Chia Shang Rong (6) SL reflection

Our class did two activities for the service learning project this year. The first one is a flag day activity, where we went around Singapore asking for donations for All saints home, the beneficiaries of this project. It was fun and enriching, as we learnt that many Singaporeans are very gracious towards the senior citizens in our community. After our tins were nearly filled to the brim, we headed back to the home, feeling jubilant and satisfied after having served our community and the senior citizens. This project was very successful, except that the attendance was horrible and it could have been improved by picking another day when more people are available.  

For the second activity, we went to all saints home and put up a performance for them. The performance showcased the many talents in our class. The performances put  up were very diverse, from a guitar performance by the china scholars, the flute by the Chinese orchestra and the kompang (malay drums) performance by the Malays in our class. The senior citizens were very elated by our performances as they were seen clapping along and had a wide grin on their faces. We ended the performance with the entire class on stage singing along to songs. While singing, the class bonded together and we built up the class spirit. Finally, we gave the senior citizens some daily necessities and got to know more about their lives. We then received praises from our form teachers and took a class photo. I think that this could have been improved by extending the duration of the performance and having more people perform as the performance ended very quickly.

Joel Lee (14) SL reflection

For our Service Learning project, we helped out in the All Saints Home. This was separated into two parts. Firstly, we helped them raise money through the Flag Day. As I had never went around with a donation tin before, it was a new experience for me. It was very hot and humid that day at Geylang Serai Market where I collected donations but it was a great experience not only collecting donations for the elderly but also interacting with the people.

Our second part was harder. We had to perform in front of the elderly. It took a lot of planning and in the end we had many varied performances. There was a guitar performance by our Chinese scholars. The Malays did a kompang performance. Wei Xuan and Royston, from CO played the Chinese flute and lastly the whole class came together to sing for the elderly. After that we passed out gifts for the elderly. The smiles on their faces were apparent.

I had done many other Service Projects before in my church and although we didn’t interact much with the elderly for this project, it was really great to be able to entertain them. The All Saints Home has plenty of volunteers, what difference would we make? While this project benefits the elderly, it benefits us much more. We learned how to lend a helping hand to those in need. We learn that we its not our impact on them that matters, it’s the very act of helping them that makes the difference..

Enoch Chong SL reflection

After the service learning project we did, i felt that some of the aspects that were well done were our cooperation and teamwork. We worked together as a class to accomplish a good performance. If there were to be a next time our school decided to hold another service learning project, i would have a few changes to our performance. This time, we performed only a few performances so if there will be a next tine, we would add more items in the performances to entertain the old folks. Also we can be given more time to prepare for the performances and practice till perfect before performing for the old folks as we do not want to disappoint them. Another thing we could have done was to have more interaction with the old folks, for example play a game of chess with them or just talk to them. After this project, here are some of the feedback we got from various departments. The old folks home told us that they were really glad that we could entertain those old folks and told us that the old folks had a lot of fun singing and clapping along with us. Our teachers also told us that we did fairly well although improvements can be made. This project taught me something, is that the elderly and maybe even other people out there needs our help so we, the fortunate one, should do something to help them and not just let them die. Next time if we were to do this project again, i would suggest doing charity donations as we can help a larger group of people.

Zhang Jia Jun SL reflection

On 27/6, we went to the All Saints Home to show the old folks what Victorians stands for by coming up with an hour’s performance that took us weeks of practice. As an emcee, my job was simple enough: 1)write a script. 2)go on stage and show yourself.

I felt that I could have done a better job (after all there are always rooms for improvement), such as come up with a more alluring speech and perhaps could have rehearsed so that I would not stumble on my words.

The old folks seemed to have enjoyed themselves very well (one of them actually clapped along). If the old folks had been ‘younger’, I bet they would have showed much emotion on their faces, as they knew that they were not forgotten by the society. If there is another opportunity to go to a old folks home, I would want to try to perform something so that I could actually feel what I had done benefited the elderly.

Overall, I would say it was a job well done!

Mohammed Faiq (19) SL reflection

 A few weeks back, we did a Service Learning project at the All Saint’s Home. It required students to perform in front of the old folks and entertain them and also give them supplies. There were certain aspects of it which I thought was well done.

   I felt that there were enough performances and acts to make the overall stay long enough and that the students put in a lot of effort to practice their acts. Thirdly, I believed that the event was well organized and there were different types of performances that entertained them. For example, our acts ranged from singing to playing instruments.

   If I were given another chance to visit them, I would like to take the time to interact with the old folks and just sit around with them. Alternatively, we could also cook food for them and get them involved in simple activities like simple games.

   The feedback received from the community showed that they were happy that we took time to entertain them. The teachers also felt that we put in effort to perform and other people were also glad to give back to society in one way or another.

   I’ve learned through this project that there are members of the community who need our help and it is our job as able-bodied citizens to help them. The next time, I hope we can do something else like do a beach clean-up or spend a day opening a car wash, and all money earned from the car wash would be given to the Red Cross or another non-profit organization. This way, I believe the students would enjoy what they do and hence perform the task more willingly. I hope we can do a car-wash or a beach clean-up the next time

  

Benton Yick (36) SL reflection

For the service learning project, our class decided on the idea of going to the All Saints Home to perform for the elderly. Overall it was a success as we managed to cheer the elderly up relatively well and bond as a class. There was adequate preparation done before hand and hence the performances put up were spectacular and displayed the talents in our class. For instance, Wei Xuan blew the minds of the elderly with a melodious tune played by him. His fingers running across the flute deftly proved his expertise and dedication put in. At the end, our class sang two songs for the elderly and it showed our class spirit. Hopefully we would be able to maintain such a strong bond all the way till next year when we sit for o levels together. If we had a chance to do the service learning project again, I think we should include other performances such as simple skits so that more people can be involved and more people can understand the joy of making others happy. I also hope that there would be more interaction time with the elderly personally as I would like to get to know more about them and how do they find life in the home. I think it is very interesting to find out how they feel as we never know one day we may end up in a home too. I like to observe life and they way people react to things. Anyway, the feedback or response gathered was that the elderly were mostly happy and satisfied with the performances as well as the gifts we gave out. The heart felt thanks I received when giving out the gift pack touched me emotionally. I could tell the old woman was not English speaking but she thanked me in English. Her frail, weak hands stretched out to receive the gift pack. I wished I could give her some life through some strange osmosis at that very instant. I have learnt several valuable lessons through this trip, though I have already made trips to old folks homes in primary school. Apart from helping others and caring for the needy in the society, I have came to realize that happiness can be shared and spread to others. It may be a smile, a gift, or a performance, but whether the old folks truly understand what we sing, or appreciate what we perform, as long as they feel happy, we have truly done our part in service learning. I hope people see doing charity as something meaningful and not so much of a burden. All in all, this service learning project is a success and I look forward to doing more with the class in the future.

Joel Casey ( 10 ) SL reflection

Our class Service Learning Project was to hold a performance at the All Saint's Home for the elderlies there. Well, our class spent quite some time before finalizing this to be our SLP but in the end, it did turn out rather well. Having spent much time preparing and rehersing our items, our hard work sure did pay off. The Malay boys performed by playing the Kompang, the Chinese Orchestra boys blew the flutes, some boys played the piano, our scholars played the guitar and finally, our class did the mass singing performace and all of them was spectacular ! The elderlies were totally imersed with the perfomance and many of them were impressed. Though the performance wasn't very long, I felt that we did the best we could in that short limited time frame and we are all very proud of it ! The teachers were too impressed and happy with it ! I hope that we could do such an activity again, perhaps not at the same place but somewhere else so that we can share and spread the care and love to the less-fortunate, allowing them to feel that they are not neglected by the society.

Muhammad Ariff (20) SL reflection

SL Reflection

Our class service learning was done at the All Saints’ Home in Tampines, where we performed and entertained the old folks there. We had spent a lot of time training and thinking of a suitable performance that could entertain and excite the old folks, to maybe add some colour to their lives. After much deliberation, my group and I decided to have a performance where we would play the kompang, a Malay traditional instrument that is made of wood and lamb’s skin. We already had the basics as we were part of the Malay Cultural Society, and we were confident of delivering a successful performance.

On the actual day, I feel that we managed to deliver a creditable performance, although we were capable of doing much better. Nevertheless, after our performance, the class made a spontaneous decision to go up together during the singing performance, where we sang songs such as ‘Payphone’ and ‘Fall for You’. I felt that we displayed great class spirit when singing the song, as seen by our loud singing and putting our arms around each other. However, we could have sung a song that the old folks would be familiar with, so that they could sing along. Our project was quite well organized and prepared, and we didn’t really have many problems on the actual performance day. The audience seemed quite happy and they appreciated our presence, while our teachers in charge claimed that it was a job well done and were impressed with the class spirit and performances. I learnt that we should always be grateful of the privileges that we have as there are many people out there who would love to be in our situation. When we are unwell, we always have someone to take care of us, but they have to be sent to a home to be taken care of. Next time, I think we can teach primary school kids and provide them with tuition so that we can ensure that our contribution to the community does not just cover the elderly, but also the young.

Loh Zhi Hao SL reflection

After the service learning, I experienced and learned many new things. I learned to appreciate my life more. I realize I take things I have for granted for example some of the elderly come from broken families, whereas I have a perfect one. Singing for the elderly has been a very wonderful experience. Looking at their happy faces as they watched our performance makes me feel that all the time I have spent to prepare for that moment have been all worth it. Through this experience, it has also taught me to be more appreciative of what I have and not take things for granted. I am very happy to be able to do my part for society by performing for the old folks and if they are similar opportunities in the future, I would definitely go for it too!

Xue Bin SL reflection

This is the time where we went to All Saints Home and performed for the elderly there. It was a pretty new experience for me as it was the first time that I performed for a group of elderly. I was quite nervous as we did not have much practice before it and we don’t really know if they had enjoyed the song we selected. On the day itself, everyone was nervous yet excited as after the performance, it will be the end of the SLP. Everyone put in their best during the performance and after that we gave the elderly a small goodie bag each, packed by the Malay students. It was a rather new experience for me as I have never went to an old folks home and performed for them before, I think next time, I will be better if we just do something else except for performing, I got stage frght!

Qi Jin (25) SL Reflection

Last month I experienced my first Community service in Singapore. For a scholar who came from China and has rarely got such an opportunity, I did my best and helped the class to put up an excellent show for the old folks in the All Saints Home.

Generally speaking the project was well done. There are various programs covering a large spectrum including a lot of different music performances. I think next time we will try to make the programs even better by spending more time on them.

It is not only the unique experience that excited me, but also the knowledge that I gain from it. It’s not something that solid like science or language, but more intellectual, deeper in heart. Some says that next time we shouldn’t add so much “art” flavor since the old folks are either too silly to comprehend, or too noisy to keep the program going. But I reject this. Yes,they didn’t clapped their hands, Yes, they didn’t show their patience.However, deep in their soul, they can feel it, they will enjoy it------and isn’t that make all the point which make us standing in front of them?

Life is precious. And somehow, you can increase its value by helping others to enjoy their lives better. The project benefits me a lot. From the preparing stage, I learnt how to collaborate and plan and design and so on. By putting our work up stage, I learnt how to empathize, how to make a conversation that can never translated Into language, but something more.

By: Qi Jin

Ong Wei Yao (24) SL Reflection

 For my service learning project, my class and I collected money for flag day. That day, was a hot day. And after 3 hours of collecting money in a wet market, my back drenched in sweat, I felt that I had collected a huge amount of money as my tin was extremely heavy. I felt a sense of achievement as I did my part for the community to collect money for the elderly and it was a 3hours well spent.

  For the next part of our service learning project, we went to the all saint old folks home to do some performances for them. After much practise in the June holidays, we arrived at the home. When I entered the hall, the first thing that i noticed was 2 lines of elderly sitting in their wheelchair. After seeing this, I was determined to put on a good show for them! The first to perform was the guitar playing which was played by my class china scholars. Next, was piano playing and after was the playing of the Chinese flute by our very own CO guys. Finally, it was my time to shine, accompanied with my entire class. It was then we realise we didn’t have the media equipment to play our song. But to our aid was my classmate’s phone which saved the day and we managed to sing our first song, payphone, with ease. Lastly, we sang our final song, Fall for you, we sang our hearts out. After that, it was the end of our performance and we gave each elderly a goodie bag containing snacks for them to enjoy. This service learning project was indeed a success!

By: Wei Yao

Andronicus Tan (38) SL Reflection

Some aspects of the Service Learning project which I personally felt was well done was the packaging of gifts, the performances, the class teamwork, as well as volunteering ourselves for Flag Day. During the Flag Day, our class managed to raise lots of money for the home. The gifts were filled with things that the elderly of the All Saints Home wouldn’t normally receive and being presented such gifts cheered their spirits. The class performances were original and well-rehearsed, although the finale as an impromptu for the whole class to sing together, showing our class spirit. If we were to repeat our Service Learning again in the future, I feel that we should have longer preparation time and include more performances as a variety. Considering how much we did, it was quite surprising to receive very positive feedback from the staff and the elderly at old folks’ home. The elderly were especially pleased with the items we put up, and the joy on their faces made me feel that I’ve done a good deed to society.

One thing I have learnt from this Service Learning project is that there are others who may not be as fortunate and privileged as us, and we as the current generation ought to be grateful and not take things for granted. As young adolescents, we may find it hard to communicate with our family members, especially our parents. However, as much as we may dislike our parents, they are the ones who raised us up and pampered us with modern-day privileges. Seeing that old folks in the home led me to realize, do we want our parents to end up like them? Abandoned by their loved ones and being treated as a hindrance to their children? We should not take such seemingly minor things for granted, as we may never know when our parents will still be around. Hence it is best to cherish everything we have; our family, friends, housing, clothing and money.  

Personally, I think that in the future, we should expand and serve on wider scale. Doing something that would have a more direct impact onto the community would also enable us to learn and gain new knowledge and experiences, broadening our minds and visions. 

Lee Chuan (3) SL reflection

As part of our CIP Service Learning project, our class went to a residential nursing home, All Saints Home, to perform and entertain the elderly there. Everyone participated with enthusiasm during the performance after having practicing during the June holdays. Some of the examples include a guitar trio, malay drums. As for me, I participated in the last item - the singing performance. As the rest of the class went onto the stage to sing, I played the piano which accompanied together with the audio track.

From this servivce learning project, I learnt the importance of giving back to society. As members of the community, we have a responsibility to help the elderly population who once did the same. Also from this, our class was able to bond and work together, working in groups and meeting up during the holidays in order to make this performance a success. We managed to overcome obstacles together - when we realised we needed to find a proper audio track for the singing performance, we had to ask around and eventually found a suitible track. Overall, I felt the SL experience was a great and memorial one although it could have been better if we met up more during the holidays to practice the item to ensure our performance was more prepared.

Hao Jen (13) SL reflection

This service learning experience has truly been beneficial to us as it taught us a whole lot of values and morals that apply to daily life. From this service learning we were able to understand that not all elderly were that fortunate to have children or to have filial children. This emphasized especially on the importance of filial piety and the kind hearts of volunteers who played the children’s role, taking care of them patiently and with a true heart.
During the donations, we were told we were doing this for a cause, to help the elderly to afford better care and services, simply put, to make their lives better and I think that really motivated us a lot. At the end of the day , most of all of our donation tins were either a third full or fully filled and for that we were proud of ourselves. This also taught us the importance of motivation and teamwork when collecting donations.
Before the group performance, many preparations were made by our class to rehearse and practice. Even if one of us did not have musical talents , we managed to get them to participate in the sing along session. This rehearsals and practice sessions helped improve teamwork and tighten bonds in our class at the same time. Also it displayed the many unseen talents our classmates had. For example most of us never knew Alvinn could play the piano and no one knew that Brandon could play the guitar!
In conclusion, this of course could not have been possible without the help of our class committee and Choir members who helped us so much in preparation and Administration matters, and of course our teachers who were so encouraging and helpful ! Overall the service learning had been extremely fun and engaging as it is the 1st time for most of us.
However good we may be, there should be improvements made of course. I guess as we had a alack of practice, the performance did not go too well for some, so I think more preparation need to be made in order for everything to be carried out smoothly. Also I hope the class could be more enthusiastic about the service learning activity.

By : Lam Hao Jen (13)

Tavis Lee (32) SL Reflection

The service learning project that we did was that we went to All Saints' Home where we did performances for the old folks'. There were different types of performances that we did ranging from playing the flute to playing the piano and even the Malay students playing their kompang. Each performer spent time practicing at home and we even got together in school to practice just to make sure that everything went well.

During the day of the performance, everyone put in their best effort in what they performed and the old folks' enjoyed the performances very much. It was the teamwork that made the performance a successful one and it was a fun-filled and enjoyable experience. From this service learning project, I learnt that bringing smiles to the old folks' is a joyous thing and we should serve the community. By interacting with the old folks' ,it really tells me that all they need is someone to talk to and someone to look after them. I really sympathise the old folks' as their children have brutally chose to put them there and it must have been a painful thing for them. Our parents have have bought us up from young and they are the ones that have looked after us fed us. We must always remember that we would not have existed if it weren't for our parents. We must definitely repay our parents when we grow up and learn to have filial piety.

Chew Ngee Yan (5) SL Reflection

  Our class, 3I have chosen to help out at an Old Folks' Home as part of our Service Learning Project. Our Service Learning Project consists of both Flag Day and a Performance. As I am a part of VS Choir and we had to go for a competition in Slovakia, we had to miss the Flag Day as it was compulsory to go for practice. Thus, we were assigned to do the Blog instead.
  There were several sessions of brainstorming on what to do for the performance. In the end, we decided to go with a Trio Guitar performance, Kompang (Malay Drum) performance, a Piano Solo, 2 Flute Solos and a Singing performance by almost the whole class. I was part of the Singing performance as I was part of the choir. We were supposed to meet up in the holidays for practice but we couldn't as most of us had different commitments and the Choir had to go to Slovakia and NDP Recording.
  Though I didn't spend as much time with the class on the Service Learning Project like the others, I've gained a lot from the Project. I learnt that nothing is impossible as while preparing for the performance, we met with many obstacles like what songs to sing. On the very day itself, there was a sudden change of songs and we needed the song itself as a background. Finally, we managed to get the performance going and we had a wonderful time. I am sure many others like myself were able to bond with one another ! 

By: Ngee Yan

Muhd Nuradam Shah (22) SL Reflection

As part of our service learning project, the class organised a performance for the old folks at All Saints Home (ASH). I was part of the Malay Cultural Group and we did a short performance using traditional Malay drums called Kompang.

We came to the decision to play the drums for our performance as we were already going to play the drums for our ‘Speech Day’ performance. Hence, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and play the drums for our performance. Moreover, we have an instructor to teach us how to play the drum as part of practice for the ‘Speech Day’ performance.

During the preparations phase, we met at least once a week to practice for the performance. Usually, this practice was also in conjunction with the practice for ‘Speech Day’ performance. Despite the lack of practices, I still felt that we managed to pull off a reasonable performance although I felt that we could have done better. J   I could also sense that the old folks at the home enjoyed the performance as they were seen clapping along.

Surely, after all the preparations and performances, I'm sure we must have learnt some valuable things along the way. If not, all the effort put into this service learning would just go up in smoke, right? As for me, I learnt 3 different things along the way. Firstly, I learnt to play the traditional Malay drums, Kompang. This way, I feel that I am contributing to the continuing existence of our culture in one way or another. Secondly, I learnt that serving the community is not as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, I really liked the community service by our class as we get to bring smiles to the old folk’s faces and interact with them after the performance. Thirdly, I learnt to cherish my elders and not to leave them at any old folk’s home even when I am busy due to my working life in the future. When we are young, they are the ones who took care of us, fed us, wash us etc. Now, it’s our time to repay their deeds by taking care of them when they grow old and not chuck them to one side when they need us the most.

By Muhd Nuradam Shah (22)

CIP visit to All Saints Home