Thursday, 27 February 2014

Chinese New Year---Vanessa






CNY: colour is red. It is an auspicious colour for the Chinese during CNY as it is believed to bring good luck. 

Symbol is "D:". There will be a lot of homework during or after the CNY break as teachers give you homework during CNY to keep your brains active while they give you homework after CNY as you missed a lot of classes during the break or that they just want to know more about how you spent your CNY. 




Picture is of a table filled with opened angpows and a wad of notes on one side. This is the familiar picture of almost every child's wish during CNY: to maximise their angpow money by visiting as many relatives as possible.

Chinese New Year---Douglas

Chinese New Year!!!

Colour 



It is a very bright colour. It reminds people of oranges that is part of Chinese New Year and when exchanging oranges with family members, it represents their blessings to each other. 

Symbol


Oranges make up an important part of Chinese New Year. It represents the exchanging of oranges and well blessing from the elderlys. Oranges are nice too.

Picture


This is yu sheng. We eat it every year. It symbolises prosperity and happiness. It is like a new start for the family.

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Chingay reflection

Sin Re

As this is my first time going to Chingay, I am very fascinated by the many interesting performances and touched as the performers are very synchronized,which meant that they put a lot of time and effort into perfecting this performance. I also feel that the theme this year,布海同心 -(colors of fabric, one people) is a meaningful theme as Singapore is a multi-racial country which promotes racial harmony and equality and Chingay also plays an important role in maintains the balance between the different races as people of different races are able to have fun and celebrate together at Chingay, people of different races are able to spend the day bonding with each other and spending enjoyable moments with each other, regardless of whether they are the performers or the audience, as the times enjoyed together will always be a treasured memory. However, I also feel that we could most probably be more active and cheer louder as for a certain period of time the cheering has significantly lessened which could demoralize the performers as it would be disappointing for them as they had put in a lot of effort to put up this performance but the audience (us) did not show our support for it. Nevertheless, the lack in our enthusiasm did not mean that I did not enjoy the learning journey! For example I was very excited to see the fireworks light up in the night sky as the light from the fireworks are reflected off the various buildings and added colours to the background of the flyer which made the entire Singapore background more beautiful, it was so breathtaking that I was speechless!
 (Breathtaking fireworks!!!)

In conclusion, I feel that it was a wonderful performance and we could be a better audience but the whole learning journey was a success and we have learnt and gained a lot from it.

Regina 


This was my first time watching Chingay, live or on television. It was a rare opportunity to be able to watch the Chingay Parade with my friends. I was very fascinated by the vibrant colours of the different floats and performances, and I could see the effort the performers put in for this parade as all the dance steps were synchronized, something that cannot be achieved without effort. There were many people, audience and performers, of various races in the parade and I could see and experience the multi-cultural diversity in Singapore. It was a really enriching and fun learning journey in my opinion, and if I have the chance, I will definitely want to watch the Chingay Parade again.

Douglas

This is my first time watching Chingay live. It is a rare opportunity to be able to watch the Chingay parade live with my classmates. I am amazed by the colorful floats there and the performance. The effort the performances put in for this performance is really commendable. The multiracial in Singapore is really something to be proud of. Overall I really enjoyed myself in the parade. It was a fun and enriching programme. 

Vanessa

The Chingay was a first time experience for me as I didn't even know that such a thing called Chingay existed until this year. It was an enriching experience for me as I gained a lot from it. The performers were very synchronised and coordinated and must've put in a lot of effort in practising their respective acts for the last few months. I fully appreciate all the effort that they have put in for the rehearsal, even though it is not the real thing and I didn't really like the performances. The ushers were not so good as they seem to lack the familiarity of the area near the F1 pit. We had to wait for quite a while before getting to our seats and had to watch a few buses pass by us, not picking us up back to school after the parade, as the ushers said that those buses were not for us. What they could have done was to familiarise themselves more with the area at the F1 pit so as to reduce the waiting time needed to bring us to our seats and ensure a swift clearance out of the area after the parade. However, their enthusiasm, combined with the student councillors', sort of rubbed off on us too as we were more "hyper" nearer to the end of the parade, cheering away. The secondary school behind us, Serangoon Secondary, had a few very enthusiastic students as well but unlike us, they were just screaming their heads off, which made it harder for me to enjoy the parade. What fascinated me was also the lighting and lasers. With the help of a fog machine, I was able to see the beams of light and lasers produced in the optically denser medium. What struck me too was also the environmental friendliness of the parade as I could tell that they were trying to use recycled materials like old CDs attached to a chain of LED lights in one of the segments of the Chingay parade. This demonstrated the creativity and innovation of 21st century youths. Overall, I felt that I learnt more about the multi-racial society of Singapore and if I had the chance to go to the Chingay parade again, I would definitely do it. 

Lin Xu
I thoroughly enjoyed the chingay parade as it was my first time attending a chingay parade. The theme colors of fabric was well expressed through the entire colorful ceremony and the wonderful music which includes even modern kpop music(electric shock). The performers danced professionally and they had prepared long and hard for perfection during chingay. We should all appreciate the parade as it is an important cultural part of Singapore that cannot be replaced. I also really liked the parade due to the fact that we got to see another part of both classmates and teachers. The lights display was also very magnificent and demonstrated the technological ability of 2014. Singapore has truly outdone itself and established Chingay on the world platform. One key discomfort and point that i really dislike is that the chairs were small and weak. The chairs were rocky and tightly packed together. My bag kept dropping due to the gap and I couldn't stand properly due to the limited space between the chairs. Overall, the Chingay was a wonderfully enlightening experience for me as it opened my eyes and exposed me to a multi racial performance. This showcases Singapore's multi racial society that is worth praising. This is truly a world class celebration which I'm confident no other countries can ever make an exact or even better replica.


Chinese New Year---Regina



Orange is a bright color and is often included in the Chinese New Year celebrations. I chose orange to represent Chinese New Year because it represents happiness to me. In my opinion, red represents festive and I think as a whole, orange is a better color compared to red to represent Chinese New Year.

This symbol is seen almost everywhere during the Chinese New Year. It is often put upside down, like the Chinese saying: 福倒来. I think putting it upside down is very interesting because I didn't know about this before. I chose this symbol as it is commonly seen during the Chinese New Year.



During Chinese New Year, yusheng is served during a multi-dish dinner. This dish consists of various ingredients that each represent a saying about Chinese New Year. In my opinion, it is something that is very interesting and special during Chinese New Year. 


Thursday, 20 February 2014

Chinese New Year---Sin Re



Picture: Mandarin Oranges 





Mandarin oranges is a blessing for each other as we exchange well wishes for each other as we exchange the oranges. The oranges are also always exchanged in a pair as there is a proverb that good things come in a pair. The oranges are also sweet which represents the blessing of having a sweet year ahead.

Symbol: 福

The 福 represents prosperity and a smooth year ahead. By pasting it upside down, it also means 福到(same pronunciation as 倒--upside down)


Colour:Orange



The colour orange is a bright colour which represents the bright and cheerful atmosphere during the Chinese New Year period.