December Holiday 2014

This holiday was by far one of my worst ones ever.

In the second week of November, I was woken up by my mother, who received the call that my grandfather had passed away early in the morning. That very day, it was a silent morning while we hastily packed clothes to go to Malaysia. Many family members gathered at my Grandmother's house.  The funeral lasted over 5 days and there were many different rituals. The adults would have to wear a white shirt and white pants while the children wore blue coloured ones. Finally, the great grandchildren of my grandfather wore green ones. We could not bathe or comb our hair for 5 days. We also had to burn a fire for 4 consecutive days, and the children were in charge of that, as the adults had to fold 12 sacks full of 金纸 for burning before another ritual. I stayed up till 5am and went to sleep at 6 am after the other cousins woke up. Just like this, we switched with each other and tried to keep the mood up and comfort each other, while our parents all helped out in the funeral preparations for the burial on the last day. We all saw Grandfather's cold and rigid body in his coffin, and many of us cried. The children, including me, would go to a corner to cry at times. When the last day came, we went to a cemetery and all watched as our grandfather's sealed coffin was lifted and  placed into the hole. We all threw a piece of soil into the hole, before leaving. I regret not having spent enough time with him. Although we lived in different countries, I visited often yet did not talk with him much. We all knew his health was rapidly detoriating and was also aware that he would pass away soon. I realised that I was selfish as I wanted to spend time with my cute cousins and the younger children, and also neglected my grandmother in the process. After his passing, I decided to talk more with my grandmother so I would not regret it in future.

The only other thing during my holiday which cheered me up was Christmas caroling at Gardens by the Bay with my cca,Choir. We practiced very hard, and sang a total of 11 songs. We also got free vouchers for food, and a waiting area which included a fridge filled with food and a microwave for the muffins and pizzas. Coffee was also provided, which kept us alert throughout the day as we had to stay there till around 9.30pm. The crowd was very big as it was Christmas season, and i was grateful for the large crowd of family members and friends to dropped by Gardens by the Bay to visit and support us. It was really fun and I was very grateful to be part of the caroling sessions. All in all, the rest of my holidays were spent going to school to prepare for SYF in April and  completing my homework.

CID Lesson  
"A picture paints a thousand words"


This lesson, we shown a couple of photos. Behind these simple photos, were stories which deeply touched my heart, and I learnt a lesson of utmost importance for everybody to keep in mind- to be compassionate.

The first picture shown, was the well known picture by Kevin Carter. In March 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Carter was preparing to photograph a starving toddler trying to reach a feeding center when a hooded vulture landed nearby. Carter reported taking the picture, because it was his "job title", and leaving. He was told not to touch the children for fear of transmitting disease. He committed suicide three months after winning the Pulitzer Prize, due to his guilt of not having helped the poor starving child. Just like the many others who criticized him for not having helped the child, I was filled with much anger and was also upset at his actions. To simply witness the sad plights of these starving people and taking photos instead of helping, I felt it was a very selfish action. However, after hearing that he committed suicide, I thought again. If I were this man, I would probably be unable to make a decision. To catch a deadly disease from this children, I feel that this was the reason why he did not 
help the child in that moment. Kevin Carter must have felt extremely bad and also was haunted by the images of 
the starving and weak people there, consequently leading to his suicide.

The next two photos were of two scenarios of beggars. The first photo showed a man with a sign, asking for some coins just to make a phone call. He had had all his belongings stolen, leading to his plight. In the other picture, was a lady holding a child and another man sitting down.

Given the question: if I had a dollar, who would I give it to?
Unlike many who chose the lady with the baby, I chose the man in the first picture. The reason why I did that was because I felt that he probably had relatives very far away, and he would be able to reach them and get back to safety with just a few coins for a phone call. On the other hand, I grew up seeing many beggars whenever I went to Malaysia to visit my grandparents, and I was shocked to learn that many beggars there, who had either their arms or legs amputated, actually had them cut off by organizations who kidnapped them and left them with nothing. As Malaysia is a country where some policemen were not honest, most cases of kidnapping was solved with bribes. These people would be sent out to beg for money. Also, the families with children were often begging as foreigners did not know the situation in Malaysia and would not hesitate to donate some money to them. From then on, I decided not to donate to beggars, and would donate to charities instead. In this case, the lady and man
was actually syndicates, just like those I have seen in Malaysia. On the other hand, the man in the first picture 
was really in need of help. As such, I also decided that when I go overseas during OELP, I must remember not to 
fall for the lies of some beggars. 


Singapore's dwindling population

The population in Singapore is decreasing rapidly, with research showing that with the current birth rate, the median age in 2030 will rise up to 49 from 39 in 2011.

With the dwindling population, children will have to grow up and support their parents. In the past, there were 4-5 children to support their parents, while on the other hand, many children nowadays are a single child. With a larger responsibility to uphold, they may not be able to support their own family and their parents. 

With the greying population, there will also be a higher demand for national healthcare in Singapore as a larger proportions of Singaporeans are senior citizens. As such, the Singapore government will spend more time and money for the elderly instead of investing resources for the younger generation.

The decreasing population in Singapore will also cause a higher demand for national healthcare as there is a larger proportion of the senior citizens to the young people, therefore more of them would be prone to age-related illnesses. This will cause a need for more healthcare services. Hence, the government will spend more time and effort to build up healthcare services for the elderlies instead of giving the younger generation a better education and better foster them.

I feel that to increase the population, Singapore can encourage the people to give birth and increase the birth rate. We can also allow foreigners to stay in Singapore and start a family here.

Economic growth in China

When we talk about China's economic development, why do you think that was such a rapid economic growth in China? In fact, China ranks in 2nd place behind USA in terms of total GPD. There are many reasons to the rapid economic growth and high GPD.

China has a total of 3854082 square miles of land mass. More land means more space for buildings such as factories, etc. With more free space, the rental is lower. Thus more foreign companies would invest in China and build their factory in China. 

China also has a 25% tax rate, which is much lower than other countries such as USA which has a 35% tax rate. The low tax in China attracts foreign investors and companies.

There is a fairly high rate of imports from China. Many of our goods these days are often seen with the words 'made in China'. This is because of the high population in China which leads to cheap labour for each worker. Therefore, companies do not have pay as much for mass production in China.