Chingay Parade Reflection (Zhang Yue 22)

这次的经验对我来说很新鲜、有趣。当我第一次听到“妆艺大游行”时，我的印象里“游行”这两个字多数是负面的，例如我们经常在新闻上看到的示威游行等，但事实上，这个游行是一个喜庆的、庆祝新年的活动。 表演里包括了新加坡的多元种族文化、中西文化的融合、本土文化等等，我们目睹了新加坡不同的种族，以个别方式展现他们的风采，不同设计的花车代表了不同的种族特色，各有风味、多姿多彩。而传统的华族舞蹈和优雅的天鹅湖芭蕾舞，也展现了中西文化的完美融合。另外，充满节奏感的印度舞蹈、柔和的马来舞蹈，还有许多许多令人眼花缭乱、目不暇接的舞蹈表演都充分地体现了新加坡的多元特色。 表演上还有放鞭炮、放烟花、舞龙舞狮等等的表演，为这个妆艺大游行增添了不少热闹的气氛。 总而言之，这次的妆艺大游行通过艺术表演和新年的庆祝展现了新加坡独有的文化，让我大开眼界。今年的主题“布海同心”和百纳被的制作过程，反映了不同种族、背景的新加坡人共同努力，携手共进，一起创造更美好繁荣的新加坡的精神，就好像不同颜色的布被缝在一起，做成一个百纳被。

CNY reflection (Zarek)

Color

I think that the color that best represents Chinese new year is red. This is because it represents good fortune and joy. Moreover, it also symbolizes good luck. Back in the ancient time, red as well as loud noise was used to chase away the creature 年(nian) . Hence I feel that red best symbolizes chinese new year.

Symbol

I think that the best symbol that represents chinese new year is the word 福. This is because this chinese word means good fortune. Moreover, when it is placed upside down, it means that good fortune has arrived (at the house). [福到了!]

Picture

 I think that one good picture that represents chinese new year is the lion dance. This is because the lion dance is always performed during Chinese new year and the meaning behind it is to usher in new good luck and fortune into the household. Also, the lion dance wards off bad spirits and is an auspicious thing. It also celebrates the arrival of a new year in the Chinese culture.

The 1 lesson I learnt so far(Zarek)

Personally , i think that throughout the duration of this cid module, i have learnt that we should not judge a book by its cover. For example, during one lesson, we were taught using pictures that sometimes, even women and children would deceive and lie and cheat just for money. And in another picture, there was a man who wasn't lying and was actually crippled. Also, i learnt about many diverse cultures around the world. Our teacher also shared with us personal experiences from her biking trip! It was really nice to listen to all her experiences, and i even learnt more about the topic after hearing it. Finally, i understood the plight of foreign workers here in singapore. I understand what cramp quarters they are forced to live in and the unhygienic atmosphere around them. 

Holiday reflection (Zarek)

During the holidays, i went on a cruise with my family and some family friends. We boarded a ship and spent 4 days and 3 nights on it. I think that amount of time was quite enough as if it was more, i think i would have been really bored. This is because although the ship was very big, there wasn't very much you could do. On the first day, we explored the ship. It was 11 stories tall. There were quite some activities like rock climbing and swimming. However, the water in the swimming pool was unnaturally salty, and i think it was sea water. The ship also had a big theatre and an ice skating rink. Many performances were held in this places. The ship management would always bring in a actor to perform for us. At night, these theaters would screen different movies, like man of steel and smurfs 2. The arcade there was also very outdated.I also spent a huge margin of my time in school for my cca. That was quite worth it as it was quite fun. As it was holidays with not many tournaments coming up, we had team building exercises and fun warm-ups. It was much better than the usual set of exercises we did. Also, our teacher in charge told us a new coach would be coming to teach us,and we were quite excited. Also, we got to play practice matches, something we could hardly do previously. It was really fun and i enjoyed myself.

CNY

This picture depicts red lanterns. It gives me a sense of reunion and celebration and hence, to me, that feels like Chinese New Year.

This color is red and red to all chinese represents Chinese New Year.

This is an inverted “福”. To all Chinese, it means that good luck is coming your way.

20/1/14: one lesson learnt so far, what represents my Chinese New Year

I have learnt alot about the people in our society. There was so much I never knew about the world around me. I still have a long way to go and lots of new things I have yet to experience.For example, I realized how bonded my CCA actually was and how the people around me were.  One of the valuable lessons I learnt was about the poverty of others. We were taught to put ourselves in the shoes of those foreign workers and felt their plight. It was a truly sad experience to have known what the foreign workers were actually going through. They had to live in such unfurnished apartments which made them exposed easily to sicknesses. I feel really sorry for them and I would definitely donate to them if I had the chance. I was really excited for the new year. A color i would choose would be orange. It represents joy and togetherness which brings out my feelings of this festival. Chinese New Year is an event in which everyone would dress up from head to toe and go out to visit our relatives, thus making it a fun experience. A symbol I would choose is the horse. This year is the "Year Of The Horse", therefore I would choose a horse to represent it. A picture I chose would definitely be a picture of Ang Paos. Every new year, everyone would definitely feel excited upon receiving ang paos right? Your heart skips a beat whenever that bright red colored packet filled with cash is placed on your palms. Your mind would race thinking about all those stuff you can buy with this load of money. Thus, I would choose a picture of a red packet. 

Sheryl

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Zhang Yue (21) blog post on Chinese New Year

Select one colour, one symbol, and one image to describe your feelings, thoughts or experience of the upcoming Chinese New Year.

对我来说，最能代表新年的颜色是橙色。橙色是由代表喜庆欢乐的红色，以及象征快乐活泼的黄色所调出来的，因此我认为它十分适合新年，这个华人最重视、最热闹也最喜庆的节日。新年象征着抛却旧的一年的烦恼、霉运和不快乐，迎接崭新的一年。大家在新年时都会穿上喜庆颜色的衣服、聚在一起吃团圆饭、向对方拜年，分享喜悦，可以看出这是个非常快乐、值得好好欢庆的节日。新年时，我们也常常看到小一辈拿着两个橘柑，向长辈拜年，接受在新年的祝福，因此橙色也成了新年不可少的颜色之一。

我认为最能代表新年的符号是中国结的符号。中国结的艺术是中国传统文化的代表之一，体现了真、善、美的和谐统一，是民间传达祝愿的吉祥符号。我们经常看到新年期间家家户户把一些红色的中国结装饰挂在家里，象征了吉祥和喜庆。很多种中国结都各自有着祝福的含义，甚至可以把不同的结联合在一起，组成一句祝福语。如用“吉字结”、“馨结”、“鱼结”，结合就成为“吉庆有余”的结饰品，以“蝙蝠结”加上“金钱结”，可组成“福在眼前”等。还有“长寿安康”、“财物丰盛”、“团圆美满”、“幸福吉祥”、“喜庆欢乐”等祈福的内涵，因此中国结被作为民间祝祷的符号，成为世代相传的吉祥饰物。所以我认为，中国结在新年这个祈求祝福和好运的时候是不可或缺的，无论是挂在家里做喜庆吉祥的装饰，或送给亲朋好友代表衷心的祝福，它都是一个十分能代表新年气氛的符号。

我认为最能代表我对新年的看法的图片是舞龙舞狮的图片。
在中国民俗传统里，舞狮可以驱邪辟鬼，是祥瑞之兽，所以每逢喜庆节日，如新年和春节时，他们都喜欢打锣打鼓，舞狮助庆，希望能带来好运，同时也为新的一年祈求吉利。而龙在中华民族里代表了吉祥、尊贵、勇猛和权力，所以人们在喜庆的日子里，用舞龙来祈祷龙的保佑，以求得风调雨顺，五谷丰登。舞龙舞狮已经成为了新年必看的节目，看着栩栩如生的大狮子和威武的神兽欢腾跳跃，辗转腾挪，为节日平添了许多喜庆和热闹，也成了我心目中最能代表新年的画面。