OELP Overall Reflections (Erlene)

1. Overall Individual Reflection (600 – 700 words)

HOW has this trip increased my knowledge of China? Name at least 3 examples.

This trip, we went to two cities named Shanghai and Hangzhou. Shanghai is the largest city in China. It is the busiest part of China and it is very modern. At night, the view is beautiful as there are lightings everywhere. We went to the Shanghai Urban Exhibition Hall. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a huge scale model of the city of Shanghai, showing all existing and approved buildings. There was also the mascot of Shanghai Expo 2010 placed at the side of the centerpiece. Shanghai Expo 2010 was the largest World Fair site.It was built to show the achievement of the city planning and construction. Shanghai had many future urban development plans, for example, they wanted to rebuild some parts of The Oriental Pearl TV Tower. When we were in Shanghai, The Oriental Pearl TV Tower was very distinctive as it is located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district. It is also located quite near to The Bund. The Bund provides a spectacular view of Pudong, Shanghai. Pudong used to be mainly farmland and countryside. Everyone used to say they would rather have a bed in Puxi than a house in Pudong. The government decided that they had to do something because they could not just let Puxi overcrowd, so they built houses, improved Pudong and made it attractive for people to live there. Puxi used to be a lot more prosperous than Pudong but not anymore because Pudong has improved and has rising importance now. The housing prices of Pudong has also been going up. Pudong has one of the most expensive houses in China, with the highest prices at about 200,000+ RMB per square feet. In Shanghai, although it may be very rich, the rich are mostly foreigners and the locals are poor. In the past, most families live in houses that are 5 square feet big. Now, most families live in houses that are as small as 10 to 16 square feet. This shows that though the city of Shanghai may be the richest city in China, the cost of living is a lot higher and many people are struggling to sustain. We went to the supermarket there and we saw that they were selling sugar, rice, bones and other daily necessities in the open where the people could take any amount they needed. This is to cater to the needs of every household because some families are smaller and some are bigger. It is also because most households are not that well-to-do so they have to buy these necessities when they have enough money so some of them buy their groceries every day and they only need a few tens of grams of sugar and a few kilograms of rice for example. In this aspect, compared to Singapore and many other countries, Shanghai can still improve. Singapore may not be as rich as Shanghai, but there are lesser people living in poverty in Singapore. I feel that I should appreciate what I have now. Although housing prices in Singapore is high as well, at least almost everyone has a roof over their heads. We often complain about how small our houses are, but come to think of it sometimes, imagine if we were the ones living in houses as small as the people of Shanghai. Think of how they envy us, and we do not even know that we are lucky. Simple things that we have but they do not, when we went for our school immersion at Shanghai Nanyang School, we brought our iPads everywhere. The students there do not have an iPad each, we might think the iPad is just a normal device and it does not mean much because everyone has one. However, we never stopped to think how many people in this world do not have one, how many people in this world have to worry even about food and housing. When we were interacting with our China buddy, she looked at one of us holding a Canon DSLR camera and said she envied us, she envied how we get to have our own personal DSLR camera. Sometimes, the small things like this that we do not notice in our life may seem much more to another person. 

Hangzhou is an old city, with more than a thousand years of history. It has also been one of the most renowned and prosperous cities of China. When we mention Hangzhou, we think of its beauty. As the saying goes, ‘Above there is heaven, below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou’ which means that Suzhou and Hangzhou has beauty comparable to Heaven. We went to visit the West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda and Broken Bridge which are all sightseeing places. I think Hangzhou is a city which attracts tourists that like sightseeing because it has many beautiful places and views. From the Leifeng Pagoda, the view was breath-taking. The city’s West Lake is its most well-known attraction, which is a famous fresh water lake located in the center of Hangzhou. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. Regarding the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Singapore is trying to make the Singapore Botanical Gardens one. However, the difference between the West Lake and the Singapore Botanical Gardens is so huge. Not only is the Singapore Botanical Gardens a lot smaller, I think the view is not as beautiful. 

In this trip, you have visited two cities with a long history and rich culture. What did the Chinese do to preserve and promote their culture? What can Singapore learn from China to preserve and promote Chinese culture in Singapore?

Upon hearing the term Culture Heritage, images of old buildings, temples and other relics often come to mind. China has many old buildings. In Shanghai, there is the Tianzifang Ancient Street. It is one of the most well-preserved places in Shanghai. The China government tries to keep a lot of buildings preserved. Many streets have been built a long time ago but the government preserves them by keeping the original image and repairing some parts of the building. In some places, the government rebuilds the place and repaints it but make it look the same as the original. This keeps the culture and tradition, which attracts tourists. China can use these preserved buildings to show tourists how the country became what it is today. Tourists would be more interested than just looking at skyscrapers which can be found everywhere, even in their own country. The older generation can also come back to these preserved buildings to reminisce their past and they might take a longer time to adapt to the modern world. The younger generations can also have a chance to view the past and they can learn about their own country’s culture and history. The history is what makes up a country. By preserving the old buildings and historical sites, the history is kept and that is how culture is preserved. These places would also become tourist attractions which promotes the culture. Singapore should also preserve our buildings so that the younger generations can understand our history better. Singapore should keep places like Chinatown as they are and just do minimal changes to it, to attract tourists and promote Chinese culture. Proposal to preserve Singapore’s natural environment in the face of urbanization:

Singapore has many high-rise buildings and skyscrapers that are taking up a lot of space once taken up by older buildings. For example, Chinatown was built by Sir Stamford Raffles which means it is one of the oldest places in Singapore. 

Singapore is a young nation, celebrating its 50 years birthday this year. Being so young, there is a disadvantage: There is very little history of Singapore. Compared to other countries so much older than Singapore, like China, we have almost no history.

If we already have so little history, and we do not preserve our historical sites, we would have no culture and tradition left. This means that the younger generations would not know anything about the past. The younger generations would not know what their forefathers built and did. Without the forefathers, there would not be the success of our country. Our forefathers sacrificed so much for Singapore to turn out this way. Therefore, the younger generations need to know our history. 

Without any historical sites, tourists would not be attracted and they would not be interested into coming to Singapore. Singapore is always trying to attract tourists by renovating and revamping our airport, building theme parks. But what is the real reason why tourists come? Is it just because of Universal Studios Singapore? Is it just because of the plants in Changi Airport? Don’t other countries have theme parks too? America has so many more theme parks and they are much bigger, like Disneyland. Why would tourists come to Singapore then? Other countries can also beautify their airports and improve it so that it becomes on par with Changi Airport, then what can Singapore offer?

Think about it, if you were a tourist and you could go anywhere? Would you rather go to a country with rich history and culture or go to a country that has modernized and have skyscrapers everywhere, just like your own country? 

The Singapore Tourism Board has been finding all kinds of ways to attract tourists but the answer has been there all the time, since Singapore started. It is to preserve our historical sites and buildings.