Hello!

Hello guys. This is Chang Rui here, one of the Sec 2 squashers. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we can't go for the Malaysian Montage and we're stuck in Singapore. But while all of you are in Malaysia, we're also going through a Special Programme conducted in Singapore - Singapore Snapshots!
We visited places like farms, the National Museum and the Zoo, to learn about the Macro-concept of CHANGE.
For the first day, we visited Green Circle Organic Farm located at 41 Neo Tiew Road. It is an organic farm, which means that it only uses natural methods of farming (it does not use any pesticides) and is environmentally friendly. There, a lady who was the owner of the farm gave us a detailed talk about how the Earth was being harmed by inconsiderate farming practices and told us about the benefits of organic farming. She felt very strongly about conserving the environment, and constantly highlighted to us the dangers of unnatural farming practices. We then had a tour around her farm. Because the farm did not use any pesticides, we noticed that some of the crops had been damaged by insects and were not aesthetically pleasing. However, the farm owner told us that the crops were fit for consumption, as the insects only damaged the surfaces of the crops. During the tour, we learnt about many crops which we were previously unfamiliar with.
After the tour, we boarded the bus and went off to Oh Chin Huat Hydroponics Farm, a farm which used hydroponics technology (planting crops in a soiless medium, such as nutrient solution) to assist its farming. When we reached the farm we noticed how modern it looked compared to Green Circle Organic Farm. We had a tour around the farm, which helped us understand the concepts and process of hydroponics and why it was an effective farming method. At this farm, the crops were more aesthetically pleasing, as they were kept in greenhouses, away from pests. The crops were also of uniform height and quality. We were allowed to examine exotic plants like lavender, which were normally grown in temperate climates but could be grown here with the help of technology. We were also given free tea brewed from the "Seven Leaf Plant" and were lent peppermint bottles to sniff. After that, many Sec 2s bought ornamental plants and peppermint bottles from the shop at the farm.
Through our farm trip, we learnt more about change. "Change leads to progress." At the hydroponics farm, we saw that their crops were of a better quality compared to the organic farm. Many temperate crops were grown at the hydroponics farm with the help of modern technology. This showed that a change in farming methods could allow farmers to achieve more, and thus showed that change leads to progress.

On the second day, we had PT in the morning conducted by the hockers. After that, we visited the National Museum of Singapore. When we entered the museum, we were very impressed by its beautiful architecture and were amazed by the swinging chandeliers. Soon after, we visited the "Greek Masterpieces From The Louvre" gallery. There, we saw sculptures, figurines, reliefs, vases and jewellery which had been borrowed from the Louvre. In spite of feeling disturbed by the nude statues around us, we gained more knowledge about Greek civilisation at its political and artistic height in the Classical period. After that, we embarked on a tour in the Singapore History Gallery. Each of us received a PDA-like machine which could guide us through the gallery by giving us information about different exhibits. In this enjoyable tour, we walked through bridges and walkways, entered many rooms and watched shows on big screens. The interactive nature of this tour was very appealing to us, and we gained a deeper insight to Singapore's history.

On the third day, we visited the Singapore Zoo! I think that many of us were looking forward to this. At the zoo, we were given free time to explore on our own. We saw cute and interesting animals like monkeys, hippos, tigers, kangaroos and many others. After that, we assembled and went for the Behind The Scenes tour. Some of us went to the Wildlife Healthcare & Research Centre, while others visited the Central Kitchen. At the healthcare and research centre, we learnt about how the zoo treated ill or injured animals. At the post-mortem section, we also learnt about how the zoo dealt with incidents of animals dying. We saw items like sledgehammers, axes and all sorts of large knives that looked like they came out of a torture chamber, and felt rather uneased by that. We also saw disgusting tapeworms, ringworms, roundworms and other parasites which could cause death in animals. According to the students who visited the Central Kitchen, they saw things in the freezer that..the zoo may not want the public to know. Quite shocking. However, we had a lot of fun at the zoo! =)
Something we learnt about change: "Change is essential for survival." Some animals in the zoo are weak and endangered, but they can live healthily with the zoo's care. If they are left in their wild habitat, they might have died. A change in their environment has allowed them to survive. Thus change can be essential for survival.

Those were all the external activities we had! So we're doing school based activities like blogging and games now. We hope that all of you in Malaysia are having a good time, and we really wish that we could be there but we can't (see how lucky you guys are??). We'll be putting up some photos we took soon and we hope that all of you will enjoy looking through them. That's all from the squash team, and bye!