"Identity?What is that?"
"traits, preferences and memories?"
"okay...so what is this going to have any link with identity?"
"hm...placing us in a foriegn environment would probably allow us to uncover parts of our identities that we take for granted while we are in our comfort zone?"
So...after being random for four sentences...this is my group's reflection
Probably if i study overseas, the part of me that would be threatened the most would be the singaporean indentity within me. Can you imagine me not speaking singlish and not be able to take spicy food stuff? hm...i think i probably cannot..
When one study overseas, we experience a new culture and environment and once we adapt to it, one's identity would be changed. The singaporean identity within us would have been fused together with elements of the foriegn country.
yep...so that's all from group...thanks for reading this boring post "yawns"
Good night!
Wednesday 16 May 2007
"Stolen Generation" Reflection
Well, i think that it is "kind" of the whites in Australia to try to "save" the Aborigines from..proverty? However, by doing so, using brute force, they are breaking the families apart and according to an account given by an Aborginal :
" I've got everything that could be reasonably expected: a good home environment, education, stuff like that but that's all material stuff. It's all the non-material stuff that i didn't have--the lineage..."
The whites may have known about the benefit of the project, that is, allowing the Aborginal community to be able to participate in urbanisation, but "the non-material stuffs", such as loss of real identity, feeling displaced, losing lineage, being separated from the family for years, are too great sacrifices made. Why not celebrate cultural diversity, having the whites accepting the Aborginals for who they really are? All in all, looking at the project as a whole, i think that the whites are just invading into the lives of the Aborginal communty, writing laws to legalise their actions, breaking families apart forcibly, because they cannot tolerate cultural diversity.The project is clearly racist.
The beauty of life does not lie in being rich, or being part of the upper class of a superior race. For me, the beauty of life is simple. Having enough to eat, a warm and confortable shelter to cover you from the storms and blazing sun and enjoying the presence of your loved ones. So i think that the Aborginal community should be left undisturbed. The scene of the children being captured "legally" and separated from their families for good is truly disturbing.
" I've got everything that could be reasonably expected: a good home environment, education, stuff like that but that's all material stuff. It's all the non-material stuff that i didn't have--the lineage..."
The whites may have known about the benefit of the project, that is, allowing the Aborginal community to be able to participate in urbanisation, but "the non-material stuffs", such as loss of real identity, feeling displaced, losing lineage, being separated from the family for years, are too great sacrifices made. Why not celebrate cultural diversity, having the whites accepting the Aborginals for who they really are? All in all, looking at the project as a whole, i think that the whites are just invading into the lives of the Aborginal communty, writing laws to legalise their actions, breaking families apart forcibly, because they cannot tolerate cultural diversity.The project is clearly racist.
The beauty of life does not lie in being rich, or being part of the upper class of a superior race. For me, the beauty of life is simple. Having enough to eat, a warm and confortable shelter to cover you from the storms and blazing sun and enjoying the presence of your loved ones. So i think that the Aborginal community should be left undisturbed. The scene of the children being captured "legally" and separated from their families for good is truly disturbing.
Hey! Hi all(:
I'm here to do the reflection for our 2nd pre-trip session today on IDENTITY..
What our group probably found interesting was that the characteristics that made up our identity were actually those we had taken for granted.
If you are a girl.. you ought to wonder.. what if you were a guy?
If you were a guy.. you ought to wonder.. how life would be as a girl?
Apart from gender, our race and our name, things like our school and CCA can actually be part of our identity allowing others to know whether we are sports or musical-inclined for e.g.?
The purpose of the australian trip is prolly to uncover the truths about the Australians, and find out more about their identity. In that way, we would be able to understand their culture and practices better.
Identity is actually a very abstract concept that can be very unique to any one person or to a nation. And through this trip, let's hope that we can learn more about ourselves and hmm.. better cherish what makes us whoever we are(:
till then, tata!
i can alr imagine myself sitting on a plane flying to aussie alr!
whew..
TATA!
I'm here to do the reflection for our 2nd pre-trip session today on IDENTITY..
What our group probably found interesting was that the characteristics that made up our identity were actually those we had taken for granted.
If you are a girl.. you ought to wonder.. what if you were a guy?
If you were a guy.. you ought to wonder.. how life would be as a girl?
Apart from gender, our race and our name, things like our school and CCA can actually be part of our identity allowing others to know whether we are sports or musical-inclined for e.g.?
The purpose of the australian trip is prolly to uncover the truths about the Australians, and find out more about their identity. In that way, we would be able to understand their culture and practices better.
Identity is actually a very abstract concept that can be very unique to any one person or to a nation. And through this trip, let's hope that we can learn more about ourselves and hmm.. better cherish what makes us whoever we are(:
till then, tata!
i can alr imagine myself sitting on a plane flying to aussie alr!
whew..
TATA!
Reflection for the second pre-trip session
Kinda late...but better late than never.
I have to admit, the movie was more like a documentary than a movie. I felt that the issues that were being dealt with were deep, complex and meaningful.
It is indeed depressing to see such racial discrimination occurring in the past. It makes me think twice about taking for granted the racial harmony we enjoy in Singapore.
I have once read a book on Darwinism, and it states an amazingly offensive view - that apes evolved into Africans, then Africans into Asians and Asians into Europeans. It seemed to imply that Europeans were superior to people of other races.
It seems that such a mentality was at work in the movie, explaining the need to "promote" the half-caste children and assimilate them into the social structure of the Caucasians.
From a pragmatic point of view, it is no doubt beneficial to "help" the aborigines in the film by introducing them to the European way of life, especially in the light of capitalism. But the main issue about this that disturbs me seems to be the fact that the Caucasians in Australia back then seems to feel that the Aborigine's lifestyle is inferior to that of European civilisation. They did not seem to appreciate the diversity of culture.
In fact, the incident seemed to me as being similar to what the Nazis did. There seems to be a tinge of social Darwinism in the issue...
The film made me feel uneasy... I feeling that I am still quite unable to properly explain.
I have to admit, the movie was more like a documentary than a movie. I felt that the issues that were being dealt with were deep, complex and meaningful.
It is indeed depressing to see such racial discrimination occurring in the past. It makes me think twice about taking for granted the racial harmony we enjoy in Singapore.
I have once read a book on Darwinism, and it states an amazingly offensive view - that apes evolved into Africans, then Africans into Asians and Asians into Europeans. It seemed to imply that Europeans were superior to people of other races.
It seems that such a mentality was at work in the movie, explaining the need to "promote" the half-caste children and assimilate them into the social structure of the Caucasians.
From a pragmatic point of view, it is no doubt beneficial to "help" the aborigines in the film by introducing them to the European way of life, especially in the light of capitalism. But the main issue about this that disturbs me seems to be the fact that the Caucasians in Australia back then seems to feel that the Aborigine's lifestyle is inferior to that of European civilisation. They did not seem to appreciate the diversity of culture.
In fact, the incident seemed to me as being similar to what the Nazis did. There seems to be a tinge of social Darwinism in the issue...
The film made me feel uneasy... I feeling that I am still quite unable to properly explain.
HI HI!~
I know it's a little late but yeah.
This is just a short reflection of what happened during the first pre-trip session.
We were first asked to draw the outline of the continent.
The whole group's reaction = O_O
JunHan: "I think it looks like a car"
so I drew a car.
and turns out it doesn't really look like that after all.
^_^
all of us couldn't really picture it except the psycho yiling who remembered the outline from dont know somewhere...
Then we were asked to go into a room full of products to see which is Australian and which is not.
And after the answers are announced, we were really shocked at some of the products we always thought was made in Australia.
AND... we got to know more about what kinds of products are produced in Australia.
So in the end...
Australia = koala eating eucalyptus + kangaroo hopping around
Australia is much more...
I know it's a little late but yeah.
This is just a short reflection of what happened during the first pre-trip session.
We were first asked to draw the outline of the continent.
The whole group's reaction = O_O
JunHan: "I think it looks like a car"
so I drew a car.
and turns out it doesn't really look like that after all.
^_^
all of us couldn't really picture it except the psycho yiling who remembered the outline from dont know somewhere...
Then we were asked to go into a room full of products to see which is Australian and which is not.
And after the answers are announced, we were really shocked at some of the products we always thought was made in Australia.
AND... we got to know more about what kinds of products are produced in Australia.
So in the end...
Australia = koala eating eucalyptus + kangaroo hopping around
Australia is much more...
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