Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year- "an important traditional Chinese holiday celebrated at the start of the Chinese calendar" We have decided to share a colour, symbol and picture to represent our Chinese New Year celebration. 新年快乐，万事如意，五福临门，马到功成！

Yijun: I will use green to represent my Chinese New Year because green represents family, harmony. During the Chinese New Year my family and I gathered for one night for eating one meal and we also called our relatives over at china to wish them a happy Chinese New Year, it was indeed harmony in the family thus I would use green to represent my Chinese New Year. The double fish  will be the symbol I will use as it represents happiness in Chinese culture and I was happy with my family through Chinese New Year. The picture below is a picture of the dinner we had during Chinese New Year eve, I chose this photo because we had a great time eating all the delicious food my parents prepared :)

Wee Hung: The colour I choose to represent cny is yellow because yellow represents happiness and fun. As Chinese New Year is an occasion when everyone has fun, I think that yellow is the most appropriate colour to represent cny. The symbol would be dragon.Dancing Dragons are always present in cny performances as the Chinese always think of themselves are descendants of this mythical creature. The dragon represents good luck and good fortune. 

Sharlene: Green is the colour I'm choosing because to me, green makes me feel relaxed and cheerful. Majority would first think of red for Chinese New Year when but I chose green because Chinese New Year is the first holiday and break from school work, together with the festive mood, therefore it's a time to relax and enjoy myself! A symbol would be an exclamation mark because so many delicious meals cooked by my mum during Chinese New Year, good wishes exchanged with relatives, new clothes and of course the joy of receiving red packets! This photo was taken during to year's Chinese New Year 初一 when my family and I went to Gardens by the Bay to relax! 

Shaun: For this Chinese New Year, the color I chose would be red and it represents festivity and this is a chance for us to have some time with relatives we have not met in a long time. The symbol I chose would be :D as I do hope that the parties would be fun and enjoyable! I chose the picture of a horse as this is the year of the horse. I hope that like the horse, we will be strong and diligent in this year!

Esther: I chose red as the colour for the upcoming chinese new year as it has always been the prosperity colour, and the colour for luck. There is also a reason behind the colour red : it is the legend of nian. There are many variations to the tale, but the most popular one was that nian was a big monster that bullied everyone in the village, and all of the villageres were very scared of him. Later, someone found out that nian was afraid of the colour red and loud noises. The village then began putting on red decorations varying from chunlian to bianpao. Nian was scared away the next time he went to the village. Ever since then, chinese have been using the colour red as auspicious colour for chinese new year. 

Fiona: I chose red to describe my feelings for CNY as red is the most common colour during Chinese New Year. It is a belief that red means lucky, which is why everything ranging from clothes to decorations are red in colour during Chinese New Year. When I think of celebrating the festival with my friends and relatives, the first thing that comes to my mind is the colour red, and red packets.

Reflection: Lesson so far

Yijun: During the CID lessons I have learned not to judge a book by its cover reason because I was fooled by the lady with the baby on the photo to think that they was actually a beggar, but after I found out that the lady was actually of a gang of beggar that uses baby to make other people pity them and give them more money. I was furious when I found out what happened and began to pity the man on the another photo instead, he had lack limbs and legs when he was born and he had to sit on a wheelchair to go beg however his wheelchair was stolen and he had to write a banner to beg as he could no move without the aid of his wheelchair. This had thought me not to judge a book by its cover and to find out the truth beneath.

Wee Hung: I learnt a lot from the lesson 'a picture paints a thousand words'. After seeing the picture of the man holding the board, which says 'help, all my belongings stolen', I thought he got reduced to a beggar after everything in his house got stolen by burglars. After knowing the story of the man, I realised that the man has no house, and what he meant by belongings was just a pushcart. Pictures really tell a lot, but sometimes no matter how carefully you observe, you may not know the whole story. Pictures can be deceiving, so we cannot judge things just by looking at a picture. We must think deeper before jumping to a conclusion.

Sharlene: This past three weeks of CID 2 lessons has been really intriguing. Normally I don't like to voice out during other classes but for this module, I feel like speaking up more about my opinions and suggestions. The lessons were mostly discussions, about observation, thinking from different perspective and also learning not to deduce and conclude something just by looking at a situation or subject. Instead, we should think deeper, using our experience and knowledge. Personally, I feel that I've learnt many valuable skills and thinking that could not be in other subject lessons. The lesson on Poverty in Singapore, the pictures of beggars and also the observation challenge caused me to reflect and realise that I assume and judge people and situations too quickly. It's easy that people look only on the surface but after learning these lessons, I hope that I would analyze and take note of little things. Especially whether my friends and family are stressed or worried as I tend to be slower in noticing change in others. All in all, the method of learning along with our own groups and blog is extremely cool and productive! 

Shaun: After these 3 lessons, what left me with the deepest impression was the lesson "a picture paints a thousand words". When I saw the picture of the woman carrying a baby, I immediately thought she was a beggar. After realizing that they may be a family, I was shocked at how I judged her too quickly just by an action. I have learnt and will always remember the importance of looking beyond just what is on the surface during reflection. From lesson 3, I have also learnt to know and care more about someone by observing their daily lives.

Esther: Over the past few weeks of the cid program, i have really learnt not to judge a book by its cover. I have judged quickly on whether i should help the male beggar or the female one. However i ceased to notice that there was a story behind both of the beggars. I have also learnt that a picture speaks a thousand words, like the picture kevin carter took. I believe i have learnt a lot from this cid and i hope to learn more :-)

Fiona: During CID lesson, I have learnt not to judge a book by its cover. We should know how to first observe, then think deeper and harder for the answer with our acquired knowledge and skills,  instead of just judging something by how it looks like. I have also learnt how to care for my peers by observing their actions or words, for example  if they are tired or gloomy. I have learnt a lot during these few CID2 lessons and I hope to learn more in the future lessons.

Lesson 3: Observation and Communication

[A] School spirit 

Facial expression: smiles, a look of being proud of RV 

Noise level: high, singing birthday song together as a school 

Smell: delicious cake

Atmosphere: lively and festive

The spot that caught our eye is how the whole school is seated together, witnessing the birthday cake of RV's 58th anniversary being cut. School spirit is expressed in this photo by how the school makes an effort to hold this event for our anniversary. As well as including everyone, students, teachers, principals to celebrate that day together. Warm filled our hearts as we are one big RV family! 

[B] Happiness

Facial expression: cheery and excited when talking

Sounds: higher pitch voices

Atmosphere: warm 

In the picture, the class is nicely decorated, tables neatly arranged and the focus is how the group of girls are standing in a circle, animatedly talking. Friends that we rely so much on for emotional support and encouragement, their presence and their help are what we do not notice much on a daily basis. They bring us so much joy, giving us so many memories as we spend almost full 5 days of a week together, after taking this photo, we felt so warm in our hearts. We are extremely grateful for each and every classmate and friend.

[C] Fear

Facial expression: serious, worried, anxious

Sounds: scribbling of pens and flipping of pages 

Atmosphere: tense, sense of emergency 

This might be a picture of your every school day life, when we are overflowing with homework, project, CCA and even outside activities such as piano and dance lessons. Rushing homework early in the morning before lessons start, after school when we take every single minute we have to finish our homework or even at night when you just came back from school. This picture conveys the emotion of fear of handing in the homework late and to meet deadlines, hopefully we can practice managing our time properly to have a balanced life with time to relax! 

[D] Life

Looks: leaves are bright green in colour, pink flowers are blooming 

Smell: fragrant, natural smell that gives off a relaxation 

Touch: fresh and smooth 

The first thing that caught our eye was the flower. How beautiful it was blooming in our school. The plant is so vibrant in colour and life. Life is a roller-coaster ride, there are ups and downs but this plant will continue to life in the strong rains and the scorching sun. We hope that we as students, can be like the plant, living life to the fullest even though the dark and sad times. Blooming and being our best that we can, overcoming the obstacles and difficulties in life. 

Observation Challenge

School Spirit -  The school united for the 58th anniversary

Happiness- reliable and helpful friends 

Fear-not handing in homework on time

Life-of a plant 

Lesson 2: A picture paints a thousand words

After looking at the picture, we felt really emotional and scared as Singapore relies strongly on other countries for resources like food. If they decide to stop providing us with those resources, Singapore would easily fall into famine and poverty if it prolongs long enough. We realised that we should treasure the current living standard that Singapore is providing which we are enjoying now. We think that we should help these people who are in need because we would want help from others if we are suffering. Ways such as raising awareness, donating money and be more proactive in doing volunteering work. We learnt to conserve and be thankful for what we have, not taking basic needs such as food for granted.

Lesson 1: Introduction - Preparing to see the world

Top left to right: Yi Jun, Wee Hung, Sharlene

Bottom left to right: Shaun, Esther, Fiona

Yi Jun: During the holidays my family and I visited a place called farm mart. The most unforgettable event during the visit would be prawn fishing as it requires a lot of patience. It takes a while for the prawn to eat the bait. I also learned some techniques to fish for prawns, one example is that you need to jerk the fishing pole left and right every few minutes letting the prawn think that it is a real fish and eat it. Next thing would be to pull the prawn up. During the prawn fishing I caught a small lobster which makes me feel extremely victorious and proud of myself.

Wee Hung: During the holidays, I went to China and saw the Great Wall of China. I was amazed when I first saw it because it was longer than I thought it would be! I tried finish walking the entire Great Wall but it was extremely exhausting. In the end, I gave up halfway and went back to the hotel. Even though I did not finish the walk on the Great Wall of China, the trip to China was enjoyable. 

Sharlene: After hearing that Jia Jia and Kai Kai came to Singapore, my family and I looked forward to visit them at River Safari, so we took the time during this holiday to say "你好!" to them. There were many different unique and special species, but the pandas were the cutest! When the pandas moved from one side to another, the visitors will move along with them to get a good photo of them. Out of all the outings I had during holidays, the one with my family was the most memorable as family time is really precious! 

Shaun: This December holiday, I went to Port Dickson and Malacca. I really enjoyed the stay, especially the food! Such as the chicken rice as they were in the shape of a sphere. I also helped in organising a Christmas party for my CCA at my house. I think it was a very good learning experience planning something and watching a horror movie for the first time. Lastly, I went to cycle at East Coast Park with my friends. It has been a long time since I exercised and I felt accomplished after 3 hours of it. Overall, although the holiday felt really short, this was definitely a great one! 

Esther: This December, my family and I went to Australia Sydney and Gold Coast. We visited many famous places like the Sydney Opera House, Royal Gardens, Warner Bros Movie World and many more! I also saw many cute animals like kangaroos, koala bear and the wallbys.  I really liked Australia as they have a very cool weather and they have many merchandises that Singapore does not have. Even though it was really tiring traveling to different places by car, i still thoroughly enjoyed myself. I really hope to go there again.

Fiona: During the holidays, my family and I went to Japan, Hokkaido. I was very excited as this was my first trip to Japan and it was their winter season. Initially, I was rather disappointed on the first day as we did not see any snow although it was winter there. After a few days however, it began to snow! I was elated! On the last day, I could not bear to leave the place. I've really enjoyed my trip to Japan and I hope that I would be able to visit Japan again.