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Project Week Reflection (Summary)
Learning Outcomes: 3, 6, 7
This is our final project week proposal that we completed and submitted in grade 11.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a9m-qiN1jn0U3L6pqmXCiuKPcgwgSMKvlBmz2oG-m8A/edit
Our initial idea for the week was a mix of service and activity. We would be starting off with a trek through Mai Chau, Vietnam, then engaging with the Blue dragons for the rest of the week. Our group have members who are a part of the organisation and others who hoped to work with it. We spent multiple meetings and discussions on the details for the hike, but then were informed of an unfortunate logistical circumstance. The activity providers that work with the school no longer takes independent clients below the age of 18.
Fortunately, we were able to rally as a team and immediately propose alternate plans. This remodelling of our plan was carried out in parts by separate members. These smaller tasks include finding new activities, seeking approval and working around key dates. Finally, a series of local tours became our choice of activity. We all believed that it best suits our goal to be educated about the local culture. This decision later evolved into a bigger opportunity for us to collect and design audio recordings that were to be used by the Blue Dragons GC podcast. We were under extreme time pressure but was able to compile and organise everything at the end. Much of our group were keen on having sections unplanned so as to be more spontaneous, and be able to capitalise on opportunities that can only be spotted locally. After doing some more research, we decided that it was much safer for us to have planned routines. It is important that we stay safe whilst enjoying our time.
The most important part of the trip is going to us working with the Blue Dragons center. This is extremely significant to many of my group mates who have contributed to this organisation overseas. I was also hoping to carry out some activities that we have planned out with the children. We were all very excited to see how the school’s GC programs have made a difference.
Actual project Week cancelled due to coronavirus.
Work 2 (In Progress (so is reflection))
I have made the unfortunate(?) decision to challenge myself with another piece of work that has given long hair a dominant position among its elements. This piece is very far from completion, and for reasons other than drawing, my righthand is experiencing some tension between the index finger and thumb. I anticipate the piece’s completion to be around 15th of January.
December 8th Post “Imaginary Geography”
More than just a humorous representation of the uncle:
page 65 “You know last time Bishan is all cemetery?”
page 70 “When he sit down to do his homework, ten minutes he must go toilet.”
How does Ang use these features of form and style to make both satirical criticisms and more sincere observations of Singapore?
- Ann Ang writes this report in the form of a pastiche with a mix of parody. The imitation of an academic writing style shows the absurdity in trying to see the broader’s scope of the Singaporean mentality. By using big words and complex analytical paragraphs for the sake of it, Ann Ang is satirising the intent to understand Singapore’s layered social identities through a voyeuristic view. She is also creating a meta-parody of the people, including herself, that is trying to observe the country through academia.
- Use of irony such as the branding of Bishan as a cemetery gives way to the paradoxical development of Singapore, and speaks to the lapse in progression of self-definition that is the result of such rapid development. The recounting of the uncle’s grandson’s life and transformation recorded in section D was observed to be “sentimentally dramatised”, which made sense at first glance. However, the parodical nature of this report reveals that it may not be the case. In truth, the escalating pressure to “toe the line” is very much real and emotionally damaging. It is the aftermath of an ongoing involutionary change in countries like Singapore, Korea, Japan and China. This is a form of social change that has never been seen before and are bound to reflect on the change in identity of a Singaporean.
- Hyperhistories‘s writing and message appears more approachable and solid. Observations regarding the nuclear family and the Singaporean education system proposes problems with more real life basis in comparison to the concept of microclimates/neighbourhoods.
- The uncle’s hope to show Ah boy many things is reflective of the traditional fatherly role that the pioneer generation should hold. As the boy is occupied with school work and Ah Gong feels that “I don’t know how to say, maybe the thing also not there anymore”, we see a very troubling representation of Singaporean history. First we see the paradoxical nature of the nation’s development. The pioneer generation set up the country for immense economical prosperity and social stability, but the same society’s competitiveness casts incomprehensible pressure on the coming generations. The old guard is feeling an inability to communicate, leading to the outdating and fading of old Singaporean values.
Work 1
I originally did not plan to draw the wings, as I did not have confidence that I can create a fair representation. However, I realised an imbalance of negative space as a result of the character’s posture, which made the wings necessary. The original artist who created the digital painting for me to base the sketch on seemed to agree. The route we pursued for the wings were different however. As he most likely used softwares like Adobe Photoshop and was adept at using lighting/gradient/lining effects, the wings he drew were luminescent and rich in shadowing. I am presenting the artwork through pencil sketches, so I wanted to stress the “power” aspect of the wings. I chose to make them as visibly sharp as possible, and this was achieved through thin strokes. To achieve vary depths, I was forced to choose between two methods: holding down a harder/lighter pencil with more force than my usual grip, or using a softer/darker pencil with normal force. The former would result in a much thicker stroke than I wanted, so I went with the latter.
I regret outlining the wings because it prohibited me from creating a halo around the wings later. The lines made any blurry effects appear incredibly forced and impartial to the overall work. With the direction of the lighting being top-right, the upper connection of the rightwing should have a great deal of sheen that I was not able to recreate.
I will improve my treatment of hairs/feathers through self-teaching later.
Contextual considerations of “Everyone uses English”
What contextual (social/cultural/political etc) considerations* does the section you have examined engage with and how?
In “Everyone uses English”, Ann Ang engages with the socio-political and cultural contexts of Singapore through a conversation between an elderly teacher and his younger counterpart. The conversation takes the form of a monologue, in which the elder teacher seemed to have gone onto an unrelenting rant about the British conquest of Singapore, or Southeast Asia, through enforcing English speaking. An in depth discussion is also made regarding the complicated attitudes towards “proper” English speaking that remains controversial in modern Singapore.
The elderly teacher delivers his monologue through superfluous English to provoke thought regarding the power dynamic between British and Singaporean culture. This theme is immediately apparent in “You make it seem right that were colonised in 1819″, an accusation of the younger teacher who have less insistence on speaking proper English. Proper use of a foreign language is being counterintuitively established as a symbol of national pride. This may seem contradictory, but considering Singapore’s history and the context of the Macaulay Minute, makes astonishing sense. The sentence”…serve the Empire’s grand purpose of bring the light of science to us benighted ‘locals’ ” revealed how The British saw Singaporeans, or Southeast Asians on a broader scale, to be inferior and in need of social reform through English. The elder, who likely came from an age in which Singapore was still considered to be below Britain, had a conflicting mentality and attitude towards speaking English. He saw this language as the enemy but also the tool to defeat the enemy. This is evident in the gradual transition from “The English language…….became the cold instrument of numbers and accounts in the mouths…..” to “We must take back the English language for our own”, and finally “we shall outwit them at their own game!” This is significant of Singapore’s grudge in how it was perceived despite arguable moving past the United Kingdom in economic and social development. However, the younger teacher was perceived by the elder to be benevolent in their attitudes towards the “invader”. We are unaware of their actual behaviours as the first person narrating limits us from observing actions without being emotionally distorted by the speaker. This suggested benevolence, in contrast to the passionate anguish of the elder, makes us readers unsure of where to direct our sympathies. More importantly, it raises a question regarding whether Singapore should still hold a grudge towards the scars left by Imperial Britain and trying to surpass it. Singlish is described as a symbol of inferiority in certain parts of the text, but the ambivalence of sympathy questions whether it is time for Singapore to move past that legacy and become “national” now. Both “The bell is ringing” and “The English language is going to hell” can be interpreted as death of the old language. Ending on “Go”, however, leaves the story open to interpretation, and creates a sense of rebirth and progress for Singapore as a nation.
National Cipher Challenge Final Post
For my final post on participation in the National cipher challenge, I would like to reflect on the impact of the activity on my approach to puzzles and complicated problems.
Before entering this activity, I did some complex puzzle solving through olympiad mathematics as well as just general puzzle blogs. After I had my first session, I learnt that trial and error was nothing to be ashamed of in puzzle solving. For puzzles encrypted through transpositional cipher and the Caesar wheel, doing them by hand does require a long period of time, but just sitting down and trying to find a shortcut without experimenting will take an even longer time. Being able to observe trends, and make conclusions from mistakes is extremely important in any puzzle solving. I think this applies to many situations in life, where one might just procrastinate because they are intimidated by the task. It is also important to observe every mistake you’ve made and critically retrace the workings to spot an opening. Once a number doesn’t work out, try to retrace steps, then observe how alphabets are translated or the relative positioning of numbers. These can be quite revealing and makes sure your previous efforts do not go to waste.
During deciphering challengers of progressive difficulties, my patience and perseverance were repetitively tested. When we were doing transpositional ciphers, I thought of giving up and moving on quite frequently. Now, I realised that in cipher, moving on will just force you to restart a process that you were not able to go through before. Grinding one cipher out is much more rewarding than having some rough ideas for many.
Moving on, I am looking forward to continue to work with math puzzles on my own. I believe that my experience in the National Cipher Challenge club will be prove useful through its logic training and character building.
LO 1 2 4
Cipher challenge second post
LO5 Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.
Whilst I could not participate in the actual National Cipher Challenge due to schedule difficulties, I was able to sit in on certain sessions and observe my peers solve some rounds of the challenge. Whilst some members solved the problems by themselves at home, the whole club still went over these questions and evaluated the strengths of solutions that worked. As the challenges got more and more difficult, there were only 1 or 2 people that could solve it, and the rigour of calculations increased significantly. The club members no longer worked on their own, but rather split into groups, of which I was able to be involved in for one session. I helped by trying out all the rough decipher methods such as mono-alphabetic or transpositional, and narrowing the range down to a few plausible ones.
During sessions that I can not attend, I self-taught certain ciphers such as Polybius and Double-layered through slides our club leaders created. These ciphers were incredibly exciting and challenging. I was fortunate to have some detail notes to cross check my solution, and I grew more sensitive to older ciphers as I became more familiar with the distance characteristics of the new ciphers.
Urban Gardening Final Reflection
LO3:
Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
LO2:
Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, develop- ing new skills in the process.
This will be my last reflection for the Urban Gardening college service, which I have been a part of for a year and a half. I have been the communications officer then the logistics officer over the last year. During Covid-19 quarantine, it was very difficult for us as grade 11s to actually teach the incoming grade 9s, as they had barely any tools to practice with. The leadership committee and I decided to create a detailed itinerary/plan for the grade 9s to follow and learn from. I was in charge of organising online meetings and devising collaborative potential projects with other officers. The real challenge I faced was thinking ahead in terms of what tools will be available for the new additions to the service in the coming year, when the entire school is likely to operate under strict social distancing procedures. Even without masks, the tasks of fertilising and weeding can be quite laborious, and thus new species introduced to the garden should not be the ones that are incredibly sensitive to tentative change. We understand that the garden’s produces are likely to wither away when we are eventually allowed back school, so instead of planning on reviving everything, we made lists on what the newcomers would like to add to the garden.
As a college service, one of the highest priority goals for a leadership officer is always going to be how we can collaborate with other services. There were several plans made and agreed upon by organisations such as Zero Waste and Nature Cosmetics(or similar organisation). They were put on hold during the circuit breaker, and our chair made detailed documents for when the service could continue. It was an incredible experience seeing the grade 9s adding as much to the documents as they are taking away from it. I believe that the gardening group will continue with fresh perspectives and resounding motivation.
The Urban gardening service has provided me with many things: motivation to actively seek responsibility, perseverance, courage to take leadership roles, and self management. I am truly grateful for being able to take part in the service, and looking forward, I hope to continue with a similar activity going into university.
Wild Geese New Historical Theory
What do you think is Ogai Mori’s perspective of Japan and its relationship with the West at this time, and what aspects of the story have given you these ideas?
From the opening of the novel, Ogai’s point of view has been consistently first person, yet he remains omniscient as detailed accounts of all mental and physical activities were given when it is impossible for him to obtain the relevant information. The usually objective omniscient retelling is framed by a very personal narrative tone, in which Ogai asserts his judgement of moral behaviour and imported culture.
Ogai was born during a period in which Japan as a nation is rapidly developing to rid themselves of the unfair treaties from the Western nations. He frequently gave descriptions of Japanese architecture fused within a university, which is an accurate reflection of the landscape of Japan during its educational reform. In the opening of chapter 4, he describes the university students as beasts within cages, the latter being the university dormitories, then compared them to animals in a zoo. The first person who deceived Otama and dealt the first flow to her spirit was a policeman–a western occupation, who left his western shoes at the doorsteps. Suezo picked linnets over canaries, when the latter is showy and the former is encaged for its beauty. This is Ogai choosing between the hierarchical traditional Japanese culture and outspoken democratic western influence.
As readers, we interpret a sense of female empowerment through Otama’s journey in resisting her role as an obedient mistress. However, this might well be the product of our time, as the symbolism of the snake was very well manipulated by Ogai to show his opposition to westernization during a time where nationalism is pervasive in Japan. Ogai is conscious that the western interpretation would connect Suezo to the snake, and believe that Suezo, who is a traditional Japanese man, is the culprit for the unwanted disturbance. However, Ogai intends to deliver the real message to his countrymen, who would see the snake as a symbol of change and thus make a connection to Okada, who would be seen as a heroic figure in accordance through a western lens. There is almost a sense of irony when Ogai had the hero, as perceived by westerners, slice open a symbolism of western influence to save the linnets. The birds are symbolic of Otama, who could then be seen as a symbolism of Japan from her obedience to classes and duty. This is allegorical of how Japan is training their youth through western education to gain true independence and drive the western superiority out of their lands. Okada would have had the same experience as Ogai actually did when he studied in Germany. The moment where the doctor told Okada suits made by Japanese tailors would not do could be a reflection of Ogai’s experience abroad. He may have felt anger, spite or motivation, which he decided to embed within the snake killing story. The storytelling’s paradoxical mix of first person narrative and omniscience raises suspicions: does the novel recount an actual love story by which Ogai was never a part of, or a fabricated event in which Ogai romanticized the outcasting of western influence?