Worker Writes
What? Our construction workers write poetry? Yes, and some are published writers with degrees! Search the Internet for the winning poems from the 1st and 2nd Migrant Workers Poetry Competition and share your favourite poem. Tell us why you like it!
LESSONS FROM CIRCUMSTANCE
Dowry
O Firefly!
Have you also engaged
your daughter to be wed?
Does the fear of dowry
burn in your belly too as fire?
Mother
When
I fell, not knowing how to walk,
you would pick me up
But
when you fell, unable to walk
I pushed you
away. Regards, the
modern, (un)civilized family
Money
A peculiar disease.
The world’s deadliest afflictions
cancer, AIDS, ebola,
even love
kill by their presence.
Money alone
kills by absence.
This is my favourite poem out of all the ones I’ve seen. This is just really well written and how it talks about realistic situations in our current society that we are in right now.About how money can cause us to lose things that we love. The poem said money is a disease, which is not entirely wrong. It also talks about we can be disloyal to the ones that raised us.I really liked how it have a really strong message put into a few words.
Global Voices
The world is talking, are you listening? Global Voices (globalvoicesonline.org/) curates compelling citizen media stories from around the world (it’s like STOMP for social change, but a lot more credible!). Pick one story that calls out to you from Global Voices or Rising Voices (http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/) and tell us why.
This article talks about a russian professional ice-staker performing and dressed up as a character in an anime called Sailor Moon.Japanese fans are hearts have been stolen by this Russian figure skater who cosplayed in an performance. There is a short video showing her ‘tranformation’ during her performance.
This article has caught my eyes as I am always a big fan of the ‘Otaku’ culture that Japan has created. After reading this article, I have a realised that the Otaku culture have spread to other countries in the world. This really intrigue me as it shows that people who have different backgrounds and cultivation can bond together as one, liking the same thing together. This really shows that races,religions,skin colours. None of that really matter as long as people enjoy doing and having the same interest. I myself was able to make new friends from other countries due to them having to like the same anime as I do. This could have never happened to me if it weren’t for this special culture I hold so dear to.
Do you know that the first ‘iPod’ was made by Creative Technology – and one of the world’s biggest online dating sites was created by a Singaporean? What other awesome local inventions have rocked the world (e.g. in defence, medicine, design, technology, etc.)? Share with us your favourite Singapore invention – and tell us what you would create if you were an inventor!
Singapore created one of the most iconic shows called Ah boys to men. It is about a bunch of teens enlisting for NS and experience in it.There are currently 3 films in the series of Ah Boys to men.It is one of the top-grossing film made in Singapore. The resemblance and comedy made this show a success. I think this show is one of my favourite Singapore’s creation. The show take place in Singapore and used local Singaporeans to act for the film.I think the creators and the viewers, including myself, enjoyed it.
If I was a inventor I would like to create a machine that could clear the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Therefore, I would not melt in Singapore every single day.It would create a better environment not only for me but for others as well. Not only does humans benefit from such a machine, Animal and plants could too.Fruits like strawberry grows at the temperature of 26 degree celcius, however due to the rise in temperature due to greenhouse gases, the average temperature have risen. Thus many plants are unable to grow at this rate. Not only plants are affected, Polar bears are losing their home due to the increase in temperature. Many icebergs are melting, thus lesser land for polar bears.
There are many interesting magazines/journals and board games in both SP libraries (e.g. Earthopoly, Dividends, Resiliency Bingo, etc.). Select one and read/play it (with your friends). Afterwards, review this magazine/game on your blog, persuading/dissuading us to read/play it based on what you think citizenry is about
I have once overstayed at my friends house not long ago. We were bored and had nothing to do in the middle of the night. My friend then decided to take out board games from his cabinet. We ended up choosing monopoly deal. We actually had a lot of fun playing that game. It was my first time playing it. The rules are simple to learn and can be replayed a lot of times. The gameplay is short and every match is different from the others.I recommend this game and it is best played with four people. The cost of one deck is not costly at all and it should be a classic pick when there are a groups of four.
Another game that I’d recommend is a good old chess! It is the epitome of board games. When you think of board games, one of the first few games you think of will be chess. The chess is world-wide known and it there are even people who are taking extra miles to be professional in it.This shows us how a simple board game can become such a huge deal. Other than going serious, we can always play a casual games with our peers and family. The experience will be enhanced when there are snacks and drinks while playing it.I’d highly recommend this as I myself do enjoy playing it with others.
Some people in Singapore have unconventional occupations. Research on one such job and share it with the class; try to choose something that you might actually undertake next time (no, we don’t think you really want to be a mermaid). Don’t forget to tell us what ‘unusual’ means to you!
I personally want to be a Lego certified professional! As a person who enjoys creative and artistic works, I would like to be a Lego pro to be able to create cool structures while earning money. Lego is one of my childhood toys and I till this day enjoys playing it. I used to even make Lego tutorials. I have seen many professionals out there and they spent hours making one human-sized structures. I appreciate their hard work and patience to create these art. If I could, I would want to have a job like this .
Firstly,I would like to state that I am proud to be a Singapore citizen and being at the Singapore river just reinforced this statement.
I would like to talk about the history. In the past, due to heavy traffic on the Singapore River due to urbanisation . At the same time, it brought in water pollution caused by the disposal of garbage and other by-products of industries located along the river’s banks.Lee Kuan Yew called for a clean up of Singapore’s rivers, which included Singapore River and Kallang River. The clean up costed a whopping $170 million.
I thought a normal a normal reflection will be monotonous. So I brought along a Jellofish with me on the Heritage trail to Singapore River and to guide us through it together!I have taken over a 100 pictures of the trip I had and I enjoyed every single minute of it.
Moving along to the actual reflection!
First thing that caught my attention was a metallic structure in the far distance. It intrigued me as my curiosity rose. I looked at the scenery around me and it filled me with excitement as I have never been to such a place in Singapore.
There weren’t any railings to prevent you from falling into the river, you could sit at the edge of the path way dangling your legs above the river.It was fascinating how they have developed it compared to the old Singapore River. It is the same old area but much well-developed. I remembered our lessons about Lee Kuan Yew’s decision on cleaning up our river when it was in such a tragic condition.
As I walked along the side of the river, I saw many things that I have never thought of before. I saw tables and chairs right along the river. I saw people having their food on the boat that was in the water. I saw multiple bars and restaurant, opened for business. It kept me thinking that this one river brought many customers. I even saw multiple tourists walking around.Some from Korea , America ,Britain ,China and many more. This one place could bring this many people together to admire this area.
It took me awhile before I have finally get to know what was the metallic structure I saw at the start of the trail. It was a pair of metallic stand strapped with a ball in the middle, just like a slingshot.It is called a leftG-MAX reverse bungee.I was amazed that there was such a recreation here. I asked the person if I could take a picture for my schoolwork and I was granted permission.
Up close shot of the leftG-MAX reverse bungeeSpectacular sight of the recreation.Up close shot of the leftG-MAX reverse bungee
I decided to walk further as I was enjoying my moment exploring along the Singapore River.I then came across this!
It was an underpass with graffiti/paintings on the wall.With a painting, comes with a label stating the title and it’s description.
It was really interesting to look and spectate the paintings. The descriptions was really cool too.
After walking in the underpass, thoughts of facts and history of the Singapore River keep refreshing in my mind.I thought of what will happened if Lee Kuan Yew did not make the decision of cleaning up the river.Singapore will have one less thing to be proud of. I am thankful of Lee Kuan Yew’s foresight and his leadership to plan for the future of Singapore.
When I came out of the underpass, I was really blown away. I never knew that the Parliament House was just right beside the Singapore River. I was extremely shocked to see such an important and well-known place was located here. I was pretty happy as I learned something without the help of the textbook. I think it would be more memorable than learning this from a book too.
Fun fact! you could see Marina Bay Sands from here! It’s a cool sight honestly. The sights are pretty breath-taking. The atmosphere is different from home too.
I saw this bus and I immediately thought of how awesome this area is. It is an actual tourist attraction. There are even services for sightseeing bus tours and boat tours in the Singapore River.If it weren’t for Lee Kuan Yew, we would not have such a sight to behold.
It wasn’t long before I had to leave. I was slightly hesitant but nonetheless remembered that Singapore is a small city and getting back here would only take a hour or so. The time I spent at the Singapore River was definitely an unforgettable experience for me. Even when it the sun was at it’s peak and the scorching heat was melting me, I had fun. I felt as if I was a tourist myself. People gave me weird looks when I sat down on the floor just to take a good shot of the scenery. It was something that I would not have done if it was not for this trail. And again I have to re-emphasise this again. If our government did not plan ahead of time and think about Singapore’s future, we would not have this many tourists visiting our homeland. I am blessed to be a Singaporean. I will end this off with one of my best picture I took. Thank you for having your time to read this!
Singaporean are certainly unique in many ways. One of the most noticeable fact is the ability to speak two languages. This create more job opportunities for us and allows us to communicate to people who are in different races. However, this cannot be all positive as this is also a cause of our Singlish. We have the tendency to mix multiple languages into one sentences. This makes us sound unprofessional and people might be unable to take us seriously. This definitely does not apply to every Singaporeans but surely affects majority of Singaporeans.
I do possess Singlish as I am a Singapore citizen. I think it is a way of showing Singaporeans uniqueness and make us more outstanding.However, being able to change our way of ‘English’ to proper English is surely a difficult task.Why? It is because of the multiple languages we have.Languages have different words and sentence structure that can confuse us speakers.
We also have a common trait.’Kiasuism’ To being with, why are we always so eager to be first? It is because of how we are train to become. With the rapid increase in economy, the competition in the market rises as rapidly. We Singaporeans have to improve ourselves to stay afloat in this hectic sea of the economics. If we lack a little, we might lose our jobs and ‘drown’. Thus, we are always working our way up and always being competitive among one another. Creating a never ending cycle of struggling.
Empathy plays a big part between Singaporeans and migrants.From Singaporean side of view, they usually associate migrants as ‘job stealer’ which will reduce the chances of Singaporeans of getting jobs. However, many Locals do not put themselves in the migrants shoes. They did not think of the reason why migrants are coming to Singapore. The reasons could be that their previous country is not as good as Singapore. It could also be the country being unfair and treats their citizens poorly. We should always see the situation in both spectrum before we make evaluations and assumption. Being self-centred is not a way to go as it creates a hostile world. The migrants themselves know that they should not be in the country that they migrate to. We should not add extra hatredness towards these migrants.
This topic can be controversial but I am going to take a stand on welcoming the migrants. Rather than seeing them as people who reduce job opportunities from locals,we should view this as a positive manner as to upgrade ourselves to prevent them from overtaking us.This improves our ability and increase the economy in Singapore. One stone kills two bird!
I’ve learnt what the definition of overspending is, it is when you spend more money than you can earn. Which is quite self-explanatory if you think about it .
I’ve also learnt of what is a need and a want. A need is something that you require.For example, an obvious one, FOOD.Some thing that is a want is something that you can live without, mostly recreational items,being a game or a new pair of shoes when you already owns 3 other pairs.
Lastly,setting savings for the future. The importance of saving money that will be beneficial in the future.This can potentially grants us an early retirement or maybe savings for marriage. I now know you can set a goal and work towards it. Making saving a lot easier to plan.
I really liked the reading of the bad spending habits of teenagers as I am able to relate to. The fact about teenagers unable to put in efforts to save money. Spending every single cent on the day they get their allowances.Sometimes they will blow up their allowances and end up borrowing.They mentioned about a very true point of being in the trend.”trying too hard to fit in” is definitely one point that is undeniable. Teens are always wanting to fit in society, and one way to do so is to dress the way that everyone does.Examples are branded stuff, Nike, Adidas,Levi and many more. In our developed environment, it is difficult for some to be able to distinguish ‘Needs’ and ‘Wants’. I personally am able to distinguish the difference and certainly do not follow trends(pretty outdated~). This difficulty can create holes in their pockets as they might be spending their on unnecessary items and they might associate with ‘Needs’.
I would want to be a father that allows my children to have freedom. I will allow them to make decisions at an early age. This is to make them independent. In hopes for them to find their own uniqueness. I would try to raise them to be true to themselves, rather than to follow the trends and the ‘norms’. Expressing themselves truly without a hint of doubt is something many cannot do.Due to social pressure, many are unable to be honest to themselves.
I would like to raise my children to be hard-working and kind. They do not have to score good results. As long as they show me their effort. They should be kind and patient to even those they dislike.
Next, I would want them to work as soon as possible. Partly from what I had experienced. I want them to be able to adapt to society,added bonuses are that they get to learn new job and communication skills. They should know the importance and the value of money. I’ve seen many people my age spending money without a second thought. I want them to feel the toughness of balancing school and work. A famous quote “Only when you step out of your comfort zone,is then you will find success”.
sylvestianreflectionsp 