teacher to call their name before they open their mouths. In the classroom, the teacher taught really in depth. Whenever the pupils had a question, they would not hesitate to ask the teacher which is also another rare sight in my classroom. 

After lunch, we went to attend their Wushu lesson which was pretty tiring, especially when we were in jeans. I didn't expect us to be doing sports that day, so we wore jeans and it was pretty uncomfortable. They taught us one of their Wushu moves step by step and when the lesson was nearly ending, we showed them our 立化拳. 

Today, our form teacher taught us protocol. Protocol is something that we must do before or after anything as a form of respect or something else. Essentially, its something that we should and must do as a good habit. We tried to do protocol by greeting the teachers and clearing the trays after our lunch. 

After the Wushu lesson, we went to participate in the games competition. We a variety of games like the crab game ( there is a ball in between 2 people and the 2 people are back to back ) and the throwing game ( someone places a bucket on top of the head and someone else must throw into it ). After a variety of games, we start on the basketball match. 5 boys and 5 girls were required to play the game. Even though i did not participate in the game, the rest of us cheered on the participants and even though we lost the basketball match, we could see our class spirit via the cheering. We cheered our voices out even though we were losing and our participants didn't give up hope until the last second which is quite honorable. 

The next day, we took a short bus journey to the other school which is nearer to our hotel. In my opinion, we did nothing in the school until after lunch where we shared our performance with the other school. There were MANY MANY performances by them varying from a saxophone solo to pianist solos which were quite impressive. We also performed our performance which we started preparing 2 months ago and it was a success! We had 2 song pieces, a Chinese dance, a kpop dance, a skit showing Singapore and Singaporeans together with a class dance. Many people were quite irritated during our preparation and we still managed to pull through it and give a successful and amazing performance. We ended off the school immersion programme by singing a familiar song together 朋友. 

I have learnt a lot from the students in 树人学校 and I really appreciate all the programmes that they specially prepared to entertain us. Many students missed lessons just to entertain us with games and performances. They also had to prepare and plan our programme schedule and make it organised so that we know where and what to do at a certain time. I am extremely thankful for what they did as these 2 days put a smile on my face. 

Finally, I would like to thank 1 more person, their principal. She followed us through the whole 2 days in both schools and also brought us around the school (especially taking picture with many groups in the school garden). I would like to thank her once more for what she done for us. 谢谢!

~OELP Shanghai/Yangzhou Day 2~

Our class gathered at around 6.30am at Shanghai's Holiday Inn Express and we left off for Yangzhou early in the morning so that we could finish our itinerary in time. First, we went to visit Geyuan Garden (个园), then we went to the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum (剪纸博物馆), Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (京杭大运河) and lastly, the local market. Even though the weather today was not to our favour, i was extremely touched as it was raining and our classmates shared their umbrellas with their friends who did not bring one.

Firstly, we went to a world heritage site, Geyuan Garden (个园). It was way more bigger than i expected. This place used to contain many merchants, especially merchants who sold salt. After many many years, it has become a world heritage site, which is maintained properly for its historical value. Geyuan has many flowers and is famous for its "fake mountains" which makes it extremely beautiful. Many people may be wondering: whats the point of using money to keep and maintain such an old place which cannot help the country financially? However, I feel that maintaining these heritage sites is a good thing as these places helps us stay in touch with traditional beliefs and allows Chinese, including me, to connect with our roots. It helps stay connect with our history. Another thing is that it actually also helps their country financially as people from other countries may also be interested and attracted to these types of heritage sites. Bringing foreigners into their country means that they would earn financially (food, shopping etc). Therefore, preserving heritage sites like Geyuan is a good thing.

The second place we went to is supposed to be the Paper Cutting Museum, however our timing with another class clashed so we went to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (京杭大运河), which was a slow and calming river cruise connecting Beijjing and Hangzhou, explaining the scenery as we go by. Through debriefing in the hotel, we managed to conclude that Shanghai and Yangzhou had many differences. Shanghai has many mores skyscrapers and more traffic. They are more foreigners in Shanghai too, because of more tourists attractions. They are also famous their 小笼包 together with good banking industry. However, Yangzhou has less congested road with less developed buildings. 

Next, we went back to the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum (剪纸博物馆) which is near Geyuan. To be honest, I though paper cutting was easy, however it is not, it is actually really difficult! We were given a sharp metal scissors and a picture to trace. We were needed to cut through 3 layers of paper and only the middle layer would be taken as it is "more perfect" than the others. To be honest, it was rather boring, but it really tested our patience and whether we can persevere to the end. I was pretty satisfied with the end product. Lastly, they allowed us to keep the scissors and bring it back home as a souvenir.

~OELP Singapore/Shanghai Day 1~

Firstly, we gathered at Changi Airport Terminal 3 Row 7 to get ready for our departure to China! I am so excited as this is my first time to China and this is also my first time going overseas without my family. I am always afraid of airplanes as I am quite paranoid and millions of thoughts race through my mind every time something peculiar happens on the plane (like turbulence), and this time was not different. Luckily, I managed to sleep on the plane so time passed quite fast.

Finally, we arrived Shanghai's airport and it was around 4pm and we took the bus for almost 2 hours to go have dinner. That was my first meal in China and honestly, it was not bad. After our dinner, we went the visit The Bund and took a Cruise tour to Huangpu River. Honestly, the sceneryl on the cruise was fantastic. There are a lot of similarities between Singapore and Shanghai. Both countries have a good geographical location which made both countries a trading port last time. Being a trading port meant that there would be many foreigners that come. Via westerner's influences, both cities learnt many new technology from the westerners, and slowly became big cities.

Also, on the cruise, we saw many banks together with some tourist attractions. This shows that Shanghai focuses on tourism. They manage to attract tourists with their attractions and this is one of the reasons why they are flourishing as a city. The pictures on the right shows how beautiful the scenery of Shanghai is. These pictures are taken on the cruise and the scenery there is spectacular! They manage to make Shanghai so beautiful that it attracts foreigners to come here not only for sightseeing but also for business.

~Festivals and holidays that people in Yangzhou have~

The festivals and holidays that people have in Yangzhou are quite interesting. They have similar festivals and holidays with Singapore, like Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival. They also have similar holidays but on different days, like the Valentine's Day on the 7th day of the 7th moon (14 February in Singapore) and their National Day (9th August in Singapore). Finally, they have the Birthday of the Chinese Communist party which is the day where the Communist Party was formed. This activity is special and unique for China, just like how Singapore have unique activities like the International Friendship Day

Qingming Festival
Chinese Name: 清明节 (Qingming Jie)
Date: April 4, 5 or 6.
It is a time to pay respect to deceased ancestors. It is not a public holiday. The date of Qingming festival is determined by the solar cycle.

Women’s Day
Chinese Name: 三八妇女节 (Sanba Funv Jie)
Date: March 8
Employers give women half a day off work or give them some money.

Dragon Boat Festival
Chinese Name: 端午节 (Duanwu Jie)
Date: 5th day of the 5th moon
Dragon boat races are held and people eat sticky rice. This festival is on the fifth day of the fifth moon. It is to celebrate the hero Qu Yuan who protested a corrupt emperor by drowning himself. Fishermen raced their long boats out on to the water and then beat drums and threw rice in order to drive the fish away from Qu Yuan’s body.

Chinese Valentine’s Day
Chinese Name: 七夕 (Qixi)
Date: 7th day of the 7th moon

National Day

Chinese Name: 国庆节 (Guoqing Jie)
Date: October 1
This is the birthday of the People’s Republic of China. This is one of the busiest times for travel during the year since many Chinese people get a seven day break from work or school. It is a time to spend time with family and friends as well as the beginning of a major shopping week. Shopping areas become packed with shoppers searching for National Day deals.

Birthday of the Chinese Communist PartyChinese Name: 党的生日 (Dang de Shengri)
Date: July 1

~Can Merlion by Singapore's national icon?~

To me, i feel that yes, it can be one of our country's national icon. The Merlion is a combination of the lion and a fish. The lion is the first animal that is seen in Singapore while the fish represents Singapore being a fishing village in the past. We are an island and we are surrounded by water. Many people in the past find food by hunting fishes and many activities also took place in the sea. Therefore, by taking a fish tail and a lion head, it is combined to be Merlion. There are 5 Merlion statues located in Singapore, Two of them are located at Merlion Park, adjacent to the promenade of One Fullerton.

I feel that Merlion cannot be Singapore's one and only national icon, but i feel that it can be one of our national icons. Other than the Sentosa, Marina Bay Sands, Esplanade and some other iconic places, tourists would usually visit the Merlion and take pictures with the Merlion. This shows that the Merlion has become a popular tourist attraction and many people know Singapore by our Merlion

~My Thoughts on our previous PM, Mr Lee Kuan Yew~

Mr Lee Kuan Yew lived by these principals, they are meritocracy, multi-racial and bilingualism.

Firstly, meritocracy is a system which rewards talent and hard work. With this system, many talented, hard working and deserving leaders were put into power to lead Singapore, to improve SIngapore. I feel that with this system, true talents are put to lead this country and not those people who are rich and favoured. With this, leaders are more efficient and can bring Singapore to greater heights.

Secondly, multi-racial. I am sure that every Singaporean have friends from different races however, even with the difference of thoughts, opinions and religious believes, we still manage to live together in peace and move towards prosperity. There is also many activities that bring people from different races to come together and all these activities are influenced by Mr Lee's multi-racial goal. People were fighting in many streets in the past because of racial differences and discrimination but now we manage to live in peace and prosperity. When Singapore was merged with Malaysia, Malays wanted Malay rights as they thought that it was Malay's land and that they should have more priority than other races. However, Mr Lee wanted Singapore to be multi-racial, which made the Malaysia government angry and want to cancel the merger. Because of that, many people thought that Singapore was going to die soon and that Singapore could not live any longer without Malaysia's support.




However, Singapore was able to survive and become what it is today and it is all because of Mr Lee's contributions.Finally, Mr Lee strongly pushed for bilingualism, with English as the working language and Chinese, our mother tongue, to keep Singaporeans culturally rooted. Mr Lee also forsaw that China was going to be a powerouse in the economy therefore wanted Singaporeans to know Chinese. With Chinese, we are able to communicate with them and help improve Singapore's economy by doing business with them and indeed, China has become a major country in the economy and that has benefited us greatly.


To end this off, i would like to say thank you to Mr Lee for his contributions to Singapore. What we have today wouldn't be possible if it weren't for your contributions and your ability to do what best for Singapore.

~China's Economy~

China's economy has been increasing rapidly. China's economy has and is expected to overtake many major countries in a few years.




This picture shows the GDP growth rates between 3 years, 2003- 2005. This shows a large difference in GDP between China and other major countries like US, the Euro Area and Japan.

~One Child Policy in China~

Today, We have learnt about the one child policy and their different advantages and disadvantage. The one child policy is to control the amount of people in China so that their population size would be at least still manageable.

These are some of the disadvantages:

The first and second generation children wont have any siblings or first cousins.

Gender Inequalities: women will continue to be looked as the lower sex in China; due to this many couples who have a baby girl sometimes kill or abandon their child

Gender Imbalance: more men than women.Forced abortions and involuntary sterilization of mothers.

Psychology of children: mainly all children are the only child in their families, and as result face more psychological problems without siblings.Thus, I feel that this one-child policy is needed to keep the population size,but i feel that it is not good for the families. It is understandable that doing this is for keeping the population size not increasing, but i am sure that there are many other ways into doing this and China should not resort to this one-child policy rule.

~Reflection about Poverty~

As I took MC on that day, I do not know what content we went through so I cannot give my thoughts and feelings about that lesson, but I can write down my feelings and thoughts about poverty.

I feel that poverty I a sad thing happening on a lot of people. I feel that poverty is often miserable obviously, a lot of people do not like the fact that they've are poor. Many people look down on poor people, especially those people who beg for money on the streets. Instead of looking down on beggars, I despise the rich people who just clearly ignore these poor people even more. The people I look up to would be those who care for them and volunteer to help them. I look up to these people as these actions would make up the poor people's day and these volunteers care about how they feel. Even just giving $2 would help them get through 3 meals and can help stop their suffering for a day.

是的，那些比较有钱的人会更有能力帮助新加坡发展。他们能够投资，和海外的商家沟通，做生意，帮助新加坡赚钱，可是我觉得他们应该扪心自问，你有没有利用自己的财务优势来帮助那些有困难的人。如果那些人能够趁机会帮助这些没钱的人，那我们的社会就会有更少的穷人，尽管穷，也穷得开心。

~Introduction [About Me!]~

My name is Chan Sheng Feng, from 2I'15 and I am from choir! (<3 singing) JUST JOKING! actually i do like singing :D

Personally, i am a very quiet person unless i'm talking to my friends (I am actually a very loud person when talking to my friends... i just feel more comfortable) I actually like to play computer games when i'm free, example some Maplestory [Dumb game but I like it] and League of Legends. But obviously, studying is more important. I just don't know how i will feel when i am year 5 or 6 and i cannot even play these games anymore and i have to fully concentrate on studies.

During the end of year holidays, i actually enjoyed myself in Malaysia. Both my parents grow up in Malaysia, mother grew up in Taiping and my father grew up in Ipoh. We would usually go back to Malaysia to visit some of my relatives every year and i really love the food in Malaysia. Apparently, i feel that the food in Malaysia are MUCH MORE nicer than the food in Singapore and obviously, most of it is cheaper due to the exchange rate between SGD and RM. Firstly, we went to Taiping, to visit my mother's aunt, which is staying in the house where my Grandmother brought up my mother.

After living there for 2 nights, we headed to Penang where my father's 2 sisters live in. We lived in my father's younger sister's house as she had 2 empty rooms as she had 1 guest room and a bedroom which belonged to her son however, her son (which is my cousin) is living in New Zealand at that time. We had 4 nights over there and we went to various shopping malls like Tesco and some market that we frequent every time we go there as they sold pretty useful items.

After 4 nights there, we headed to stay in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur and we spent our christmas over there. After 3 nights there, we headed home. we reached the custom at around 5pm evening and guess what? There was an epic jam on the bridge [GREAT TIMING!] and it took us almost 1.5 hours to get across the custom. When we reached home, we had dinner and then practically it was back to the normal days.

A few days past and it was almost the start of school. i was actually afraid that i couldn't fit into my RV uniform but luckily i could. Then, school started and i was back with my awesome friends and teachers, also meeting some really cool new teachers like Mr De La Cruz and of course my CID 2 Teacher :)))