10/01/11 Exhibition – Primary one at the esplanade
Discuss one photo in depth
Who did I think of?
The exhibition showed babies sitting on tables holding ticks and crosses. Each baby faced a different direction. I realized this is much like the world of ours we live in. I interpret the ticks and crosses represent agreeing and disagreeing on certain matters. Furthermore, the babies faced different directions implied they have different views and opinions.
The exhibit shows me another point. The babies are taught and influenced by their parents’ views on matters they perceive which may either be right and wrong. However what their parents are teaching them is based on their own personal reasons, opinions and experiences in which might not be the morally correct way in the eyes of the society. Hence, the babies grow up forming a value system of what is right and wrong based on their parents’ teachings and opinions. However, these may not be morally correct. For example, their parents could be discriminating against a particular race or religion which may not be true.
From afar, the faces of the babies seemed expressionless. However, on closer look, I and it was difficult to read what they were thinking of.
This gives us the option of interpreting in the way we like without a right and wrong judgement or opinion. It also says that the babies are firm in what they stand for. They are also ready to fight for what they believe in by holding the ticks and crosses. Much like that of our society, when we strongly believe that something is important or meaningful to us, we stand firmly by our decision and it is practically written across our faces or it is what we are holding straight in peoples faces.
When I looked closer at the babies’ faces, I noticed that they were all similar and sad.
The fact that the babies were on placed on different levels shows that in our society’s terms, it could be interpreted in several ways. Employers of foreign workers often ill-treat them. They are paid megre wages and housed in crammed living conditions. They have the power to affect these workers’ lives. Therefore, they impose their conditions and the other party would just have to accept it as a status quo as they do not want to lose their jobs and be sent home to their respective countries. Their rights are often in not by the employers. Hence, the employer’s opinion is more important than the employee’s even though it may not be right.
The babies were all naked. I feel that they do not have any secrets to hide but they are firm in their stand by holding a cross or tick based on their preference. Being babies, they are innocent and very new to the world therefore they tell the naked truth.
General overview: images that was memorable
To be honest, to me the most memorable images were in the video exhibit in primary one. The most memorable images in the video were actually the subtitles to what the lady was communicating to her baby through baby sign. The words reminded me that I do not live in my own world but that there are actually which I should be more aware of and not take for granted. This made me feel like I was in primary one again, thus the exhibit’s name. The name suggests that I am moving to a higher level of education if you see it by the Singapore system of education which is from kindergarten to primary one.
The words in the video were most memorable as it made me think deeper into that particular subject. I learnt to accept that violence, crime and atrocities have become part of our daily lives. It is just whether we choose to accept it or not. I would like to accept all of the words present in the video as the world we live in is an imperfect world and we need to deal with the facts to be able to help the victims and make the world a better place. What struck me the most were discrimination and child abuse.
Discrimination plays a big part in today’s society. For example, Singapore despite being a multi-racial nation which accepts everyone regardless of race, language or religion, discrimination still exists against foreign workers. Can we correct it by educating people? The answer for me is a resounding “yes”. Just imagine if one day, all foreign workers decide they had enough of the poor living conditions, long hours of manual labour and decide to return to their home countries. Who then is going to look after the children and domestic chores? Our daily lives would be turned upside down! Many projects and jobs that depend on foreign labour will be stalled and uncompleted. The question that ponders my mind is why do we do it? In my opinion, I think it is because the older generations have taught us to be this way therefore we are.
Child abuse is also an imperfection that our world has. Mostly it is parents that are drunk and violent who are the causes of child abuse. To me, to hear that a parent can actually cause such hurt to their own flesh and blood truly stuns me. Another form of child abuse is when an adult who a child trusts takes advantage. The adult becomes over friendly and betrays the trust of the child. Many cases of statutory rape and molestation of minors have been reported over the years.
Overall, the exhibition seems like a reminder for everyone. It re-opens our eyes to pressing and urgent issues of the world. This exhibition had a variation of exhibits which touched on different issues. For example, the exhibits of vandalised desks were that of what a student understands of a specific topic taught in class. Another example is the culture cake. As unusual as it may look, it has an odd beauty about it. Looking deeper into it, we can see that this cake represents a lot of things. It can represent a united country with different cultures living in harmony. However, we can also see it as weird creation as it does not compliment each other much like that of a broken society. Primary one is about learning new things or adding to our knowledge and I feel that this exhibition has really achieved that. I really look forward to going to such exhibits.
Write a letter to a person in a photo
What I want to ask the person.
Dear babies,
Why do you have such sad faces? Why are all of you not facing each other? Are you divided as a group? Why are some of you on higher levels compared to others?
Sometimes, I think I know how you feel. You feel like the whole world is not listening to you and others’ opinions matter more than yours. Your opinion might not even be considered as part of the final decision and that’s why others like you face different directions because they will stand for what they believe in even though they were let down.
Why is it that you are holding a cross and others a tick? Are you insisting that you are against the issue that is being discussed? Why are you facing a different direction? None of you are facing each other is it because you cannot see eye to eye? How would you know what is right and wrong?
Does holding either a cross or tick help? I do not think so. I feel that if others have the same interest with you and you work together and face the same direction, communicate and interact to overcome differences. So, instead of having a tick and a cross, why not have a discussion to learn to accept differences of opinion and understand.
Once you set the differences aside, society can co-exist peacefully.
What I want to keep from this experience
What I found interesting
Generation in science – icons that are visual. Seeing signs
What I want to keep from this experience is expecting the unexpected. Then processing it and looking into it instead of avoiding it because it may surprise me and teach me more that I should know.
I found the exhibition very interesting as it is not your typical exhibition. A typical exhibition such as the recent Pompeii exhibition depicted how a natural disaster claimed the lives of many innocent people.
The exhibition of Pompeii was all about the people, their way of life, their culture, commerce, architecture, etc. It was brought to life through artefacts, videos and texts.
However, at the primary one exhibition, it was about exploring and educating us about different topics within today’s context. It explored subjects such as global warming, terrorist attacks, humanitarian disasters and the relief operations, just to name a few. Its exhibits were paintings, videos, and even everyday items such as tables and chairs. These exhibits unlike the Pompeii exhibits were for us to interpret it the way we would like to, it is our opinion that matters. In the Pompeii exhibit, it was rather fixed information given to us but it is based on the information that we can interpret. However, I am not saying that one exhibition is better than the other, but I am saying that both exhibitions are equally good and that is what I find interesting.
Being in a generation where it is very technologically advanced, I feel that the age that I live in depends on a lot of icons that are visual and we take the other icons that are non-visual for granted. I feel that the icons that are visual have importance to those who can see them but they are not very effective when those who are blind cannot.
Primary one was about learning and education while the Pompeii exhibition was all about rediscovering how people lived.
-education in Singapore
Education in Singapore is the second most spent on by the government because Singapore has no natural resources which are physical. Such physical natural resources are minerals, land space and agriculture. So the only natural resources we have left are people.
We need to be educated well enough so that our country can survive and thrive on. So being educated in Singapore is crucial. The government stresses on this fact by giving us the best education resources and tries to encourage the student population to do well by putting up rewards such as the edusave rewards, MOE scholarships etc. especially towards the financially assisted families.
- Education vs. Singapore
Personally, I feel that education versus Singapore is a very crucial factor that might affect Singapore’s ability to survive.
If the students in Singapore feel that there is no point in doing well in school because they feel that there is no point in doing so, this will affect the whole student population and in turn affect Singapore’s future economy.
Without education that Singapore has provided us with, I feel that we would not be one of the richest countries in the world today.
-ideals vs. reality
According to the dictionary, ideals mean without fault, perfect, or the best possible. According to the dictionary, reality means the state of things as they are, rather than they are imagined to be.
An ideal is the perfect state of Utopia. A reality is the total opposite where there is imperfection.
- Globalisation vs. nationalism
According to the dictionary, globalisation means the increase of trade around the world, especially by large companies producing and trading goods in many different countries. OR when available goods and services, or social and cultural influences, gradually become similar in all parts of the world. According to the dictionary, nationalism means the desire for and the attempt to achieve political independence for your country or nation. OR a great or too great love of your own country.
Nationalism is the pride in one country and achievements. Globalisation is international trading in terms of goods.
- As a student what does education in sg mean to me?
Being educated as a student in Singapore is a privilege. I feel that the government has done well in providing and ensuring that we have state of the art education and are on top of things.
I feel that by making students learn a second language, it puts us in a very good advantage should we need to use it in the future. Therefore, the Ministry of Education encourages students to learn their mother tongue well by creating alternate ways to teach mother tongue languages such that it is not very textbook based and the students feel bored. For example, some schools in Singapore have started teaching classes through the Nintendo Wii and the latest ipad to stimulate interest in the students
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