Singapore is a small nation state with little natural resources and no hinterland. We need trade to meet our basic needs. Our domestic market is small and hence Singapore also needs trade to sell our products and services overseas to make a living.
This reliance on trade makes it necessary for Singapore to establish friendly relations with as many countries as possible. It is imperative that our young cultivate a global outlook but remain rooted to Singapore.
International Friendship Day is a day dedicated to the understanding of Singapore's relations with neighbouring countries and beyond. It aims to give our students the opportunity to learn about the geo-political realities inherent in Singapore, as well as nurture in our students the spirit of friendship and collaboration among different people.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
My Friends and I: Hong Wen’s RH Album
Dear teachers and pupils,
As part of our school’s effort in promoting racial harmony, we have embarked on the project, “My Friends and I: Hong Wen’s RH Album” since 2007.
This project seeks to showcase photographs of our pupils with their non-Chinese friends.
You are strongly encouraged to submit one photograph taken together with a non-Chinese friend and include a short write-up about your friend.You are to submit your write-up to your form teacher or email the soft copy to Mdm Irni at irni_yusnita@moe.edu.sg.
You can view the write-ups at the noticeboard near the MRL.
Hope to receive your write-ups soon.
Regards,
Mdm Irni
As part of our school’s effort in promoting racial harmony, we have embarked on the project, “My Friends and I: Hong Wen’s RH Album” since 2007.
This project seeks to showcase photographs of our pupils with their non-Chinese friends.
You are strongly encouraged to submit one photograph taken together with a non-Chinese friend and include a short write-up about your friend.You are to submit your write-up to your form teacher or email the soft copy to Mdm Irni at irni_yusnita@moe.edu.sg.
You can view the write-ups at the noticeboard near the MRL.
Hope to receive your write-ups soon.
Regards,
Mdm Irni
Friday, March 25, 2011
An interview with one of the survivors during World War 2 ~Mrs Seah (Shared by Ms Ong Yu Yan)
Mrs Seah was 11 years old when the war broke out. From Alor Star in Northern Malaya the family travelled to Taiping, Perak. They went into the forest to hide, with provisions of 'fried rice (rice padi which were dried and fried)' and drank from stream water. Many of the family members fell ill and her sister got very sick and nearly died.
When the British surrendered, they lost everything they had, their house was looted and they had to stay with their grandmother. Life was difficult under Japanese rule and they lived in fear. But they became independent, as the Japanese made everyone go out and work. She attended Japanese school for one to two hours every day and had to work the rest of the day.
The girls had to cut their hair short and dress up as a boy for there was the danger of rape. She had a close shave with a Japanese soldier, luckily a kind Korean working in the Japanese Army warned them and they hid underwater in the river to escape from the Japanese soldier.
Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/C002071/interviewseah.html
When the British surrendered, they lost everything they had, their house was looted and they had to stay with their grandmother. Life was difficult under Japanese rule and they lived in fear. But they became independent, as the Japanese made everyone go out and work. She attended Japanese school for one to two hours every day and had to work the rest of the day.
The girls had to cut their hair short and dress up as a boy for there was the danger of rape. She had a close shave with a Japanese soldier, luckily a kind Korean working in the Japanese Army warned them and they hid underwater in the river to escape from the Japanese soldier.
Link: http://library.thinkquest.org/C002071/interviewseah.html
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Thaipusam (Day of Thanksgiving)
Thaipusam which falls in the Tamil month of Thai (usually January/ February) is an annual procession by Hindu devotees seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks. Thaipusam is celebrated in honour of Lord Subrahmanya (also known as Lord Murugan) who represents virtue, youth and power to Hindus and is the destroyer of evil.
The festival generally lasts two days. On the first day before Thaipusam, a statue of Lord Subrahmanya decorated with jewels and finery and together with his two consorts, Valli and Devayani, is placed on a chariot and brought in procession. In Singapore, the chariot procession begins from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple at Serangoon Road to the Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple at Keong Siak Road. The procession symbolizes the blessings sought by Lord Subrahmanya from his elder brother Lord Vinayagar.
Thaipusam ceremony starts in the early hours of the morning when the first batch of devotees of Lord Subrahmanya carrying milk pots and wooden kavadis leave Sri Srinvasa Perumal Temple for Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The milk in the pots they carry are offered to the deity of Lord Subrahmanya at Sri Thendayuthapani Temple. Some devotees pierce their tongues with skewers and carry a garlanded wooden arch across their shoulders. Others devotees may carry a kavadi (semi circular metal structure decorated with peacock feathers, flowers and plam leaves). The spiked kavadis which require elaborate preparations leave the temple in the later part of the morning and continue till night.
Carrying kavadi is a popular form of devotion for Hindus. It is usually carried in fulfillment of a vow that a devotee would have taken. Placing a kavadi at the end of the foot procession at the altar of Lord Subrahmanya and making an offering of milk symbolizes the cleansing of the mind and soul and seeking of blessings.
In preparation for carrying a kavadi, a devotee has to prepare himself spiritually. For a period of about a month, the devotee must live a life of abstinence whilst maintaining a strict vegetarian diet. It is believed that only when the mind is free of material wants and the body free from physical pleasures that a devotee can undertake the sacred task without feeling any pain.
Information from http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_626241.html on 20 January 2011 (shared by Mr Dass)
About 9,000 participants took part in the religious procession. Most carried milk pots along the way; about 300 carried spiked kavadis.
The 4km religious procession begins at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road, and ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple in Tank Road.
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival where devotees give their thanks to Lord Murugan, an important Hindu deity. Every year, tens of thousands of spectators are attracted to the event.
The festival generally lasts two days. On the first day before Thaipusam, a statue of Lord Subrahmanya decorated with jewels and finery and together with his two consorts, Valli and Devayani, is placed on a chariot and brought in procession. In Singapore, the chariot procession begins from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple at Serangoon Road to the Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple at Keong Siak Road. The procession symbolizes the blessings sought by Lord Subrahmanya from his elder brother Lord Vinayagar.
Thaipusam ceremony starts in the early hours of the morning when the first batch of devotees of Lord Subrahmanya carrying milk pots and wooden kavadis leave Sri Srinvasa Perumal Temple for Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The milk in the pots they carry are offered to the deity of Lord Subrahmanya at Sri Thendayuthapani Temple. Some devotees pierce their tongues with skewers and carry a garlanded wooden arch across their shoulders. Others devotees may carry a kavadi (semi circular metal structure decorated with peacock feathers, flowers and plam leaves). The spiked kavadis which require elaborate preparations leave the temple in the later part of the morning and continue till night.
Carrying kavadi is a popular form of devotion for Hindus. It is usually carried in fulfillment of a vow that a devotee would have taken. Placing a kavadi at the end of the foot procession at the altar of Lord Subrahmanya and making an offering of milk symbolizes the cleansing of the mind and soul and seeking of blessings.
In preparation for carrying a kavadi, a devotee has to prepare himself spiritually. For a period of about a month, the devotee must live a life of abstinence whilst maintaining a strict vegetarian diet. It is believed that only when the mind is free of material wants and the body free from physical pleasures that a devotee can undertake the sacred task without feeling any pain.
Information from http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_626241.html on 20 January 2011 (shared by Mr Dass)
About 9,000 participants took part in the religious procession. Most carried milk pots along the way; about 300 carried spiked kavadis.
The 4km religious procession begins at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road, and ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple in Tank Road.
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival where devotees give their thanks to Lord Murugan, an important Hindu deity. Every year, tens of thousands of spectators are attracted to the event.
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