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Friday, July 4, 2008

6:12:00 PM

To: Mr Mah Bow Tan
MP of Tampines GRC
From: Ang Yuen Ling, Chin Yi Shing, Eleanor Hor, Yuan Xiao Lei, Melvin Kek, Tan Heng Yeow
Students of PRSS, 2E8

Suggestions on the playground around Tampines area

The playgrounds around Tampines area are in quite a good condition. However, according to what we had observed lately, we found out that our playgrounds are not really meant for all children of different abilities to play with. Thus, this may cause inconvenience to some children who are really interested in playing.

We found some problems that we see in the playground we have.

Firstly, most of them have similar playing gadgets and are common, thus children are sick of playing them.

Secondly, the playgrounds around Tampines area are not suitable for those handicapped children and children with terminal illnesses. As these children have low immune system and get infected with germs and bacteria which are located all parts of the playground easily. These germs and bacteria come from the sweat of normal children, and the acidic rainfalls. Therefore, these children may get infected due to this problem found in the 'dirty' playgrounds and will result in children falling ill.

Thirdly, Singapore is an all-year summer season country. Thus, it might be too hot for those children that have terminal diseases to play under the sun. Some of these kids might want to stay a bit longer at the playgrounds to enjoy themselves, but this may worsen their current condition.

Fourthly, it is about the problems with the normal kids in the playground. Sometimes, some of these ignorant kids might tease the other kids that are either physically handicapped or with non-contagious terminal diseases. These ignorant kids might even not want to be friends with those kids that suffer illnesses. It will therefore create an emotional impact to those unfortunate children.

Lastly, some areas of the Tampines’ playgrounds could be found at other playgrounds. This will cause children to be not interested in the playground features and the children may not want to play with it.

According to the above problems observed, we have came up with a few suggestions for improvement.

Firstly, the playgrounds can be modify sheltered playgrounds and have a wash of these playgrounds monthly. This is to keep the minimum amount of germs and bacteria in these playgrounds. It can also reduce the amount of heat in these playgrounds to the minimum.

Secondly, the playgrounds should be improved by having more playground facilities for children to enjoy themselves. Apart from this, safety is another issue. They should have a safer playground environment for handicapped to play at. Incline plane can be added into the playground design and the platform of the playground can be wider so as to aid the disabled children to play when they are on their wheel-chair.

Thirdly, we can include more facilities to suit the needs of different types of children and not only built it for children with terminal diseases as children of different characters would be playing the playground. If the playground is for children with terminal diseases only, the playground might not interest them.

Fourthly, there should be a particular place to place their bags, but the safety of their belongings must be taken into consideration

Lastly, the playgrounds should have pictures or even posters that posed the impact of the unfortunate children when they met bullies that teased them a lot. These posters not only teach the kids in playground to be more respectful to such children, these also influence them to be responsible towards their friends.

We have also thought of some ideas to make the playground more appealing to the children of different abilities.

Firstly, the playground can be creative by having new playground facilities other than the normal types of choices. However, it must be a safe facility for the children that suffered terminal illness and the handicaps.

Secondly, the playground could have more attractive shapes and colors in the design of the playground to brighten the day of the unfortunates. They could even have a huge storybook(made of plastics) at the side of the playground for the children to read to build up their interest towards reading. This will create a new hobby to those children with terminal illnesses and handicaps.

Thirdly, we can build in fun but non-dangerous playing stuffs in the playground to suit those people.

Fourthly, we can add a mixture of colours and more vibrant colours to the playground to attract children to play.

Lastly, we can add more new and unfamiliar facilities to the playground, so that the children would want to try new things.

After observing the playgrounds and reaching out to the problems of the playground, we also find out some things to make the playground more accessible to the children with different abilities.

Firstly, we can also include other facilities to enable the children to play as much as they want without any restrictions for some children who are not able to play with one or more facilities.
Secondly, we suggest a special pathway or a bridge to lead to the playground easily so that it would be more accessible to the children of different abilities.

Thirdly, or the most importantly, we must have a neighbourhood playground that is below the HDB flats. This would allow the handicaps or the blinds to find their way to the playground.

Lastly, government could build smooth and easy paths along the way for the handicaps. As for the blinds, we suggest that they could make a blind building path for the blinds. For the children with non-contagious terminal illnesses, as some of these children are weak, we suggest that they could build a handle at the side of the sheltered pavement to prevent any serious falling. In this case, the unfortunates could be able to lead their ways to the playground more easily.

From all the suggestions and problems that we have listed out, we hope that you can consider our suggestions. Thank you for having the patience to read our letter. We seek for your reply.

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Thursday, July 3, 2008

9:24:00 PM

Questions on The Project Playground : Tan Heng Yeow

1 What do you see as the problem in the playground we have?

-Most of them have similar playing gadgets and are common,thus children are sick of playing them.

-Most of them are also meant for active children and not disable children.

2 How can we, as concerned people, improve the playground?

-We cannot control the construction/changes to the current playgrounds but we can do our part as concern people by suggesting to the MP of the particular city about improvising the current playground or build special playgrounds for disabled or have special needs children.

3 In what ways do you think you can make your playground more appealing to people of different abilities?

-I could find the needs of the people of different abilities and build in fun but non-dangerous playing stuffs in my playground to suit those people.

4 How can we make the playground more accessible to children of different abilities?

-I could suggest a special pathway or a bridge to lead to the playground easily so that it would be more accessible to the children of different abilities.

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

9:14:00 PM

Question answered by Ang Yuenling_(01)

Questions:

1. What do you see as problems in the playground that we have?

- Firstly in these playgrounds around our neighbourhood, are not suitable for those handicapped children and children with terminal illnesses. As these children, have low immune system and are easily get infected from germs and bacterias which are located all parts of the playground.These germs and bacterias come from the sweat of normal children, and the acidic rainfalls. Therefore, this children may get infected due to this problem found in the 'dirty' playgrounds and fall ill.

-Secondly, Singapore has all-year summer seasons. Therefore, it might be too hot for those children that have terminal diseases. However, some of these kids might want to stay a bit longer to enjoy themselves, this will even affect their current condition.

-Thirdly, in my own opinion, i think that the facilities of the playground near our neighbourhood is too limited.

-Lastly, it is about the problems with the normal kids in the playground. Sometimes, some of these ignorant kids might wanted to tease the others that is either physically handicapped or with non-contagious terminal diseases. These ignorant kids might even not want to friend with those kids that suffer illnesses. It will therefore create an emotional impact to these unfortunate children.

2. How can we, as a concerned people, improved the playgrounds?

-Firstly, the playgrounds could be sheltered playgrounds and have a wash of these playgrounds monthly. This is to keep the minimum amount of germs and bacterias in these playgrounds. it also reduced the hotness of these playgrounds to the minimum.

-Secondly, the playgrounds should be improved by having more playground facilities for children to enjoy themselves. Apart from this, safety is another issue. They should have a safer playground environment for handicapped to play at.

-Lastly, the playgrounds should have pictures or even posters that posed the impact of the unfortunate children when they met bullies that teased them alot. These posters not only teach the kids in playground to be more respectful to such children, these also teach them to be responsible towards their friends.

3. In what ways do you think you can make your playground more appealing to people of different ability?

-The playground can be creative by having new playground facilities other than the normal types of choices. However, it MUST be a safe facility for the children that suffered terminal illness and the handicaps.

-Next, the playground could have more attractive shapes and colors in the design of the playground to brighten the day of the unfortunates. They could even have a huge storybook(made of plastics) at the side of the playground for the children to read to build up their interest towards reading. This will create a new hobby to those children with terminal illnesses and handicaps.

4. How can we make our playground more acessible to children of different abilities?

-Firstly, or the most importantly, we must have a neighbourhood playground that is below the HDB flats. This would allow the handicaps or the blinds to find their way to the playground.

-Secondly, in between the flats and the playground, there MUST be no obstacles, such as staircases or even steep slopes in the journey to playground.

-Thirdly, government could build smooth and easy pathes along the way for the handicaps. As for the blinds, i suggests that they could make a blind guilding path for the blinds.For the children with non-contagious terminal illnesses, as some of these children are weak, i suggests that they could build a handle at the side of the sheltered pavement to prevent any serious falling. In this case, the unfortunates could be able to lead their ways to the playground more easily.

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

8:10:00 PM

Question to be done online

Done by: Melvin Kek (34) 2E8

1. What problem does our playground has?

The playground are mostly meant for normal,healthy children and very few for the disable children.

2. How can we, as concern people, improve the playground?

Write a proposal to the MP ask include the different facilities for the disabled children in the playgrounds, so that children with different disabilities could play in it.

3. In what way do you think you can make your playground more appealing to children of different abilities?

Do research on the different needs of different children with different disabilities and include different facilities that are appealing to children to allow those children to play in.

4.How can we make the playground more accessible to children of different abilities?

Make the playground bigger for the wheel-chair bound children, include other special facilities to allow children with disabilities to play in and smoothen all th pointed edges to allow the children to play in the playground with no worries of getting hurt.

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

4:26:00 PM

Question_ Eleanor Hor (6)

1) What do you see as the problem in the playground we have?

- Some areas of the playground built are not suitable for those people of our target group.

- Some areas of our model playground could be found at those neighbourhood playgrounds, which is very common and children might not want to play in the playground if it was built.

2) How can we, as concerned people, improve the playground?

- We can include more facilities to suit the needs of different types of children and not only built it for children with terminal diseases as children of different characters would be playing the playground. If the playground is for children with terminal diseases only, the playground might not interest them.

- We must also build a playground which children could play safely, so as not to make parents wory.

3) In what ways do you think you can make your playground more
appealing to people of different abilities?

- We can add a mixture of colours and more vibrant colours to the playground to attract children to play.

- Add more new and unfamiliar facilities to the playground, so that the children would want to try new things.

4) How can we make the playground more accessible to children of different abilities?

- Adding a smooth surface of path for those who are wheel chair bounded children.

- We can also divide the playground into different sections so that we can cater to all children of different needs and the children can also try out different parts of the playground.

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Sunday, June 29, 2008

4:15:00 PM

Written By Chin Yi Shing [04]

1. What do you see as the problem in the playground we have?

I think that the playgrounds that we have in our neighbourhoods are only meant for normal children but not children of different abilities.
The playgrounds that we see are mostly for those children that do not need special features to be installed in the playground to play.

2. How can we, as concerned people, improve the playground?

I think we can write up a proposal that includes that the playgrounds should have features for children of different abilities and present the proposal to the MP.
I think we can also help to design a playground that is suitable for all children to play without any difficulties.

3. In what ways do you think you can make your playground more appealing to people of different abilities?

To make my playground more appealing to people of different abilities, I can find out what are the special needs of the different people and design a playground that meets the needs of the people.

4. How can we make the playground more accessible to children of different abilities?

We can include incline planes and larger playground platform to enable the disabled children to play.
We can also include other facilities to enable the children to play as much as they want without any restrictions for some children who are not able to play with one or more facilities.

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

1:57:00 PM

writen by yuan xiao lei

1. what problems our playground round us have ?

- the playground around us are mostly meant for healthy chidren. there are very few fercilities for disables.

-the envitonment is not very clean
- playgrounds are without shelter, it gets wet when rains

- not enough seats for parents.
- chilren have to place their bags on the ground if they come to play after school

2. how to improve the playgrounds ?
- build playgrounds that allow both healthy and disable chindren.
- keep the environment clean
- at in more facilities for more children to have fun
-build shelter for the playground so that children can play with it even if it rains.
- place mmore seats around for parents and chilren to sit on when they are tired
- have a particular place to place their bags, but the safty of their belongings must be taken into condsideration

3. in what ways we can make playground more appealing?
- more creative design
- have facilities that are less dangerous so that children with differents disabilities can play with it.
- have bigger area for chilren to roam about

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Saturday, June 28, 2008

7:40:00 PM

This is the questions to post on blog:

- What do you see as the problem in the playground we have?

- How can we, as concerned people, improve the playground?

- In what ways do you think you can make your playground more
appealing to people of different abilities?

- How can we make the playground more accessible to children of different abilities?

yishing

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

7:31:00 PM

SA2

Section A: Poetry[25m] - Singapore Text

Section B: Prose[25m] - Bridge To Terabithia

Section C: (i)Comparison Of 2 Thematic Difference In The Texts

(ii) International Poem[25m]

Total: 75m

Overall Marks Will BE Converted To 100m :)

yishing

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Sunday, May 4, 2008

2:09:00 PM

Target Group:

Non- Contagious But Terminal Disease

Reason why we chose this:

1.Many people died each year for non-contagious but terminal diseases.

2.The age of patients contracting cancer is getting younger.

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Saturday, May 3, 2008

12:09:00 PM

2a) Reflection section:

In the novel, there is an entrance that lead Jesse and May Belle to the imaginary kingdom, Terabithia. We have included the bridge in our model which leads the children into a whole new world. It inspired us to make a bridge at the entrance so that the children with terminal illness can feel that they are in their own imaginary land, away from the real world.

In the novel, Jess and Leslie cilmbed up the tree to have a bird eye view of Terabithia. We have included trees and so called 'platform' which allow the children to have a bird eye's view of the whole playland. It inspired us to have the urge to let children to also have a bird eye's view of the Terabithia.

In the novel, there are lots of fences which gives a rural feel. We have included fences in our model which seperates our room in our playground model and also giving the children a feel of being in a rural world. It inspired us to seperate the 'rooms' by fences instead of walls and to also let they children enjoy themselves in a rural kind of world.

2b) Write a 100-word explanation as to why you had chosen the specific recycled materials for your model.

Materials We Used
- ice cream sticks
- wooden board
- twine (string)
- satay sticks
- cardboard
- old magazines
- toilet roll
- rough papers

Explanation
We used all these materials stated above, mainly because they can be recycled and biodegradable. We used materials like toilet rolls, ice-cream sticks, wooden board, twine, cardboards, rough papers, old magazines and satay sticks as they are biodegradable and also environmentally friendly. We used them to build the model because some are used by us in our everyday life and we mostly throw them away after using it. Instead of throwing them away, we collected it for this project. After this project, we are able to sell those old magazines, cardboards and rough papers to the rag and bone man. For other materials which cannot be recycled like blutack and scotch tape, we could reuse them like putting up student's work, instead of stapler.

Analysis
- ice cream sticks: provided by Melvin Kek
- wooden board: provided by Chin Yi Shing's father
- twine (string): provided by 2E8 ( the leftover strings)
- satay sticks: provided by Tan Heng Yeow
- cardboard: provided by Chin Yi Shing
- old magazines: provided by Eleanor Hor
- toilet roll: provided by Tan Heng Yeow
- rough papers: provided by Yuan Xiao Lei

Other Materials
- glue: bought by Melvin Kek
- paint: provided by every member
- scotch tape: provided by Melvin Kek
- blue tack: provided by Chin Yi Shing
- cotton: provided by Chin Yi Shing

Amount Spent
- Budget: $5.00
- Total amount spent: $1.20( glue)

Labels: final submission

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

12:40:00 PM

WIPO1

Definition of a playground: (from dictionary)

1 : a piece of land used for and usually equipped with facilities for recreation especially by children

2 : an area known or suited for activity of a specified sort malignant disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and which is expected to lead to the eventualof the patient. Heart disease or cancer than for trauma.
Hospice care, which can be provided at home or in a long-term care facility, additionally provides emotional and spiritual support for the patient and loved ones. Some complementary medicine approaches, such as relaxation therapy, message and acupuncture may relieve some
symptoms and other causes of suffering
a very unpleasant sound/noise is the first sensory impression to be noticed (R. Moody: Life after Life);

About non-contagious but terminal disease

• A disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to lead to the eventual death of the patient.

• Examples of terminal illnesses: cancer, heart diseases and physical trauma (suffered serious life-threatening or physical injury resulting disease such as shock, respiratory failure and death)

Mental impact
• A sense of being dead
• An out of body experience (a sensation of floating above one's own body and)
• Meeting deceased relatives or spiritual figures
Feeling of warmth even though naked.
• Emotional, calmness

Research of playground:

url: http://images.google.com.sg/images?q=playground&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Friday, April 18, 2008

5:31:00 PM

WIPO3

here are the pictures for making the playground model .
ENJOY ! :)

HALF WAY DONE:

MATERIALS WE HAVE USED:
toilet rolls- for making the slides
blue tack , UHU glue- for sticking things together
ice cream and satay sticks- for making the playhouse , fences and signboards
cotton wool- act as flooring for soft surface
strings- making slides , bridges
magazines , recycled papers- making of the paper balls and base
paint- to paint the playhouse and stuffs

OUR COMPLETED WORK:

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

8:17:00 PM

Name: Tan Heng Yeow (38)
Class: 2e8

Individual Reflections for Literature Mid-Year Project 2008
Sec 2 Express

1) Eco-friendly features about my group's 3d model

-Most of the materials are biodegradable and does not contribute to the harm of the environment.
-They include ice-cream sticks,magazines,strings,toilet rolls etc.
-They can be reuse,reduce and recyled.
-Reuse:When the project is done,the materials can be used for other activities.
-Reduce:We cut down the material usage as much as possible as to save the trees or other sources from depleting.
-Recyle:When the project is done,these materials can be recyled to make other objects so that lesser materials would be used.

2)Playground designs/concepts that are linked to the novel/Explanations on how designs/concepts are linked to the novel.

-At the entrance to the model,there is a bridge.This links to the novel as the novel's main part is about the imaginary bridge to the imaginary world Terabithia.

-The floor of the playground is also colored green as to give a atmosphere of a forest scene for the children to feel.

-The entrance to the doodle room seems like a imaginary gate to welcome Jesse and Leslie/May Belle to Terabithia and this can give the children a clearer view of the entrance to Terabithia and they would be more interested to find out about the novel.

-The fence surrounding each corner also depicts a similar scene to where Jesse and Leslie first met when Jesse was milking the cow.

3)Playground designs/concepts that meet the special needs of children/Explanation on how the designs meet the special needs of children.

-When the slide rolls down to the balls corner,there is cotton on it,so children would not get hurt when they slide down.Also,when children are playing in the balls corner,they would not injure themselves easily as there is cotton to support them.

-The merry-go-round also had a stable stand,so when the children are playing on it,they are advised to held on it tightly so that they would not fall off the merry-go-round.

-The doodle corner can also help them to vent their sorrows or angry by doodling on the boards using the markers provided and the parents can also understand what their child is thinking and can come up with ways to solve their problems.

-The whole playground is made up of ''friendly'' materials,that means it does not contribute to leading the children to injure themselves easily,example the floor is made of cotton,so that when they fall down,there would not injure themselves and let the wound expose to the surroundings.

-Bright colours are used as results has shown that bright colours lift up the spirits of children and they would feel happpy when they enter the playground and surrounded by a relax feeling.

Labels: Tan Heng Yeow (Individual Reflections)

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

4:15:00 PM

Name: Melvin Kek ( 34 )
Class: 2e8

Individual Reflections for Literature Mid-Year Project 2008
Sec 2 Express

Eco friendly features of my 3-d model:

1)Most of our materials are biodegradable.
2) They can be recycle.
3)we used materials like wooden board, ice-cream sticks, strings and toilet rolls.
4)When the project is done, we could recycle all the materials. this would help sava those trees from being cut down.
5)We uses old magezines to make paper balls to put in the balls room.

Playground designs/concepts that are linked to the novel/Explanations on how designs/concepts are linked to the novel:

1)There is a bridge at the entrance of the playground which led the children into a different world. It links to the novel as towards the ending of the novel, jess build a bridge which inspire us.

2)The colour of the ground is green which give the children a feeling of playing in a forest.

3)there is a platform or rather a slide to allow the children to climb on and feel like they are like on the kingdom of the terabithia.

4)There is a doodle room for the children to draw the world they wanted to live in or magical creatures which links to the novel that jess likes to draw creatures that he imagine.

5)The fencing in the playground allows the children to have the feeling of living in a country side.

Playground designs/concepts that meet the special needs of the children

1)we did not choose any sharp or dangerous materials for fear the children may hurt themselves as they may be careless in their actions.

2)We uses bright colours to paint the ground of our playground as it give the children some hope and to tell them the world is bright, also to cheer them up.

Labels: Melvin Kek (Individual Reflections)

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

11:48:00 AM

Name: Yuan Xiao Lei ( 29 )
Class: 2e8

Individual Reflections for Literature Mid-Year Project 2008
Sec 2 Express

Eco-friendly features about my group’s 3D-model

1) we had reused wood sticks for our project as it can be recycled and is biodegradable.

2) we also used toilet rolls to create the slides, it can be recycled and biodegradable.

3) the strings that were used to bind the materials together are also biodegradable and we are reusing it.

4) in the balls room, we used use magazines to make the paper balls.

Playground designs/concepts that are linked to the novel

1) there is a bridge at the entrance which led the children into a different world ( playground ), hence the bridge at the entrance post the same meaning as the bridge in the novel.

2) the slide in the central of the playground look like a small kingdom, children can stand on top to have a bird-eyeview on their happy land ( playground). this is almost the as the 'kingdom' in the novel.

3) the drawing room is where children can draw out the world they want to live in, this would give them a sense of autonomy.

4) the fencing which separate the different rooms remind people about the house Jess lived at the rural side of the country.

Playground designs/concepts that meet the special needs of the children

1) the board we used is golden in colour as children with non-contagious but terminal disease are sensitive to the colour of the sun.

2) we did not choose any sharp or dangerous materials for fear the children may hurt themselves as they may be careless in their actions.

3) we used bright colours to pain the playground so as to cheer up the children in a silent way. base on my knowledge, children who suffer from non-contagious but terminal disease usually have a sense of been dead.

Labels: Yuan Xiao Lei (Individual Reflections)

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Thursday, April 10, 2008

12:52:00 PM

Name: Eleanor Hor ( 06 )
Class: 2e8

Individual Reflections for Literature Mid-Year Project 2008
Sec 2 Express

Eco-friendly features about my group’s 3D-model
- Materials purchased are biodegradable such as ice crema sticks, satay sticks, which are eco-friendly.
- Materials brought from home are reusable such as magazines, which are used to make the paper balls, reused wood for the base of the playground model and recycled paper for the different parts of the playground model.
- Materials from the playground model can be used for other things besides making this playground model.

Playground designs/concepts that are linked to the novel
- The bridge at the entrance of the playground model, are connected to the title of the novel "Bridge to Terabithia" .
- The "playhouse" at the center part of the playground are like the ones Jess and Leslie had created in their imgainary world, Terabithia.
- Many parts of the playground model are made of wood, like the feeling of stepping into the woods, filled with tall trees.

Playground designs/concepts that meet the special needs of the children
- In the playground model, we tried not using dull colours so as to lift up their spirits and enjoy playing in the playground instead of thinking that they have illnesses.
- In the playground model, we also put cotton in some areas so as to prevent children who are playing from hurting themselves as they have illnesses.

Labels: Eleanor Hor (Individual Reflections)

totally in love with RAINBOWS;

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

5:56:00 PM

Name: Chin Yi Shing ( 04 )
Class: 2e8

Individual Reflections for Literature Mid-Year Project 2008
Sec 2 Express

Eco-friendly features about my group’s 3D-model

Materials that we mainly used are biodegradable and recycled materials. ( e.g cardboard, rough papers)
The base of the whole model and some other materials are contributed by every member of the group.

Some of the materials are being reused or are contributed by parents of member the group.

2.Playground designs/concepts that are linked to the novel/Explanation of how the designs/concepts are linked to the novel

There is a bridge by the entrance that may let people think of the novel.
The hand glider made people think of the scene of the rope that helped Jess and Leslie cross the creek.
There are some plants that are with reference to the forest that the Kingdom of Terabithia is.
The fencing that separate each part of the playhouse will lead people to the thought when the Jess went to feed the cow.

3. Playground designs/concepts that meet the special needs of the children/
Explanation of how the designs meet the special needs of the children

In the corner where there is balls, we placed some cottons underneath to prevent the children from hurting themselves.
The doodle room can help the children to draw out or doodle out their feelings.
This way parents can understand more of what the children are thinking.
The base of the model is being covered with cotton so as to prevent the children to injure themselves when they fall.
As the immune system of the children are very low, we tried our best to not design things that may hurt the children. ( e.g. use of cotton, use of non-sharp materials)

Labels: Chin Yi Shing (Individual Reflections)

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Monday, April 7, 2008

9:39:00 PM

NOTE: You have to upload your information in your blog already.

I suggest you blog about your final decisions by this week beginning 7 April. I am interested to know how you have come up with the different things for your playground. Make sure to go to the Lit LMS by Ms Linda Yew as this document will help you to complete your proposal. Individual work should be included in the Project File while final decisions and reasons for them will be in the blog.

If you do not know how to do the LMS, consult your leader and your leader will contact me at my extension or in the blog. I will go into this blog on Wednesday 9th or latest 10 by 8 pm to see your questions. Pls put Question for LMS in title of query.

BY: MISS J

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Saturday, April 5, 2008

9:36:00 PM

Please Take Note Of The Rubrics For SA1.. :P

RUBRICS FOR SA1

You will be assessed in the following for the SA1 project: Rubrics courtesy of Ms Linda Yew.

Judging Criteria for:
a) 3D Model (Total marks- 30m)
- Creativity (10m)
- Craftsmanship/ Aesthetic appeal (10m)
- Function and Feasibility (10m)

b) Blog (Total marks- 70m)
- Proposal (description of playground features: eco-friendliness? How is the design/concept linked to the novel? How does it meet children's special needs?) (30m)
- Organisation and planning (10m)
- Research (10m)
- Visuals and Sketches (10m)
- Teamwork (10m)

Take Note:
You have to upload your final work in your blog. This is your final decisions for each item listed above.
The project file is for preliminary work or discussion work. It must show a continuous process. Please indicate in the Title that it is the FINAL SUBMISSION for 1) 3D Model or Final Submission for 2) Blog

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Friday, March 21, 2008

5:24:00 PM

Name: Tan Heng Yeow (38)
Questions given by lit teacher

1)Why did Leslie die off stage ?

When Leslie was swinging the rope into Terabithia herself,it was raining very heavily and the creek's water level was very high.At the same time,Jesse was with Miss Edmunds,visiting the art museum.It is possible for them to film two scenes and show it at different times around the two incidents but the reason maybe why they did not want to film Leslie's drowning in the creek is because that would be too tedious and dangerous.

Why tedious and dangerous ?

As filming a person drowning in a creek is very dangerous,the idea is eliminated.Even though the person can swim very well,it would still be very dangerous as this might cost a life.Another possible way is to use 3D animation.But,this is very obvious to the people watching the movie and they might get bored and even think,''Not worth my money to watch a show not real life filmed.''Also,filming Leslie drowning in the creek might lengthen the content of the movie and the scriptwriter need to add in more details and that might make the people watching the movie bored.So,that part is not filmed and replace with Jesse being shock about what his Dad told him that Leslie died when Jess came back from the art museum and Jesse being angry and the story continues more interestingly...

2)Who are the Dark Lords for A)Jesse? B)Leslie? C)Me

A)Jesse is born in a not well do family and he is the only guy in the family excluding his dad.His dad is the only one in the family who is working to bring back money.Since Jesse is a guy,he need help in chores like milking the cow and helping the can the vegetables to bring in extra income.Jesse's father did not quite give the love that Jesse long wanted to have as he thought boys do not like mushy stuffs,but in his heart,he still loves Jesse a lot.Due to the scolding and lecturing Jesse's father gave him to make him learn from his mistakes and become more matured,Jesse's dark lord is his father as he did not know that what his father do is for is own good and thought that he keep picking on him and loves his sisters more.

B)To me,I think that Leslie's dark lord is being alone or lonely.Her family was the opposite of Jesse,which is rich.They have moved to a rural place to discover their value judgments.Judy and Bill, Leslie's parents, are writers and spend most of their time absorbed in their work. The condition of the house and attention to Leslie are virtually nonexistent until they finish the books they are working on.Therefore,Leslie is a person who is hungry for friendship, companionship, and the feeling of belonging.One example is when she went up to Jesse to make friends with him as she wanted to bright up her life and not be alone again.Another example is when she is laughed at by her classmates when they knew that she have no television at home,which is a rare sight in the people there.She got very upset after that incident and that shows that she afraid that she would be alone and no people would want to make friends with her due to her not having a television.

C)Finally,it is me.To me,my dark lord are tests.Tests are questions that are given to test you what you have learnt.Thought I know that tests are important,i dislike them alot as they give me stress.In usual homework,we can manage our time to complete the task and even have time to find out the solution of those we are not sure of.In tests,due to time constrain,we cannot manage our time very well.And the ticking of the clock gives me lots of stress and i kept thinking that i had no time to finish the paper.A difficult question will always appear at all tests.Those are the core of my dark lord.They give me stress as i will get stuck and thought that marks will be lost.But,I am trying to overcome this dark lord to practice those subjects that I am weak in and manage my time well so I would feel less stress during exams.

3)Which version do you like better and why ?

To me,both the movie and the novel have their own good advantages and disadvantages.

In the movie,a picture is shown,so we can have a better idea of the story.The expression of the actors in the movie will also have a deep impression in our mind,so we can differentiate which part have what things happening.The background of the music can also influence us.When a eerie sound came,we know that a terrible scene is happening.When a joyous sound is heard,we knew that a happy occasion will be filmed.The other advantage is also that watching a movie is short and only take a few hours to complete it and a novel requires 1 day or more to finish it.Actions and scenes happening in the movie makes us have different emotions for the movie and we can feel for the characters and imagine we are them in the movie.That makes the movie very interesting and we will be absorbed to watch it further.Some disadvantages are that watching a movie does not improve our English alot as most of the parts are filled with dialogs and no good phrases are included in the movie.

In the novel,we cannot imagine we are in the story very well and cannot put ourself in their shoes very accurately.Also,the story has alot of words,and makes most of the people bored and wanting to sleep.A way to avoid this is the involve more exciting parts to the story and use action phrases to let readers wanting to look forward to the story.Also,the content in the story will not be exactly similar to the movie and some parts will be changed to flow throughout the novel.The good part of novels that we can refer to it again and again,so we can refresh the content of the story,whereas movies can only remain in your brain for a short period of time.

So,to me,i prefer reading both the novel and the movie and usually read the novel first then watch the movie,so i know the story roughly and watching the movie makes me enlighten my impression of the story and make a final conclusion about the content of the story.

Labels: Tan Heng Yeow (Questions given by Ms Jumiah)

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3:01:00 PM

Name: Yuan Xiao Lei (29)
Questions given by lit teacher

1. Why did Leslie die off stage ?

The narrator had decided to let Leslie died off stage is because he didn't want to destroy the active and cheerful image of Leslie inside the audience. Dead Leslie might look pale and motionless, which is contrast with the aliveLeslie. Besides, the main idea of the story is the strong friendship between Leslie andJess. If at the end of movie showed a died person , the reader would feel more devastated. This will destroy the beauty of friendship between Jess and Leslie.

2. Who/What are the darkworld represent for i) Jess ii) Leslie iii) myself

i) Jess
In my opinion, Jess's darkword is his family and school. In his family, it is obvious that he work like a maid for his family members. Despite his hardwork, no one appreciate his effort. He had always been criticised by their harsh comments. Jess was eager to get his father's attention, he put in his best but his efforts are in vain. His mother and sisters often neglected him and only thought of him when they need his help, milking the cow is an good example.
in school, Joyce Avery and a few guys from his class bullied him.

ii) Leslie

The darkworld for Leslie is being withdrawn from the others. She love having friends. I can tell this from her cheerful deposition, And at the begin of the story she approached Jess to make friend with him. but since her shift to the Old Perkin place, she was often despised by her classmates. For example, when her teacher, Mrs Myers, asked them to write about a programme on television, the whole class laughed at her when she told teacher that she had no television. she was very upset when her classmates make fun of her.

iii) myself

My darkworld is school !!!!!!!!! Something horroble, unfortunate often happen to me there. I have to bear the burden of examinations. I receive my english test paper in every few weeks. i will get a heart attack then because of the poor result produce. I enjoy doing homework and projects, because I can learn and accumulate experience from them. But it had taken up so much time of my time . That I can't read the books I love and drawing pictures whenever I feel aspired to do. The worset thing is my musical instrument, my MOST PRECIOUS ITEM, was spoil in SCHOOL by my FRIEND. I had been crying for the whole afternoon for that. :(

3. Which version do I like the most ?

I love the movie !!!!!!!!!!!
The movie gives me a better image of the events , people as well as the environments. Under the help of these pictures I understoon the novel better. I can't fine any pictures in the novel. There are a few scene in the novel that i couldn't quite understand, but there are actrees in the movie to act out the scene , it is easier for me to comprehen the chapters. Movie has many attractive pictures make the story interesting, and background musics to bring out our feelings. books don't have this effect.

Labels: Yuan Xiao Lei (Questions given by Ms Jumiah)

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

11:16:00 AM

Name: Chin Yi Shing (04)
Questions given by lit teacher

1.Why did Leslie die off-stage?

I think that Leslie died off-stage because it is pretty impossible for the film to show that Leslie died when she knocked on the creek. The part whereby Leslie died off-stage is actually replaced by the part of the show when Jess is going out for a trip to museum with Miss Edmund. At the start of the story, we will think that both Leslie and Jess are the main characters. Until the part when Leslie died, we can easily tell that only Jess is the main character. From the other point of view, we can know that filming Leslie to be hit and fell into the creek is a dangerous scene. If safety precautions is not taken seriously, Leslie might really die. As the creek is occupied with strong current of rushing water, it may really be dangerous if one fell into it and got flushed away. Overall, I think that the director do not want to take risk in putting someone's life and death in his hand. Thus, that was why I think that Leslie died off-stage.

2.Who/What areas the dark lord represent for:

(i)Jess?

In my personal point of view, I think that Mr Aarons is the dark lord that represents Jess. As we can see from the start of the movie, Mr Aarons do not seem to love Jess as much as the three others sisters. Fathers normally dote on the only boy or girl in the family but it is different in Jess' case. Mr Aarons in the movie shows that he scold Jess frequently for that he had done wrong. From what I saw in the movie, Mr Aarons had never praised Jess for doing something right. This actually shows that the love that was showered on Jess is quite limited as compared to the other three sisters.

(ii)Leslie?

The dark lord that represents Leslie is the fear of being isolated. Being the only child in the family with no siblings, Leslie thus dreads to be alone by herself. No one likes to be feeling lonely and bored. This applies to Leslie as well. Having no one to play with or talk to is a kind of miserable. When you had the urge to talk to someone but you do not have anyone whom you can approach, you will sure feel miserable and sad. Leslie too. In a new surrounding, Leslie will feel strange and she could not adapt to it in a short time. In school, Leslie tried to make new friends and there she is with a good friend like Jess Aarons. With such good friend, I do not think that Leslie will feel miserable for the rest of her life to be afraid that no one would talk to her.

(iii)myself ?

To me, the dark lord is actually being fear of being praised and scolded. As I feel that when I was praised, I really do not know how to reacted to such situations. I will feel as if I am going to die. At home, when my mum praised me and scolded my siblings, I will feel that I was the cause of the scolding that my siblings received. Therefore, to me, when I was being praised I will often feel that I was the cause of others being scolded or I will feel that others will feel some kind of injustice in between. As for scolding, I really dreads to be scolded as I hate others to be nagging at me. To me, Scolding and nagging are the same. When people scold, they will nag at the same time. Therefore, scolding makes me feel irritated and have the urge to shout out all that I feel. When my mum scold me, she will scold non-stop. Does anyone likes to be scolded at the moment when you wake up to prepare for school? I doubt anyone would. Scolding to me is a kind of conversation in a very bad tone and it will sometimes offend the one who is listening.

3.which version do I like better?

I liked the movie better as in the movie I can see the reaction and the facial expressions in the various characters'. Unlike movie, the novel is expressionless as we only know the scenario and the rest of the scene is up to us to imagine. As I do not really like to read story books, I feel that movie is more suitable for me as I loved to watch drama series. In my daily life, I admit that I do not really read but rather I watch. I think that watching is a better learning way. In the process of watching, we can learn to imagine better and learn new things and words as there are subtitles at the bottom of the show.

Labels: Chin Yi Shing (Questions given by Ms Jumiah)

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Monday, March 17, 2008

4:27:00 PM

Name: Melvin Kek(34)
Questions given by lit teacher

1.Why did Leslie die off-stage?

I think Leslie die off-stage because the director can't possibly film Leslie hit her head on the creek as it would cause her life. The director could not also film Leslie drop down the creek as she might die if she doesn't know how to swim,or infect, it is dangerous to film a person drop down a creek filled with gushing water or strong current . Filming a adult falling down the creek into the gushing water is extremely dangerous ,moreover, she is still a child.

2.who/what areas the darklord representfor (i)Jess (ii)Leslie (iii)myself ?

(i) The Dark Lord for Jess is his father ,Mr aarons. I know it from the movie itself , at the last part of the movie the Dark Lord is chasing after Jess and finally caught up with him. When Jess turn around to look at the Dark Lord , it turn out to be his father ,Mr Aarons.He think that Dark Lord is his father because , his father did not care for him and always scold him for things that he done wrong and never praise him for stuff that he had done right.

(ii)The Dark Lord for Leslie is being laugh by people because of things that she don't have.I know it from the movie too. At the part of the movie where their teacher ,Mrs Myers, asked them to write a report on the programme that they should watch. Leslie told the teacher that she doesn't have a television and the whole class laughed at her. From her expression then, I could tell that she fell very sad ,trying to hide herself from all her friends laughter and she must felt very ashame at that moment.

(iii)The Dark Lord for me is probably the fear of being left alone all by myself without friends or family.i think it is very scary as without friends and family we will be all by ourselves doing things like eating,watching t.v. and playing computers games by ourselves which is very scary and lonely. I hope that the day would never come till I am no longer on this world.

3.which version do I like better?

For me, I like the movie better.I am a person who doesn't like to read story book so my english is always very bad, so i like the movie which will show me the story with motion pictures, and I doesn't need to read the book anymore.But unfortunately, I need to finish reading the book before watching the movie so I find it very troublesome. After all, I still enjoy both the book and the movie,althought reading a book is better as the movie miss out a lot of details , but i still like movie because it help me saves the time of reading the book itself. I am a person who likes to imagine things, so when reading the book I imagine the kingdom and all the Terabitians, but as I watch the movie, I found out that the creatures in the movie is greatly different from what I imagined, I like the excitement of what the creature would look like when watching the movie as its like my imagination is coming alive moving on the screen itself.

Labels: Melvin Kek (Questions given by Ms Jumiah)

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

1:43:00 AM

Name: Eleanor Hor (06)
Questions given by lit teacher

1. Why did Leslie die off stage ?
I think Leslie died off stage probably because it was a kids movie. The movie is all about imagination, imaginary kingdom and reaching out for your dreams, just like a fairytale but if Leslie died on stage, the movie would be a tearful one. In order not to spoil the whole "fairytale" atmosphere, I think the producers decided to let Leslie die off stage instead on stage. That, and I thought it had a lot more impact just being told about it rather than witnessing it.

2.Who/what areas the Dark Lord represent for (i)Jesse, (ii)Leslie, (iii)Yourself ?

(i) For Jesse, I think the Dark Lord represents his parents. He needs their ability to understand him and what he really wants. Though he is grown up and not as young as May Belle, but he wants someone who is there for him and care for him just like he was a baby. Like most of us, we still need someone who is there for us and lend us their listening ear.

(ii) For Leslie, I think the Dark Lord represents the loneliness inside her. Being the only child, she gets most of her parents attention and pamper her like any parents would do. But they do not know what she really wants. Having friends was probably her only wish and no matter how rich they were, friendship is still can't be bought, it is priceless. She wants to have a friend to share everything with her, letting their imaginations run wild and having the best childhood memory ever. Being lonely give us nightmares, which nobody wants it. With that, the Dark Lord represents Leslie's loneliness.

(iii) As for me, the Dark Lord would represent my responsibility as the eldest. Being the eldest, I have the responsibiltiy to take care of my siblings and sometimes getting scolded over something which I had never done before. I felt that I am innocent and should not be getting scolded by my mother. With that, my sisters decided to abuse their authority and sometimes having the blame pushed all onto me. Thus getting not on terms with them and aruge over trival matters. Sometimes being the youngest child in the family gets more special treatment than the eldest. How I wish I wasn't the eldest!

3. Which version do you like better and why ?
In my personal opinion, I definitely liked the movie version better. The movie gives a clearer picture of the whole story rather than those black, dull words in the novel. With those sound effects, coloured images, beautiful sceneries, actors/actresses good acting skills and of course, technology, it brought the whole story to life. I think most people would absorb the essence of the story upon watching the movie rather than reading the novel. Though movie version seems better, each version have their strong and weak points too. In the novel version, the story is more detailed and we can use our own imagination to imagine the different scenarios of the story. Though it is not as fascinating as the movie, we can still learn vocabulary through reading and let our imaginations run wild. As for the movie version, I am a bit disappointed that some parts that I read from the novel are different or missing. Despite that, I really enjoyed the whole story very much ! (:

Labels: Eleanor Hor (Questions given by Ms Jumiah)

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Friday, February 29, 2008

10:52:00 PM

Differences in plot between the movie and the novel
( Appendix 1.7a )

movie ( M)
novel (N)

M: His parents forced him to wear a girl shoes
N: It was not stated in the novel

M: Janice Avery threw the bread onto Jess
N: It was not stated in the novel

M: Jess met Leslie in school for the first time
N: Jess met Leslie on his cow field for the first time

M: Jess’ house has a green house
N: No mention in the novel

M: Jess smiled at Leslie on the school bus for the first time.
N: Jess smiled at Leslie during Miss Edmund’ lesson for the first time

M: Miss Edmund did not notice Leslie during her music lesson
N: Miss Edmund noticed Leslie and asked her for a self-introduction

M: Jess’ family celebrated Jess’ birthday
N: There is no mention of celebration of Jess’ birthday in the novel

M: Jess' father gave him a racing car as a birthday present
N: Jess' father gave Jess a racing car as a Christmas present

M: Jess brought Prince Terrien to Terabithia to search for the giant
N: Jess adopted Prince Terrien and gave it to Leslie as a Christmas present

M: The kingdom was on the tree
N: The kingdom was on the ground

( Appendix 1.10a )

Movie (M)
Novel (N)

M: Judy helped to paint their room
N: Judy didn’t help in painting their room because she was busy with her books , she only join them after the house was painted

M: The movie didn’t show the scene where Jess’ mother disagree with Leslie for going to the church together
N: It had written the part where Jess beg his mother to allow Leslie to go church with them

M: Jess, May Belle and Leslie discussed about Christian thing at the rear of the car
N: They discussed about Christian in the church

M: May Belle learnt how to plant
N: It was not stated in the novel

M: Jess lost his father’s keys
N: It was not mentioned in the novel

M: Jess fell down from tree as he could not balance himself when he climb up the tree to get keys for his father
N: It was not mentioned in the novel

M: Jess and Miss Edmund had tea on their perfect day
N: Jess and Miss Edmund had ice-cream on their perfect day

M: Janice Avery befriended Jess in the end
N: It is not mentioned

M: Jess didn’t run away during Leslie’s funeral
N: Jess ran away to during Leslie’s funeral

M: Jess ran after Bill when they left the old Perkins place
N: Jess and his dad helped them load the U-Haul, and his mother gave them some sandwiches and coffee

M: Jess’ father went to look for him in the Terabithia
N: Jess’ father didn’t go to look for Jess

M: Jess pushed her aside when he found out that May Belle had followed her while he was running to “look for” Leslie
N: He was afraid that May Belle would fall into the creek before she reached the other side. He was gentle and patient to help her.

M: He apologized to May Belle for pushing her away and scolding her in Terabithia
N: It did not occur in novel

Labels: Differences in plot between the movie and the novel

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

8:22:00 PM

Written by: all the group members (Part C)

Written by: all the group members (Part C)

CHINESE NEW YEAR

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years. This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

Chinese New Year is the most elaborate, colorful, and important. This was a time for the Chinese to congratulate each other and themselves on having passed through another year, a time to finish out the old, and to welcome in the new year. It was a time for family reunions, and for visiting friends and relatives, stressed the importance of family ties. Traditional chinese were superstitious, they do believe in gods too. before the new year, chinese must clean they huses, makeing sure that not even a little bit of grim left. besides, chinese also write spring couples in black ink on large vertical scrolls of red paper, and put on the walls or on the sides of the gate-ways. These couplets were expressions of good wishes for the family in the coming year.Children like chinese new year because they can accmulate their pocket money. Those married adult are to give children red pocket with money inside. Children can also get many new clothes.there is a short traditional story for chinese new year:
long ago, there was a monster called Nian. It was born to be very ferocious. On the first and the 15th of each lunar month, the monster would come down from the mountains to hunt people. So people were very much afraid of it and locked their doors early before sunset on the days of its coming.
There lived an old wise man in a village. He thought it was the panic in people that made the monster so bold and furious. Thus the old man asked people to organize together and to conquer the monster by means of beating drums and gongs, burning bamboo, and lighting fireworks in purpose of making large noises to threaten the hateful monster. When he told people about the idea, everybody agreed on it.
At a moonless and freezing cold night, the monster, Nian, appeared again. The moment it opened its mouth at people, burst out the frightening noises and fire made by people, and wherever the monster went, it was forced to back off by the terrible noises. The monster couldn't stop running until he fell down with exhaustion. Then people jumped up and killed the evil monster. Savage as the monster was, he lost in the end under the efforts from the cooperation of people.
Since then, people have kept the tradition by beating drums and gongs, and lighting fireworks at the coldest day in winter to drive the imagined monsters away and to celebrate the victory over it. Today, Nian refers to the New Year's day or the Spring Festival. People often say Guo Nian, which means 'live the festival.' Furthermore, Nian also means the year. For an example, the Chinese often greet each other by saying Xin Nian Hao, which means Happy New Year! Xin means new and Hao means good.

taken from: http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/
438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html

Mid Atumn Festival

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week ofOctober.

This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates , melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro, edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon.

taken from: http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/
Midautumn.htm

Our Opinions

Melvin's personal opinion: i think between the two festival i like chinese new year better as during chinese new year we children could get red packet from the adults that are married. I liked mid atumn festival too as shops would sell mooncakes which are so delicious with the paste inside,also children will gather at the park to play with lanterns as mid atumn festival is also known as"lantern festival" or "mooncake festival". i hope that this two festival could be celebrated together , so i could collect red packet as well as eat the delicious mooncakes. Yummy!

Xiao Lei's personal opinion: I think that Chinese New Year is a good time for bonding relationships, and puting all the unpleasant things behind. All my teamates had selected chinese new year as the integral festival their families had celebrated together had further prove me. When I was in china, all my relatives stay in different cities, Chinese New Year is the only time we get to see one another.
During the festival, adults will make special efforts to make delicious food, everyone of us can fill our stomach to satisfaction. our children will also get money and new clothes. our parents are band from scolding us, even though we have done some naghty things.
Chinese New Year is also belive in giving people a chance to turn over a new leaf. It is a consolation to those "bad eggs", they can have a fresh new beginning.
What I like the most is reading spring couplets, their caligraphy and the poem is so mavellously written that I will admire at the great work for a long time. Something I may even get a chance to practice. We can acutally learn alot good phrases from it. Not just so , the elderlys can teach the younger ones how to write spring couplet, this can contribute to a good relationship. Despite the fact that my grand father had passed away, I can vividly remember the scene when he was teaching me how to write spring couplets. Mid-autumn is an other important festival, which serve almost the same purpose of the Chinese New Year. i found that the story behind the mooncake festival is very interestine, a small mooncake may seen as small in our eyes but it had helped Chinese to et rid of the Mongolian.

Heng Yeow's personal opinion:I think that Chinese New Year is a good opportunity for me,my families,relatives and friends to come together to build up our relationship by eating reunion dinners.A new year also represents a new start,so we must forget the bad things that happened in the past and start afresh.Whatever mistakes you had made in the past,you should use this chance to change it for the better.

Mid-autumn festival,also known as ''Moon cake Festival'' is also similar as Chinese New Year,which represents unity.All my family members try to get together on this special day. Those who can not return home watch the bright moonlight and feel deep longing for their loved ones.The common traditional food that we ate during Mid-autumn festival is of course moon cake.For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.Nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.

Eleanor’s personal opinion: After reading the information, I now get to know deeper about the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Actually, both of the festivals are family affairs and they allow us to enhance good family relationship. I find that more and more people are not celebrating Mid-Autumn festival, maybe because there are no public holidays during that festival and people think that it is not as significant as Chinese New Year. But we also should make an effort to celebrate it because we are Chinese. They can realise that Mid-Autumn festival can be more entertaining and joyous than Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year is about chasing bad luck and evil spirits away and for people to turn over a new leaf while Mid-Autumn festival is the day where there is abundance in food and for relaxation. Thus, we, together with our family, can sit under sky to be mesmerised by the glowing spherical moon. We can enjoy the mooncakes of different flavours and carrying lanterns during this special occasion.
I prefer Mid-Autumn festival than Chinese New Year actually. I think that carrying lanterns under the starry night sky is pleasurable because carrying the lighted lanterns is like lighting up the world when darkness strikes.

Yishing's personal opinion: To me, both festivals are the two festivals when we can enjoy ourselves and bond our family ties. During the Chinese New Year, I can collect red packets from my married relatives. From the above information, I learnt more about both the festivals especially the Mid-Autumn Festival. Whenever it is Mid-Autumn Festival, my family and I will always go to the park to light lanterns and eat mooncakes. Thus, as time goes by, I have the thought that Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival whereby we only eat mooncakes and light lanterns. Most commonly, people always do these two things during the festival and they also sit under the dark, blue sky to look at the glowing moon hanging in the sky. I prefer both the festivals as both festivals have their own merits and demerits, just like people.

Labels: Part C

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Sunday, February 17, 2008

5:59:00 PM

Name: Chin Yi Shing (PART A&B)

my father and my younger siblings

My siblings

My parents

Name: Chin Yi Shing(04)

(Part A&B)

I still remembered it vividly. It was four years back then. Although we had been going there for many years, but i still find that it was really the most enjoyable time I had with my family and I mean each and everyone of them. We went back to Bekok,
a tiny village in Malaysia where my father used to live, on Chinese New Year Eve. My grandmother was waiting patiently on the bench outside the house for us to arrive. Whenever we reached, everyone will just get out of the car seats and shout "ah po" (grandma in Chinese), which we used to, and run into the house to the living room. We are always used to addressing all our aunts, uncles and cousins before we chat. Sometimes, I address one of my cousins purposely. She will always say," Why didn't you call me?" (translated from chinese) I will only address her when she turns her head away from me.

During the times, I loved the time when we had had our reunion steamboat. I loved the feeling of everyone sitting together, eating together. The feeling is really indescribable. It feels like everyone are the suns that gave out warm, the kind that gives family warmth, care and love for one another. The feeling of your family taking food for you and placed it in you bowl and the feeling of me, myself taking food for my family and placed it in their bowls is really very nice and sweet

The steamboat dinner ended very quickly(everyone ate a lot and ate fast) and after that, every unmarried family members will get angpaos from all the married family members. I remembered that my grandmother gave my family, just my family, Singapore ten dollars in the angpaos. Everyone else got ringgit dollars. The feeling of getting "different" moneys really perks me up, not because I was money-minded, but because my grandmother knows what we really needs. (She knows that we will not be able to use ringgit dollars when we are in Singapore) My stay there was really what it calls to be fun and enjoyable. All were fun and nothing had made me sad, just because of everyone in the family.

My celebration during Chinese New Year was inferior to how jess celebrated his Christmas. I have always wished to have a friend like Leslie whom I can cry out to her all my feelings and share woes and happiness with. Jess celebrated his Christmas with his family in his house, when they sang Christmas songs and had many fun activities organized, and also celebrated with Leslie in the kingdom of Terabithia.

Chinese New Year is quite similar to that of Christmas. Before Chinese New Year, we went around the malls to search for Chinese New Year decoration and gifts. We also had to do what we call 'spring cleaning' before the Chinese New Year. Before the Christmas, Jess' family went around the shopping malls to shop for new things such as belongings and to buy gifts for present exchanging programme. The family also has to tidy and decorate the house so as to prepare for the actual Christmas Day.

However, some of the activities and routines were rather different. During Chinese New Year, my family will be setting off to Malaysia to visit all my relatives and friends there. During Christmas, Jess stayed in his house to celebrate the festival with his family. In our Chinese tradition, the married adults shall give us money in red packets whereas Jess' family had to had a gift each to exchange presents with one another and the money to buy the gifts come from all the savings of their pocket money.

No matter how each and everyone of us celebrate our festivals, in my opinion, I think that the festivals celebrated with our loved ones are always fun despite of some unhappy incidents happening in between the celebrations. Everyone should always cherish the time being together with our family.

Labels: Chin Yi Shing (Part A and B)

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