The Economic or Our Environment

The dilemma between the blind pursuit of higher economic growth and protecting our environment has been a widely debated issue for a long time. While everyone would prefer to protect our environment, I admit that it is inevitable that the environment is affected in the midst of our pursuit of higher economic growth.
I personally think that these two concepts are intertwined, and may even be interdependent. Without natural resources like coal, natural gas, oil, water, our industries cannot run nor produce. However, without the push for improvement and innovation in our industries that presents itself naturally with economic growth, there will not be ideas for sustainable development or improvement of the environment. I do think that protecting our environment is more important than economic growth, but there is more than one way to protect our environment, not just preventing the destruction of land.
While authorities implement measures to reduce the destruction of our environment, every measure has its limitations. Hence, instead of waiting for authorities to do something about our environment, we ourselves should practise the sustainable use of our natural resources. It all takes a bit of discipline on our part, we can reduce the use of water by shortening our shower time, and reduce the use of electricity by consuming products that are energy efficient. Once countries secure a robust economy, they could reduce the depletion of resources by ways like recycling water (e.g NEWater in Singapore), using alternatives of energy like wind power, hydropower, or nuclear energy.
In conclusion, there is an inevitable conflict between our pursuit of higher economic growth and protecting our environment. While all of us speak in favour of protecting the environment, it is only reality that a part of our environment is sacrificed in our pursuit of higher economic growth. However, what is important is that countries do not ignore the protection of our environment once they have secured a stable economy.

Group Blog: Day 3 - Little India

This is a picture of coconuts. Coconuts are culturally significant as Indians it is an essential ingredient in many of their dishes such as desserts (e.g coconut candy) and curry. It is regarded as an auspicious fruit, and all religious festivals and rituals, and occasions like weddings begin with the offering of coconut, believed to symbolise Ganesh, the deity who helps ensure successful completion of any work undertaken.

This picture shows a simple henna tattoo. Henna is culturally significant in Indian culture. Henna plays an important role in all the ceremonies and festivals of India, due to the various symbolic meanings of the different designs available symbolise different meanings. As the symbolic meaning of henna is fertility, it has become a popular ornament for soon to be brides. The bride is traditionally not allowed to do housework in her husband’s home until the tattoo fades. The commonly applied flower design represents joy and happiness, and the lotus represents a myriad of virtues—creativity, grace, sensuality, beauty, femininity, and purity. The lotus is also said to represent the awakening of one’s soul. Vines represent longevity, perseverance, and vitality.

This is a picture of a painted sculpture of Nandi. This is culturally significant because it is believed to be the vehicle of the Hindu God Shiva. In Hindu mythology, Nandi is the bearer of truth and righteousness.  It was carried in festival processions during the fire-walking ceremony inside the Sri Mariamman temple.  

This picture shows spices commonly used in Indian culture. Spices are culturally significant in Indian culture as Indian food is characterised by the generous use of spices. Some commonly used spices in Indian food is cumin, coriander seed (spice on the right), turmeric and dried chili (spice on the left). Cumin and coriander seed are both dry-roasted before being ground.  Interestingly, the spices present in Indian food are also present in Malay food.

This is a picture of the garlands sold in Little India. Garlands are significant in Indian culture. The act of presenting garlands mean different things in different situations. One scenario is the choosing of a husband. Once a girl reaches a suitable age for marriage, she will follow the tradition of Swayamvar, where she places a flower garland around the neck of the man she has chosen to be her husband from a group of suitor. In Indian culture, garlands are often hung onto the statues of deities in temples as a form of respect and worship. While any flower can be used for this act, it is believed that each God has His or Her own favourite flower, and presenting this flower will bestow favour more easily. As betel leaves help to aid digestion, betel leaves garlands are presented to the deities after making a food offering.

  

Reflection for Day 3

This learning journey to Little India has helped us to learn more about Indian culture, that there is more to their fashion than saris, and more to their festivals then Deepavali. We appreciate it because now we understand the meaning behind their practices and art. From our observations of shops selling food of other races’ culture in the Tekka Market, and the similarities between Indian and Malay food also shows that there has been influences from other races, and that both communities are very diverse.

In addition, as students in a SAP school, where most of our schoolmates are Chinese, we are not regularly exposed to cultures of other races like Malay and Indian culture. This may have led to us forgetting about or being less sensitive of other races's culture. Overall, these 3 days have allowed us to remember that our schoolmates are not the only people in society, and beyond school, there are many people of other races in Singapore too, so we should be more aware of other race's culture to protect and develop racial harmony in Singapore.

Chingay Reflection

The Chingay Experience
The Chingay performance can easily be summed up in one word: spectacular. From what I saw, there could easily be a few thousands of volunteers committed to this event, from being performers to helping out backstage, or being ushers and guides for this event. Every aspect of Chingay was fully taken care of to the last detail: The ushers were certain of what to do, the crew ensured that the audio, lighting, and pyrotechnics were functioning properly, and the props were meaningful. I believe the performers, while still unsure about some moves, will be able to master their actions by the time of their official performance, and perform with coordination even with their large numbers.. This can be seen in the opening act. In just the opening act, the audience was exposed to 600 performers. They were dressed in beautiful blue outfits, each one standing on a movable crescent-shaped platform with the five stars - representing the five core values (Democracy, Justice, Peace, Prosperity, and Equality) - attached at the right corner. With it being only the opening act, we were all amazed by the scale of this event, because we did not expect so much to be invested in just one, and the first performance.We did have an idea that Chingay would be one of the largest events in Singapore, but truly watching it unfold in front of our eyes was unbelievable. 

Photo of the opening act

The Chingay experience was also heartwarming. Unfortunately, while the audience was taking their place and the performers were preparing, it started raining all the way until mid-event. Honestly, this did spoil the mood of the audience while they were waiting for the performance to start, and it is not surprising as it was inconvenient for every one to hold their belongings and eat their snacks with the rain. However, when the performances started, the audience tried to respond enthusiastically for the performers who were giving it their all in the rain. Nevertheless, there was a portion of the audience - largely school children, who were not enthusiastic about the event, which left me wondering: Do young people appreciate Chingay? However, as someone who did not respond actively, I did in fact appreciate the performances and sing along, but the mood was not such that every one would stand up and cheer. We do in fact appreciate Chingay, but we may just not feel excited enough by it that we would stand up and cheer. 

Children performers smiling brightly to the camera even in the rain. Picture taken from the Facebook page of Chingay 2017.

The purpose of Chingay
Before watching the performances, I learned a little about the history of Chingay. What I understood from my readings was that Chingay was a kind of compensation for the ban of firecrackers in Singapore. Firecrackers were set off during Chinese New Year celebrations last time, but were banned after they caused many injuries and even deaths. However, the ban caused unhappiness among people and reduced public enthusiasm, and thus Chingay, originally featuring aspects of Chinese culture by the Chinese only, came about as a kind of compensation. However, with the inclusion of the other races in Singapore like the Malays, Indians, and international performers, the purpose of Chingay has evolved into becoming an event that showcases and celebrates multiculturalism and racial harmony, and inclusiveness in Singapore.

Has Chingay fulfilled its purpose?
In Singapore, people often confuse racial harmony with racial tolerance. In my opinion, harmony should not only be about being able to coexist without conflict. Such would be tolerance, where we only bottle up our feelings about another race's culture, and sweep the need to truly understand another race's culture under the rug, when we lack understanding of the reasons behind another race's culture. In the case of tolerance, there will come a day where someone who does not understand and misunderstands another race's culture, decides to spark conflict between races after his or her "tolerance" runs out. However, harmony is also about being able to understand another race's culture, accept and include people of different races. It is just like an acapella group , where each member has to understand their group member's role to harmonise with one another. Simply, a harmonious society in Singapore should be about us understanding and accepting all the different races in Singapore, and not just tolerating another race to avoid conflicts. 
This has been displayed in the Chingay performances, and I think Chingay has fulfilled its purpose in demonstrating racial harmony and inclusiveness. Each act in Chingay displayed the culture of a particular race in Singapore, and there were many acts in Chingay. However, I did see people performing in acts not of their race's culture, which would require understanding, inclusiveness and acceptance. I think this shows that even if you are not part of a particular race, it does not stop you from personally learning about another race's culture. Additionally, the majority race in the act will have to accept the performer of another race to be able to work well together. 

For example, there were a few Malays performing, even though Wushu is part of the Chinese culture.

Our role
As students and the young generation of Singapore, we should also be accepting and understanding towards our peers of different races. This will ensure that in the future, Singapore will be able to achieve a harmonious society, where there is truly "harmony" rather than just "tolerance".

Reference: https://chingay.org.sg/welcome