Daily Reflections 27 May 2014 Tuesday

Sunny.

Visit to Sacred Hearts High School was fun and enriching! 6 of us attended the English class, where we were greeted with a 'press conference'. We sat in a row in front of the class and they hurled questions at us. They were humorous and friendly, cracking us up from time to time. Though we enjoyed the lesson a lot, we have to admit that the teaching style there is overly slack and in the current society, this learning attitude will not do. The students there are more innocent and simple-minded therefore always happy. They do not have the competitive mindset that most Singaporeans have. This can be a virtue but also a disadvantage. They would enjoy life but cannot improve. On the other hand, we who are constantly seeking improvement will be more successful. However, there would definitely be a day when we feel tired. Tired of competing, tired of working hard, tired of life. Our lifestyle is rather stressful and not everybody can take the pressure. We can't possibly toil to our death.

I prefer the mindset of Taiwanese and I hope that I would be able to migrate there during my retirement so that I can enjoy the remaining days of my life peacefully, without any stress. This gives me a motivation to work hard now when I can so that I would be able to lead a carefree life when I'm old.

My cute buddy and I ^^

Pineapple tart factory

The game I played when I attended the English class.

Pineapple tarts that we made by ourselves! We can be your masterchef~~

The pineapple field

The choir of kindergarten students welcoming us with their soothing violin piece.

A picture with the cutest little girl of the day! She's the artist of that artwork! I was really amazed!

Dinner with my buddy 

And her father! They look so alike.

The English class that we attended. Feat. Yang hui blocking me

Nice and friendly students of Sacred Hearts High a School. One of them learns wushu too!

The most memorable and valuable gift that a fellow Taiwanese student who learns wushu gave me.

Our prize from the English class... IS THIS SOLD IN SINGAPORE?! PLEASE SAY YES!!

Joy Tan (17)

Daily Reflections 26 May 2014 Monday

Sunny.

In Taiwan, studying is not necessarily to only route to success. If you can specialize in an area, you can still go very far, and even be more successful than a graduate! Sadly, this does not apply to Singapore... If you aren't doing well in your studies, you will immediately get casted to a lousier class and will have to face discriminating stares all the time. This really lead me to be in a dilemma. Why can't we just adopt the simple mindset of Taiwanese and treat every individual equally?

Everyone has their own unique quality and ought to be given a second chance. We should not despise someone based on our own selfish perspective.

After visiting Anping, I also learnt that Tainan used to be ruled be Holland. Their ulterior motive was to make use of Tainan's resources such as 樟树 to gain profits. This brings me to a whole new level of understanding of Tainan, more in depth, more relatable. The most respected person in Taiwan is 郑成功 because he was the one who freed his country from Holland's rule. There are statues of him around the country, and people really look up to him. We also went to the Confucius Temple, where most of us just wandered and fooled around because we were given the courtesy of 'freedom'. It was delightful day of touring and I really anticipate for the next day, when we would go to Sacred Hearts High School!!

 

Picture with one of the drummers after we watched the performance put up by the Tendrum village teehee

Statue of 郑成功

Unique soda that contains a marble at the bottom. It actually used to be sold in Singapore but later diminished from the market as it wasn't popular. I wonder why...

Typical monkeys at the Confucius temple hohoho

We are so holyyyy

The long awaited dinner!!!!~

Xiaolongbao! 

Our new hotel that we transferred to.... And I got the smallest room. Not pleased at all.

Joy Tan (17)

Daily Reflections 25 May 2014 Sunday

Sunny.

Life in Taiwan is relaxing and carefree, unlike the hectic lifestyle we have in Singapore. In Taiwan, the average farmer earns up twice as much as a citizen working in an office! This has this led me to have a new aspiration : To be a farmer.

I also learnt a lot about the history of Taiwan. It had actually been ruled under Japan for 51 years! That was a incredibly long period and thus explains the slight mixture of Japanese culture in Taiwan.

The museums we visited made me understand the uniqueness of the Hakka culture. There're special costumes, flowers and festivals. They also have different accents from various parts of the country. This is really amusing how one single dialect can have so many different ways of speaking.

Kaoshiung is a beautiful place with breathtaking scenaries and foods, not to mention it's exciting history leading to its success today. 因祸得福。

 

The 'wardrobe' that coincidentally has one character of my Chinese name hehe

Our delightful breakfast :)

The picturesque scenery in Taiwan that made us feel so calm and relaxed.

Trying Lei Cha for the very first time! It tasted.... Very very very very very powdery.......

Group picture of our 'meals family'

A group picture with Aunty Janice, the tour guide and the bus driver. 

Joy Tan (17)

Video Reflection (Leading)

One important lesson I took away from watching the video is that "leadership is over glorified" and "it takes two". 

A leader needs the guts to stand out while knowing that he is going to be ridiculed by others. However, the (first) follower also needs to do the same, it is an "underestimated form of leadership"; without any followers to lead, one cannot be a leader. Hence, it's not only about the leader, it's about the leader and his followers. The leader should not control his followers, instead he should "embrace the follower as an equal"; the leader is not more important, he is just the one who first initiate the movement. It is about the movement, not the leader.

Also, the followers do not just follow, they have they're role in the movement too, they're role is to "attract" more followers to join the movement (that is not the role of the leader). This is because the others may have wanted to join the movement, however, as mentioned before, it takes guts which they may not have, they are afraid of being ridiculed while doing something they believe in and prefer to stick with the crowd instead. But, with the first follower, it seems less risky since the first follower was a part of "the others" and since he has the guts to follow, why not "the others"? 

I can relate a lot to this as I am one of those people who prefer to stick with the crowd. But after watching this video, l learnt that the first follower is actually the one who starts the movement and gets it going. So I will try to do as the presenter suggested: "If u really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.".

~Lim En Yin (8)

video reflection

A leader needs to step out and take the initiative to lead or guide the others. A leader needs to have courage and bear responsibility when something bad happens. However, is it only good character and personalities that a leader need?

Through the video that we watched yesterday, I learnt that a leader needs followers too. The first follower is always the most important one and it takes courage. In the video, the first follower joined in the dance and others joined in subsequently. A group of followers is created just by the first follower. People will get influenced and more will join in. Therefore, it is important that leaders have followers.

-Jia En

Leading: Video Reflection

We are all leaders in one way or another, be it the president of a nation or a leader for a group project. The question is, what must we have to be a leader?

I watched a video about leading. In the video, a man is ridiculously dancing in the middle of a field with many people. At first, everyone looked at him strangely. However, that changed when another man joined him in the ridiculous dance. Soon after that, a crowd had gathered, dancing ridiculously. What we need to be a leader is initiative and confidence. If that man did not do anything at all, it would not have led to the massive crowd in the end. Despite being looked at by a lot of people, the man was confident enough to be able to dance ridiculously in front of them. If the man appeared embarrassed by the people looking at him, no one would follow him and dance with him. 

I also learnt that to be a leader not only requires some good qualities. To be a successful leader, one also requires his or her first follower. In the video, the man only had one other person dancing with him. This made the surrounding people feel less embarrassed to dance with the two people, resulting in more and more people dancing with the original 2 people. So, to be a leader, one also needs their very first follower. 

Matthew Lim (29) 

Video Reflection

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous at first.  A leader must be easy to follow.  A leader needs to embrace followers as an equal.  Once this happens, it’s not about the leader any more. It’s about them; plural.  Being the first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership.  The follower transforms the lone nut into a leader.  As more people jump in, it’s no longer risky. It becomes a cool movement that people are no longer afraid to join.  As a lone leader, one must remember the importance of nurturing their first few followers as equals, and make everything clearly about the movement,not just oneself.  

Sometimes leaders forget what it is that they actually should be focusing on.  Being a leader is not about a title.  It's not about being known.  Being a leader is about overcoming challenges as a team, and empowering new leaders to emerge and succeed. In order to do this, leaders need to be encouraging.  Leaders must not put themselves on a pedestal and preach down to followers.  There must be open communication.  The leader needs to create an environment conducive to success.

Anyone can be a leader.  You may think that you are too shy or quiet, but that doesn't matter!  There are many types of leadership styles, and you don't have to be an extrovert to lead.  Providing encouragement goes far.

The video also expresses the importance of being a first follower.  A person doesn't need to be the founder of a non-profit, for example, to help a cause.  If there is already a group in your area that suits the issues that you would like to overcome, why compete against them? If no one had joined the lone nut in the first place, we would be left with only the "lone nuts."  Lone nuts are nowhere near as powerful as a movement.

Joy Tan (19)