OELP Overall Reflection- Chow Jiun Chyi

OELP Post-Trip Reflection

Overall Individual Reflection

After this fun filled learning trip to Shanghai and Hangzhou, I learned a lot more about China than I already had. Here are three things that I have learned about China during this trip.I have learned that the cost of living in China is lesser than that of Singapore’s, I also learned more about West Lake as well as Lei Feng Pagoda and lastly I learned about things that they do different or are different from that of Singapore.

I have learned that the cost of living in China is not as high as that of Singapore’s. We were brought to the supermarket to compare the prices of daily needs. There, we found out that most products sold at the supermarket were priced at lower price as compared to that of Singapore’s. For example, the Mentos sweet in China was only priced at around 30 cents in Singapore dollars. Moreover when we went shopping at the Chenghuangmiao, we observed that Starbucks in China were also lower priced than that of Starbucks in Singapore.

I have learned more about West Lake as well as Lei Feng Pagoda after my visit there. Before I went for this trip, I only knew West Lake as a lake located in Hangzhou and I did not even know that Lei Feng Pagoda is located near West Lake. But after I went there I learned a lot more. West Lake is a fresh water lake and there are islands located in the lake; natural and man-made islands. There is also a bridge built on the West Lake called the Broken Bridge. I learned that even though it is named Broken Bridge, the bridge is not broken at all. It is only named Broken Bridge because there was a family whose surname is Duan. They lived at the end of the bridge and thus they named the bridge as such. Lastly, I learned a lot of things at Lei Feng Pagoda. It was named Huangfei Pagoda at first as it was built to celebrate the birth of Huangfei’s son by King. However, the pagoda collapsed in September 25, 1924 and then it was rebuilt to what it is today. There is a display of how the collapsed Lei Feng Pagoda look like there too. These two tourist attractions can allow me to further understand the rich history of China.

In Singapore, rice and sugar are sold in packets and we have limited choices. And meat is either frozen or in designated stalls with someone to give you the amount you wanted. For example rice is sold in either 1kg, 2.5kg, 5kg or 10kg. However when we were at the supermarket in China, I saw that the rice, sugar and raw meat was placed in a large and shallow wooden crate and you could take any amount that you liked. I think that it is quite unhygienic but it is rather an interesting idea as it does not restrict you to buy only a certain amount. Another difference is that they have a separate lane for motorcycles and bicycles unlike Singapore. I think this is a great way to reduce traffic accidents as most accidents involve motorcycles.

Proposal to suggest improvements to preserve Singapore’s natural environment in the face of urbanisation:

 

One improvement I would like to suggest is that we should adapt China’s idea of providing bicycles for the public to use at a cheap price. The bicycles in China can be used once they swipe the card and it will end the time of use after they swipe the card once more and park it by a bicycle stand. I think that this will help preserve Singapore’s natural environment as providing bicycle use at a low cost enables us to decrease the use of cars and thus decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere which would harm the natural environment. So I think we should use China’s method of providing bicycles to the public at a low cost to preserve Singapore’s natural environment.

 

Another improvement I would like to suggest is to build more parks instead of more commercial buildings. Even though commercial buildings are important I think that we should also build more parks. In China, we went for a morning run at the park near the hotel, we also went to the West Lake and viewed the flora and fauna there. I felt that this was also a way to preserve the national environment as in the lake an entire eco-system exists, and the plants and trees provide oxygen in exchange of carbon dioxide which aids the preservation of the natural environment. Moreover the park can also become a tourist attraction for them to view the scenery at the park; killing two birds with one stone. Thus, I feel that building more parks in Singapore will help to preserve Singapore’s natural environment in the face of urbanisation.

 

In conclusion, I think that we should implement China’s method of providing bicycles to the public at a low cost as well as building more parks in Singapore to preserve the natural environment.