As part of our National Education programme, we had organized a Chinatown Heritage Tour on Tuesday, 30 January 2007 from 8:15 am – 12:30 pm to help our P6 pupils to enrich his or her personal experience while enjoying the sights and knowledge of Chinatown. We hope this tour would motivate our pupils to learn more about our national treasure found here. It is important for our younger generations to grow up knowing these special historical facts of our past as they will grow to become the future leaders for our country.
Till today, Chinatown remains as a place of interest for Chinese and tourists alike, especially during Chinese New Year. Pupils visited different communities in Chinatown. They would be able to understand the multi-racial tolerance and harmony among our major ethnic groups in Singapore.
Trained STB facilitators guided the pupils in the tour. Worksheets were provided for them to enhance their learning.
Here are some of our pupils’ reflections:
Md Syaquille Tan of P6/2: It was the greatest excursion we got to Chinatown in a chartered bus. While we were in the bus, well, I could say that we made quite a lot of noise. Also on our way there, the guide explained to us some facts about Chinatown and its history.
When we arrived at Telok Ayer Street in Chinatown, we got off the bus and divided the class into three groups. Rafie, Bernard and I were the only boys in the group. And what’s worse is that there were 7 girls in my group!! But hey! It wasn't so bad. I’ll tell you why later.
After we had been placed in groups, we went into a temple. The guide wanted us to identify the gender of the lions and why they are at the entrance. After that, she gave us some questions to figure out. I won most of the points for my group only at that part of the temple. There we learned many historic tales of the Chinese and the temples.
After the visit to the temple, we went to the URA building (Urban Redevelopment Authorities) and found out future developments and other interesting facts.
It was quite a “suffering” to leave the URA because it has so many small models that are cool. In the end, I left the URA and headed for the shop-houses for our treasure hunt.
It was the most chaotic part of the excursion. We rushed against time to search for names of shops, facts and addresses.
After the scores were calculated, the guide announced that our group won!! I was flabbergasted. Well, being the only three boys in the group wasn’t so bad after all. I was glad that my group won. We collected our prizes and were lead to the bus. We waved goodbye to our guide and took a bus home.
When we arrived in school, we all were exhausted but the great thing was we learned more about the Chinese culture.
Cheryl Goh Xue Qing of P6/6: I am very happy with the visit that was well organized and informative. I also find the worksheets very enriching. It helped me gained more knowledge and helped me to understand better. We went to Chinatown to understand and appreciate the rich cultural and historical heritage of our people and to share a common bond which will hold our society together as a people and as a nation. I had also learnt more about the Malay, Indian and Chinese cultures and traditions. The tour was not only fascinating and interesting, but was also impressive. It was truly a fruitful trip for me. I hope that I could go to Chinatown or a learning journey trip again.
Nathaniel Gan Jia Wei P6/7: I learnt that Singapore is capable of keeping old buildings and I also learnt that Chinatown is in fact a multi-racial district. I like the sweets that they sell too.
Nazia P6/8: How our forefathers used to live…
