Group Blog (Mind Map on China's One Child Policy)

Individual Enc Week Reflection

     On the second, third, and fourth day of Enc week, our class went to Kampong Glam, Madrasah Aljunied, and Little India. To be very honest, before these trips, I wasn't interested at all because I thought that this programme is very boring as all that will be taught are what I already know. However, I was greatly mistaken. Through this programme, I realized that there are much more things that I do not know! The first day at Kampong Glam seemed like an adventure to me as I learnt many new things about Malay culture, and this shaped my attitude into a positive one which made it easier for me to open up to even more new things in the following two days. 

     Why is the Indian temple so noisy? I always thought that this is because Indians like noisy atmospheres, but this is a totally wrong concept! The temple is noisy so as to prevent people from gossiping and instead to concentrate on praying. How many times do the Malays pray? I was completely ignorant to the answer of this question but after these trips, I learnt that Malays have to pray five times a day. These are just some things that I learnt through the programme. There are many more concepts about Indian and Malay culture such as the food they eat, the clothes they wear, and the festivals they celebrate.

     For example, I learnt that Malay women can either wear Baju Kurong or Baju Kebaya while men can wear Baju Melayu during their traditional festivals such as Hari Raya. Why? This is because Malay women value inner beauty over superficial appearances and it is a sign of respect and obedience for men to wear clothing from their navel to their knees. For the south Indian women, they wear the sari, while for the North Indian women, they wear the Paithani. Initially, I have to admit that I do not know much about the Malay and Indian costumes although we often see them wearing those costumes. After some reflection, I realized that it is partially because I did not really make an effort to interact and ask them about what they wear during different occasions. However, through this Enc programme, I got the chance to interview and ask them about their clothes, which widened my insights and broadened my thinking, allowing me to learn about the way they dress up.

(Picture of traditional Indian costumes)

(Picture of traditional Malay costumes)

     Besides their costumes, I also learnt lot about other aspects such the festivals they celebrate. Frankly speaking, the only festivals I previously know about is Hari Raya and Deepavali. However, after asking some shopkeepers and interviewing some people, I found out that Malays and Indians celebrate other festivals as well! Malays celebrate festivals such Hari Raya Haji and Hari Raya Aidilfitri while Indians celebrate Holi. Now, let me give you a brief background about these festivals and what I learnt. Hari Raya Haji is the time when affluent Muslims slaughter one of their domestic halal animals. What do they do with these meat? This is something that I also wondered but now I have already gotten the answer to this question after an interview. They will distribute the meat out to their neighbours and the poor, but will also leave ⅓ of the meat to themselves. Comparatively, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, which is the fasting month. Holi, a festival celebrated by the Indians, is where people gather in open areas and apply dry colours of multiple hues to each other, signifying the victory of good over evil. I was truly mesmerized by the significance of these festivals as well as how they are celebrated. This learning journey had helped me to gain better insights of different cultures and shaped my thinking, allowing me to better appreciate and understand the festivals that they celebrate.

     As our group was doing on food, we went around, looking for Indian and Malay cuisines. I have to admit that I was not accustomed to Malay and Indian food so I thought that they were not nice. Hence, I did not really go make an effort to find out more about them and to try them out but through this programme, I learnt a lot about their cuisine. Our group went around Kampong Glam and Little India, buying and tasting food along the way. Some Indian food we tasted include: pongal rice, muruku, and milk kova, while Malay food include kueh lapis, mee soto, nasi lemak, and many more!

(Picture of traditional Indian desserts)

(Picture of traditional Malay desserts)

(Picture of traditional Malay food)

     Initially, our group mates were rather apprehensive about trying out new food but later on we realized that the food were not bad at all! Initially, I thought that Malays cannot take pork while Indians cannot take beef, but to my surprise, some of the Indians are also forbidden to take pork! I always thought that Indians are allowed to take pork, and this is one of the misconceptions I had before. Luckily, the learning journey helped me to clarify these doubts, and made me more sensitive to different cultures. It also encouraged me to find out even more about the cuisines of different races after Enc week.

     After all, is this programme perfect? Nearly, but there is always room for improvement. I think that perhaps, we could be given more time to visit the Little India arcade and the museum as many of us felt that time was not enough to explore these regions, to find out about their culture, and to interview some Indians about their way of life. 

     I felt that the most impactful lesson I learnt is that we, as citizens of a multi-racial country, have to appreciate and respect our differences. There are so many races in Singapore — Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Europeans. Hence, there are definitely people who are different from us in terms of their race, so in order to maintain a harmonious society, we should cooperate and respect each other. Hence, I felt that this meaningful trip has indeed fulfilled its purpose of teaching us about each culture’s difference and why should we value these differences. In my honest opinion, this learning journey has indeed taught me many new things that I would not be able to learn if not for this opportunity. For example, I would not have gone to the Indian temple or the Malay mosque as it is not part of my religion. But because of this learning journey, I had the privilege to experience and understand other races’ culture in depth. Through this programme, I also learnt many more new things about Indian and Malay culture and I am therefore genuinely thankful to our school for organizing these trips for us to widen our perspectives of different cultures and religions.

     Although this learning journey is very enriching for me, I feel besides education purposes, these heritage sites serve even bigger purposes. They are there to help us understand in detail about the social structures of Little India, Kampong Glam, and Madrasah Aljunied, which aids in our progress towards an ideal society, where each and every one of us is well-informed about different races’ cultures and can hence be more sensitive towards each other’s practices and beliefs. Personally, I think that these heritage sites reflects our national identity and what our cultures are like. It also shows us that every race and culture is important in our progress, and that we should work together as one whole nation to achieve success!

Group Blog (Cost of Living in Singapore)

Standard 4/5 room HDB flat in Punggol	$290,000 — $500,000
Brand new Toyota Vios	$160,00 — $270,00
Cheapest 10 kg packet rice	$15.50
1 litre mineral drinking water	$0.75
Fresh whole chicken	$8.50
Cheapest 1 litre of cooking oil	$3.15
School fee (Singapore citizen)	$28
One movie ticket on a weekend	$12.50
Average salary of a Singaporean	$8666
Unit price of water	$1.17 per m³ when less than 40m³, $1.40 per m³ when more than 40m³
Unit price of electricity	$0.2084 per kWh

• Our shopping malls such as Fairprice do provide shopping bags for free and even give special discounts if we use our own bags.
• Some of the cashiers are middle aged while some are elderly people. Most of them are Singaporeans but there are also plenty of foreigners such as Indians or Malays.

Group Blog (Madrasah Aljunied)

     On the third day of the Enc week, we went to Madrasah Aljunied and visited the students in that school. From our experience, we learnt a lot about their culture and their way of study.

     As mentioned in the previous post, most Malays and Muslims celebrate Hari Raya Haji and Hari Raya Aidilfitri. The students and teachers in Madrasah Aljunied celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Hari Raya Haji, which is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan. Most of us only know about the names of this festival, but through a Question and Answer session, we learnt more about why and how they are celebrated. 

     The staff at Madrasah Aljunied only eat food that are permitted by the Islamic law which is halal food and they avoid eating anything that is prohibited within its text. However, they do not need to worry about this matter as all the food sold in their school is halal so they can safely consume this food without having worries. We need to take note of this important point just in case we invite Muslims over for a meal, so as to prevent misunderstandings. This emphasizes on the importance of knowing about other cultures as it proves that we should be more sensitive to their culture and the only way to do so is to make an effort to know them well. 

     As we were given some background knowledge on the students everyday life, we found out that the students in Madrasah Aljunied have O'Levels like secondary schools too. They have as many as 11 subjects as they have to take arabic language too. It is a difficult language as many of them struggle to create a sentence even after 4 years of learning. We were shocked to see the amount of subjects they have to learn as with 6 subjects, some of us are already struggling. We were also surprised as we do not know that some schools learn islamic language in Singapore. Apart from studies, the students will also have planned breaks to do their prayers which can be completed in less than 10 minutes and will have to do 5 prayers at different parts of the day. Their school also has a library and all the books there are arabic! This is different from us as we do not have to take specific breaks to pray, neither do we have a school library filled with arabic books. The trip to their school was really an eye opener for us as we learnt more about their way of studying and how it is different from us. 

(Picture below shows their school library containing arabic books)

     Speaking about fashion, Madrasah Aljunied students are often distinguished by their uniform, which constitutes trousers, white long-sleeved shirts and songkok for the boys, baju kurong and a jilbab or headscarf for the girls. They have to wear covered clothing and can only show their hair to blood related family. From a Question and Answer session, we learnt that when they want to cut their hair, they will have to visit a malay private barber especially hired for them and the barber have to be also of the same gender as them. 

     The trip to Madrasah Aljunied was certainly an eye opener for us as we gained many insights about the islamic culture and new facts which we did not know before. It has been an enriching and meaningful journey for us as it allowed us to have a better knowledge of the muslims in Singapore.

Group Blog (Kampong Glam)

     On the second and third day of Enc week, we went to Kampong Glam. We have always thought that Kampong Glam is a “Kampong”, but when we went there, we realized that we made a mistake. Far from developing, Kampong Glam is already a developed place, filled with food stalls, restaurants, and small shops.

     Firstly, let us introduce you to the food of Kampong Glam. Along the streets of Kampong Glam, nasi lemak, satay, mee siam, mee soto, and even kuehs like kueh lapis, kueh lopis, were all sold. These are all Malay traditional food that Malays often eat. One of us tested out nasi lemak and found it really nice! Made of Ikan bilis, cucumber, chicken wing and fried egg, the dish taste great with coconut milk added in the rice. However, the food sold are all halal. To be honest, we initially thought that halal food means pork only. But through this experience, we found out that this is not true. Halal food refers to food that is permitted by the Islamic law, which includes many other things other than pork. Hence, if Malay friends come to visit us, we must always be sensitive to this culture and take special notice of the ingredients used in the dishes. We also went to the spice garden and found out more about the spices that Malays use, such as cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, some of which can treat illnesses.

(Photo below shows a picture of nasi lemak)

     Next, we went to many clothes shops and interviewed some shopkeepers. We found out a lot more about the Malay attire for both men and women. For men, they have to at least cover their bodies from the navel to the knees and normally wear Baju Melayu during special occasions such as Hari Raya etc. Women have to wear clothing that is opaque and can fully cover their bodies. This is because Muslim women value inner beauty over superficial appearances. They can either wear Baju Kurong or Bajong Kebaya during Hari Raya as it is their form of traditional costume. So what is the difference between Baju Kurong and Baju Kebaya? Baju Kurong is a costume that has no split in the middle while Baju Kebaya has a split in the middle. We gained more insights through talking to the shopkeepers as we initially only knew about Baju Kurong.

(Photo below shows the Malay traditional costumes)

     Apart from this, we also found out a lot more about the festivals. Most Malays and Muslims celebrate Hari Raya Haji and Hari Raya Aidilfitri. We interviewed some Malays and asked them about these festivals. Hari Raya Haji, also known as the "Sacrifice Feast", is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year. This the the time where affluent Muslims slaughter one of their domestic halal animals. The meat from the sacrificed animal is divided into three parts: the family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy. It is one to the regular charitable practices to ensure that no impoverished person is left without an opportunity to partake in the sacrificial meal during these days. Comparably, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan. Most of us only know about the names of those festivals, but through the interview we learnt more about why they are celebrated.

     Later, we went on to Masjid Sultan. As we entered, we are ordered to keep quiet so as to not disturb the people praying. From our experience, we learnt that Muslims should face the Mihrab when praying and that there are five times a day which Muslims need to pray. We also learnt about women’s rights in Islam and how Islam encourages strong family ties. We did not know this before and our experience was hence invaluable in helping us to know more about the Malay culture and their beliefs.

     Although each culture have its differences, we should respect and appreciate them so as to keep Singapore a united nation.

Group Blog (Little India)

     When we were at Little India, we interviewed many Indian people to find out more about their culture and traditions.
     
     One interesting fact that we found out was that Indians not only celebrate Deepavali, but also many other festivals like Holi and Navratri. Also known as the festivals of colours, Holi is one of the most famous festivals in India. On the day of Holi, people gather in open areas and apply dry and wet colours of multiple hues to each other, with some carrying water guns and coloured water filled balloons. Holi signifies the victory of good over evil and the arrival of spring. During Navratri, people are dressed in colorful traditional clothes and the environment is very youthful. We did not know anything about Holi and Navratri so this experience is certainly an eye opener for us!

     As we walked along the shops, we also saw many shops selling Indian traditional costumes. The costumes were all of different colours and thus they made the whole shop looked very colorful and beautiful. We went into the shop to find out more about Indian traditional costumes from the shop owner and learnt that there are actually many different Indian traditional attires and all of them belong to a different Indian community.  For example, there was the sari, which belong to the south Indian women. Another example is the Paithani, which belongs to Western India. Initially, we have to admit that we do not know much about the Indian costumes although we often see indians wearing those costumes. It is partially because we did not really interact and ask them about what they wear during different occasions. 

(Photo below shows the traditional sari that Indians normally wear)

     

     Apart from this, we also saw many different types of food such as desserts and spices. We got the chance to interview a few stall vendors for a deeper understanding of the Indian culture and learnt that in Indian food, they use spices to make their food tastier and healthier. Also, a stall vendor gave a further explanation and told us that spices helped to prevent food spoilage and that Indians are so accustomed to spicy food that spices are very commonly used in their food. We think that this is a unique concept that perhaps the Chinese or the Malays could also include in their cuisines. We also learnt that Indians are forbidden to eat beef, but some of them are also not allowed to eat pork. Hence, we have to be careful of this concept when Indian friends come to visit us.

(Photo below shows desserts that Indians eat)

   
     Later on we went to Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which was a few minutes walk from the street. Inside the temple, we saw people having unique prayers such as lying down on the floor. This is very different from our culture but we learnt that we should not give rude comments and just appreciate the culture. We had a chance to go to Indian heritage centre and Little India Arcade. There, many stall vendors sells souvenirs of Little India and Singapore, such as henna. There were not many deep explanations behind this, but one main one that we have found out is that in Indian culture, they love jewellery and tattoos. Henna is a great substitution for permanent tattoos as some may dislike it. The design of the henna are mostly creative and modern-like, thus attracting people to get it. 

(Photo below shows Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which devotees go to pray)

    
     Despite the differences between the Indian culture and our culture, we have learnt to appreciate the differences and other people's culture. Unity in diversity is what we learnt during Enc week, and we should respect different cultures to maintain a harmonious society. 

2F CID Group 7 Poster on Malay and Indian Food