321 reflection

3 things I found out

1)Singapore and China has an aging population.

2) There was a one child policy in China from 1979-2015

3) Singapore used to have a two-child policy 

2 perceptions I gained 

1) Many people are afraid of having a second child because there would be many factors to consider about and is troublesome

2) The youngers generations would have a hard life as they will need to support their parents when they grow old and even their grandparents

1 question I have 

1) Will the country still remain the same and not change if China continues on their one child policy and Singapore continues their two or more child policy

CHINGAY PARADE 2016- "lights of legacy, brighter Singapore"

Let me have a brief introduction on what I know about Chingay parade first. Chingay which is also known as the National event, is the largest street performance and float parade in Asia. From the main parade site to the heartlands, this street extravaganza epitomises the dynamism of Singapore's vibrant and multicultural society. The word Chingay is equivalent to the Mandarin zhuang yi (妆艺), which means "the art of costume and masquerade" in the Hokkien dialect. The first formal Chingay parade in Singapore was mooted by the then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who was also the chairman of the People's Association (PA). Chingay, with all its noise and gaiety, would compensate for the ban on firecrackers, a customary New Year practice to drive away evil spirits.

Chingay has become a uniquely Singaporean Lunar New Year tradition, held during the first weekend of the Lunar New Year. This yearly street parade is now a national festival, celebrated by Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians alike. 

The official theme for Chingay parade 2016 is "lights of legacy , brighter Singapore". It is inspired by the legacy of Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the values embodied by pioneers such as racial harmony, social cohesion, caring community, resilience as a nation, can-do Singapore spirit and uphold high moral values. 

Chingay 2016 represents our first step towards SG100 after our milestone SG50 celebrations where Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds come together to celebrate core values important to Singapore. Together we celebrate these values that have transformed us from a fishing village into a modern metropolis and bring us forward into the future with confidence.

I think the Chingay organizers has achieved their purpose of bonding people from different cultures and races as all of us who went to watch the Chingay rehearsal have seen the multiculturalism. The organizers have also successfully included people of all age groups, from kids as young as 7 years old to old retirees.

I am really thankful to the performers who put up this performance for us to enjoy and took off time and put in effort to rehearse. I would also like to thank the volunteers who helped out backstage and as ushers because they were willing to sacrifice their time to make Chingay a success.

If I had to choose my favourite performance, it would definitely be the lights of legacy. This performance involved 3,000 performers lighting-up Singapore's city skyline with bright bulb-shaped Sky Lanterns that carries the commitment of our people, towards the values advocated by our founding father, towards a Brighter future Singapore! I am very touched and impressed at the same time. Glancing through the drawings of our citizens drawn I can understand how much we aprreciate our country, Singapore. All the beautiful lights hanging around indeed matches the theme for this year "legacy of light". I am really honoured to be able to witness this whole impressive parade. This personal experience was meaningful and fun. It made me even more proud to be a Singaporean and if I ever had another chance to participate this event, I would definitely bring along my friends and family to watch it with me or even become a part of the Chingay peroformancers and perform during this annual event. Thank you!!

  

Does being rich means happiness?

People, like us, have strange conceptions about money. When we don’t have it, we often believe that money will make us happier. When we do have money, however, we tend to want more.

The odd thing is that we all know, at least intellectually, that money won’t buy happiness. But unfortunately, we’ve been steeped in a culture so heavily mediated  that we’ve started believing the lies. The cars, the houses, the stuff—living the so-called Dream will make us happy. But of course this is not true. The opposite, however, is also not true. A life of poverty—a life of perpetual deprivation—isn’t joyous either.

Too much of a good thing may be wonderful, but it turns out that when it comes to money, more of it doesn't make the rich happier. But lack of money does make the poor sadder. Researchers in Singapore have studied a regular day in the lives of people from across the income strata, and found that the rich generally don't find their daily lives more full or satisfying than the average person. They found "no trace of a relationship between income and happiness,” writing that “this finding, however, dovetails with recent theory and research showing that wealth may undermine people’s ability to savor positive events, largely canceling out the happiness benefits of higher income.” Apparently, the experiences and possessions readily available to the rich render them easily bored.

However, while an abundance of money doesn't make a person happier, money can reduce sadness — for those who don't have enough.

The extra in the ordinary

The arch is the extraordinary in our ordinary school life. Our school life is ordinary but the arch stand out of the ordinary school life we have. It is built for river valley 60th anniversary celebration, it is the first arch built in a government high school and donated by our school alumni. Many months were spent for the construction of the arch at the main gate hence we had to use the side gate for entering and exiting the school. It represents 感恩立德 as we should appreciate what our alumni did for us to build the arch. They spent a lot of time designing the arch and spent a lot of money on it. It is red, blue and white with the words 立化  on it. The arch stands out as it represents our school RV spirit too. RV60 was a success because the students, teachers and alumni worked together to make it a memorable one. This shows our RV spirit as the teachers and alumni worked together to organize events and the students practiced for performances together almost everyday. It also represents us as a integrated programme school to be able to build the arch. The arch also gives a good impression of our school once they see it. The colours of the arch symbolizes our school’s logo  which are red and blue. The arch may seem ordinary but there is a meaning to it. Therefore, I think what is most extraordinary in our ordinary school life is the arch.

-shuqing

Self introduction

heyyy guise. My name is Shuqing and I'm index number 22. To be honest, I don't know what to say but it's okay. I turn one year older on every 14 January :) most people call me qingg as they think it is shorter lol I AM ACTUALLY A REALLY HIGH and active PERSON. I like to party with my friends and have sleepovers. My hobby is doing exciting stuffs like going to theme parks or watching horror movies and going on roller coasters. I am annoyed with people who are online but turned offline when u send or ask them something. HAHAHAH. I am a kpop fan and my bias group is bigbang ❤️ their talents caught me and it's been 3 years liking them. My most bias in the group is Gdragon bc he's cute, humble, funny, charming. However, I feel that they are going to quit the singing society as they are getting older and older. But I am still gonna support them I have 6members in my group. All of them are considered my good friends, therefore I believe we are able to work together as a team. Sometimes, I would read English books about adventures or actions. Most girls are afraid of watching or even reading horror movies or books however I find it exciting an thrilling.I also watch Korean dramas when I have free time, I usually watch dramas that Korean idols film in. My CCA is girl guides as I find it interesting and cool especially when we march and do footdrills. ERM.... I am actually a gamer too , but not that addicted. My brother would ask him to play blackshot, dota and more actions games with him on the computer whenever he is free. He would obviously bash me up if I reject him, since no one else knows how to play with him. I would stop my introduction here and hope you have know me abit more. HAHAHAH PLS REMEMBER ME BLEH !!!!!!!

-shuqing