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!