Having the opportunity to conduct music therapy with Apex harmony residents with AD became less daunting as I became more familiar with it. However, I learned to consider many nuances before each session in order to have successful sessions. Something I had not considered was being deliberate and sensitive about any questions that we may ask. Adjusting to the personality of the resident, and learning to be a bit more cautious before asking about loved ones and family members was something that I had never considered. This experience definitely heightened my awareness of the cultural and societal context and brought a new sensitivity and empathy in my communication with the seniors. This will prove to be an invaluable skill; seeking to pause and reflect on what may be the resident’s background, and consequently, what matters should be dealt with carefully, or avoided altogether.
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I did my EE on this topic because I became incredibly involved in the work that we were doing when calling the residents, and seeing the effects play out in front of me furthered my interest in the “WHY” MT works for individuals. I wrote a 4000 word research paper which looks at which types of music are best for elderly with AD, and why it may be so. I also evaluated the research itself, and by doing so, this made me a lot more intentional about the types of music and the way in which we were conducting MT ourselves. This showed me how important the role of research is in my service, and made me realise I can always incorporate the two!
I have learned that it’s important to be flexible when it comes to planning sessions and implementing them. Now, we are taking a break from actually conducting MT sessions, and instead are working on another project which will hopefully be able to generate songs that will eventually be specific to an individual’s liking and background. The idea is to create an app which essentially uses it’s information technology to create a profile for each elderly individual, to make the selection of music much easier and effective. I find this very interesting and made me realise it’s always important to think about “What’s next?” when doing anything, including service.
This activity has definitely been quite challenging for me because nothing about this service has been running conventionally. We have to persevere when communicating with the residents online because not only are language barriers present, but the residents are unfamiliar with digital platforms, there are technical difficulties and it obstructs us from forming a more personal bond with them. It’s been immensely challenging to work within the COVID restrictions and create a meaningful experience at the same time, therefore it requires a positive and determined mindset in order to keep going. We constantly learn from one another in the way that we should interact with the residents – sometimes I’m not sure what question to ask next and my groupmate fills in, or vice versa. This added collaborative aspect not only helps us learn ways in which we can improve our own communication when there might be barriers, but also helps bring us closer as a group due to this unique shared experience. To truly be successful with this service, we must continue to persevere and commit fully to this activity.
I have now attended two sessions of my local service. I wanted to take part in this service since Grade 10 but couldn’t due to outside of school committments, but this year I’m free and able to commit my time to this incredible cause. I always think that working with the elderly is so important, because if you think about it, elderly folk don’t feel old at heart really – they still feel young, they want to live their life and not depend on others. Your mind stays youthful yet your body doesn’t follow. The issue this service combats specifically is dementia and Alzheimer’s, a disease that 1 person is diagnosed with every four seconds (“What is Alzheimer’s disease?” – Ivan Seah Yu Jun) This disease slowly takes away everything that we believe makes up a person: their memories, their personality and sense of self, and this is a problem that not only affects the individual themselves but hurts those close to them too. This is a significant issue because it is a disease that we don’t have the cure to yet, and it isn’t specific to one race or one nationality. It’s an international disease, which doesn’t discriminate against anybody. I am excited to learn more about how to even help make the days of those who have dementia a little bit better, and the science behind music therapy to aid in their memory recall (even if just temporarily). I am really hoping that we’ll be able to go and make a difference in these people’s lives, even if its just for five minutes.
My research question was to understand and become acquainted with Singaporean history and culture in order to build my identity as a Singaporean. Over the course of 2 years, I have become well-versed with the parks and nature reserves in Singapore, as well as the steady and sound efforts the government has taken in order to make preservation of our natural ecosystems a reality and a place for residents to relax. The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is home to the largest primary forest in Singapore, and has the largest range of biodiversity. It used to be one of the first eight forest reserves in the late 1800s. This means the flora and fauna that was present in the 1800s is still allowed to flourish today. BTNR contains at least 40% of the country’s native flora and land fauna even though it occupies only 0.2% of the total country area. We saw many monkeys in their natural habitat because of the conservation of this area. It was fascinating to me that the Singaporean legislation is placed in such a way to allow for the conservation of nature in such a stringent way. The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is protected under the Parks and Trees Act, and was officially declared an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2011. In a world where climate change and biodiversity loss is not only the reality, but the terrifying potential for ecosystems collapsing, seeing the Singaporean government place importance on nature builds hope for the possibility of conservation, and the simultaneous existence of urbanization and nature. I saw this yet again at Gardens by the Bay, where I saw that despite being surrounded by urban structures, the whole park honours the natural flora and fauna around by showcasing and preserving it. I tried to also become an active member in preserving the beautiful nature that we have in Singapore by participating at a beach clean up in Singapore. We went down to East Coast Park in the morning, and started picking up whatever trash we found. We organised and recorded it so that we understood the trends and what type of trash was being most thrown away and littered. I found that plastic bottles, not just water bottles, but drink bottles, shampoo, any liquid container, were the most common. Cans, and styrofoam were not as likely to be found. Whilst we were cleaning up, we met another old uncle who said he comes here to clean up every week. This made me realise that I do not need to plan a whole day of work to come and clean a beach. I can do it whenever I want to. Sometimes, we get too caught up in the logistics that we fail to see the practical ways in which we can make a difference! We collected 32kg of trash in one morning, which made me realise just how much lack of awareness there is surrounding littering, and throwing away materials that can harm the environment.
I also understood more about Singaporean culture by going to Fort Siloso, where I became acquainted with the WW2 history of Singapore. I learned how the British colonised Singapore, but the Singaporeans did not necessarily mind. There are a lack of any violence or horrific acts committed during this act of colonisation, although I am skeptical to believe this was the real situation. However, what appalled me was the sheer amount of conflict going on in the world during World War 2. The time during WW2 had various conflicts going on simultaneously, in Europe, Asia and in North America. I related this back to my documentaries of WW2 I have been watching this holiday with my family to once again, deepen my understanding of the historic events that shaped the present day.
I truly feel I have deepened my understanding of the ways in which Singapore preserves its nature, and how this intersects with other areas, such as culture and history, in order to create a thriving, enriched society.
I find Gardens by The Bay to be the best exemplar of the thing Singapore does the best: the amalgamation of urbanisation and natural beauty. Despite being surrounded by structures, the whole of the gardens by the bay honours the natural flora and fauna seen around, by showcasing it, and by preserving it. Not only that, all of the features here are built around nature, for example, the tree-top sky walk, showed me a brand new perspective of Singapore, and just how lush in greenery it really is. I have truly appreciated the ways in which Singaporean government takes concrete measures in order to preserve the natural environment, whilst still growing the economy and promoting urbanisation. It furthers my belief that this nation has the ability to become even more sustainable as climate change becomes more of a pressing and prominent issue for everyone, including governments.
27/12/21:
We decided to go to Windsor Nature park, also located in the Central Catchment. Prior to this NYAA experience, I had never known about the central catchment, and did not realise that all of the major reserves were linked via trails and pathways. This was incredibly fascinating to me. We took the Drongo Trail, which features a sub-canopy walk, where we saw many different types of native fauna under the canopy level, in addition to the understorey of the regenerating secondary forest.
We also hiked up to the tree-top walk, which we hoped would provide us the stunning views it promised of Singapore nature landscape. However, it was closed, and we were not able to go past it. Nonetheless, I realised that I enjoyed the hike and observing the ways in which the different flora and fauna interact. Using my HL biology knowledge, I can also see the ways in which plants are adapted to best suit their survival needs, and found this very interesting.
22/12/20 – Marang Trail, Hort Park, Kent Ridge Park
I decided to go for a hike with my friends during the holidays. I was in awe of the beauty that is present in Singapore. I had never realised there were so many well-conserved areas free of industrialisation that were open to hiking, trekking and becoming closer with nature. As we walked along the paths of the Marang trail, starting from Mount Faber and taking us all the way to Kent Ridge Park, I also became familiar with places in Singapore I had never been to. Hort Park was one of the prettiest parks I have been to, and I saw how Singaporean heritage played a large role in it’s identity through it’s meditation gardens and tranquility flowers. As we hiked along, we discovered new roads and paths, which made me realise that there is so much more to learn about Singapore, despite it’s small size. Amongst the stress of school, finally being able to decompress with my friends amongst nature was the best thing I could have asked for. Along the way, we became acquainted with new cafes, new MRTs and added this to our knowledge of Singapore!
My goal has been to explore and connect with Singaporean culture and history. I have walked by the beach multiple times, and always thought that organising a beach cleanup would be an effective way to spend a morning, trying to make a difference in a small way. I am part of a group called Bye Bye Plastic Bags in Singapore, which focuses on raising awareness about eco-conscious decisions that can be made in order to improve our interactions with the environment, and turn them from destructive, to constructive. We organised a beach cleanup, though with the COVID regulations it was always difficult to do. However, we went down to East Coast Park in the morning, and started picking up whatever trash we found. We organised and recorded it so that we understood the trends and what type of trash was being most thrown away and littered. I found that plastic bottles, not just water bottles, but drink bottles, shampoo, any liquid container, were the most common. Cans, and styrofoam were not as likely to be found. Whilst we were cleaning up, we met another old uncle who said he comes here to clean up every week. This made me realise that I do not need to plan a whole day of work to come and clean a beach. I can do it whenever I want to. Sometimes, we get too caught up in the logistics that we fail to see the practical ways in which we can make a difference! We collected 32kg of trash in one morning, which made me realise just how much lack of awareness there is surrounding littering, and throwing away materials that can harm the environment. Thinking about how to get the message and awareness out there is the true challenge, and one that this activity taught me to reflect on.
