On Term 1 Week 10, I went to 3 different places- Masjid Sultan & Madrasah Aljunied, Little India and Kampong Glam. This journey had deepened my knowledge with other religion culture and had cleared some doubts I had experienced before this EnC week.
“Experiencing another’s culture may open doors that were previously closed...but the choice to walk through those doors is entirely up to you”
The most impactful lesson
The most impactful lesson was probably the first time I walked into the Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah. I still remembered that there were many boys wearing their uniform, standing and singing a Malay song. Initially, I thought that there would only be 1 song, but I was wrong. The boys consecutively sang for 3 or 4 songs which lasted for a good 3 to 4 minutes per song. After walking around the boys, I realised there were also girls at the back of the boys singing together with the boys. The girls were also wearing the classic attire with the hijab on their head. The songs they sang were definitely loud to be heard. I initially thought of these songs as their school songs as they were standing in front of the principal and most were standing straightly singing the song in pride in the morning. I had many questions such as wondering what songs were they singing, why were they singing the songs and do they not feel tired standing for so long. To get my doubts answered, I asked one of the teachers there and they said that the songs were part of their prayers and that they had to sing the songs daily without fail in front of the principal. This made me realise they were very respectful of their own religion as they followed their daily procedure without fail although standing up for a long period of time will be very tiring with an addition to their head to toe uniform to add on and this made me very respectful of them. Compared to me, I frequently complain about the hot weather Singapore has to offer and my uniform but I am still not wearing the full-body attire the girls have to wear to school and standing so long. This makes me very ashamed of myself for grudging about everything when someone out there was experiencing tougher conditions than me.
Main objective
• To expose and learn about the different cultures and practises of other races.
During my learning journey, I learnt about the Malay and Indians are common in the generous use of spices such as Garlic, Coconut, Cinnamon Dried Chili to flavour their food. The Malay cuisines are also influenced by other cultures such as the use of soy sauce in the Malay dish, Daging Masak Kicap (Soy Sauce Beef).
Dried Chili
My visit to the Masjid Sultan had also deepened my knowledge about the customs and beliefs of the Muslims. By visiting the Masjid Sultan Mosque, I learnt that the Muslims believed in everyone having a chance of contributing to the society -the rich contribute gold for the two gold painted domes while the poor contribute glass bottles for the black ring at the base of the dome. Women were also treated equally such as in a mental relationship, women have the rights to retain her last name and any money that she earns belong to her alone.
I feel very guilty because I initially had thought that the minority races are very inclusive. However, they were actually the opposite by the shows of different religions were accepting to each other such as the usage of soy sauce in a Malay dish. They also try to make people feel included by not leaving the poor out and letting everyone have a chance in contributing.
Improvement for the programme
I felt that the trip to Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple could be improved. On that day, we had to walk about 15 minutes there in the blazing hot sun with only occasional stops and some stops were not even in the shade. I had to walk quickly and it was almost impossible to take photos. On arrival, vague instructions were given and around one-third of the class did not enter due to religious restrictions. We were only given around 6 minutes to explore the temple when the visiting hour ended. The whole procedure was very frustrating because of the limited time, long tedious journey and I were sweating profusely. I feel that there could be better time management or if the journey is really impossible to complete, I suggest that the trip to Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple could be cancelled and other nearer sites could be chosen to replace it.
Conclusion
As a student in River Valley High School, the chances of interacting with other races students are extremely low, resulting in our weak knowledge of other races culture and misunderstanding can occur very frequently. Fortunately, with this learning journey trip, I get to be exposed to their culture and differences and managed to clear my doubts. Although I was very reluctant to go on this learning journey, I kept an open mind so that I could learn something instead of wasting my time there.
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