Information About Our Site
Link to our Cyberfair 97 Entry
Link to our School Home Page
Date of Project:5 March 1997
School: Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
City: Singapore
Teachers and Students:
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Number of students who worked on this project: 15
Their ages were: 13-15 years of age
Project Contact Email: teacher@rgs.edu.sg
Project Overview
1. We entered our Web site in Cyberfair Category: Local Attractions
2. Description of "Our Community"
Singapore's Chinatown is a testimony to the nation's rich ethnic, cultural
and historical heritage. Many religious monuments and quaint shophouses selling ethnic
goods and cuisine are located in this district. Chinatown is one of Singapore's truest
attractions, having stood this test of time.
3. Summary of Our Project
We visited Singapore's famous Chinatown to take current pictures and to do some historical
research. The articles, however, place emphasis on the ethnical culture of this attraction.
Through them, we hope to stress the importance of a multi-cultural community.
4. Our Internet Access
Our school has a server and the teachers and students can surf the Net for teaching and
learning purposes from any of the computers in the school. We have a Cybernet club and
the members of the club provides service in creating and maintaining our school web site
at rgs.edu.sg. The students can also subscribe for a email account at a nominal rate.
We have a lease line from the school to our server which is located at the headquarters
of our service provider at 64kbps.
5. Problems We Had To Overcome
Of the many obstacles we faced in the course of our project, most of them were technical
problems like the editing of sound files. However, we were provided with help from our
teachers and seniors. Other obstacles we faced included communication problems, for example
the interviewees who spoke in dialects. This was solved more easily, since some of us
understood their dialects.
6. Our Project Sound Bite
This was definitely an enriching project which let us have first-hand experience of the
rich culture of Chinatown.
1. How did your activities and research for this International School Cyberfair 97 project support your required coursework and curriculum requirements?
The research and activities of this Cyberfair project help us in understanding more about the rich culture and heritage of old and new Chinatown. The topic is also part of our secondary school curriculum involving the History of Singapore. Not only does this project help us academically, it also helps us to improve our collaborating, researching, interviewing and problem-solving skills. In this way, we can learn how to work better as a team and know how to cooperate and share the work to make this project a success. We can also manage more efficiently under pressure and to meet deadlines.
The project that we have done and the additional information that we have found are also very helpful to other students who are also learning about this topic. Learning about the country's history on the internet will be more interesting than studying right from books which are entirely lifeless. Therefore, students tend to pay more attention during lessons and their learning will thus be more effective.
To conclude, we think that this project will benefit us as students and as members of a multicultural society like Singapore.
2. What information tools and technologies did you use to complete your Cyberfair project?
We used many information tools and technologies which included:
The tools we used helped us to complete our project smoothly, with only slight difficulties. Due to the advanced technology that we were provided with, we were able to produce clear images from our photographs that we had taken in Chinatown. SoundEdit Pro allowed us to have sound files incorporated into our homepage.
Since most of the technology used is found in our school computer laboratories, we were able to access the tools easily. The tools are relatively new, as we only bought them a few years ago.
Of all the tools and technologies we used, the most valuable tool that we used was our communication skills. This was very important to us in the process of our project, when we had to interview people and ask around for directions. Not only did this help us in collecting information, but also in compiling our project. Teamwork was a very important element in this project too. Without such communication and cooperation skills, the project may not have been so successful.
3. In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokesperson for your Cyberfair project both on-line and in person?
To collect information on this topic, the whole group of us trooped down to Chinatown to find information and photos suitable for our homepage. To do this, we had to interview people who have been living in Chinatown for quite some time. Most of these people are old and their faces were full of wrinkles, the result of cruel wars. Most of them spoke in Cantonese. We let them know about the project that we were doing and asked for their permission to be interviewed. Fortunately, they were very friendly and kindly responded to our interviews.
Among them was a sweet old lady who was about 76 years old. She even invited us into her house for tea and some snacks. She recounted that her husband was killed in World War Two and had brought up a few children alone. In the end when we left, she told us to visit her again and we did, during the Chinese New Year holidays.
However, there was an old man who was very unco-operative with us. He spoke in a dialect which we did not understand but by his gestures, we knew that he was unwilling to answer any of our questions or even just to take a photo with us. Though we failed to interview him, we learnt how to handle such situations in future.
After the completion of this project, it will be put online for everyone all over the world to access. In this way, we can share the cultures of Singapore with people of other countries and in turn learn about cultures of their countries. We think that we can build better relations between each country and play a part in promoting world peace. This is our dream which we hope will come true in the near future.
4. What has been the impact of your project on your community?
Upon embarking on this project, we sought the help and advice from several people living in Chinatown and also that of some computer experts. Not only did this assist us greatly, we also established long-lasting relationships with the people in our community.
Our young and sprouting members learned to work hand in hand with the local community and we are sure that both parties benefitted from this interactive relationship.
Basically, our project provides a great opportunity for locals to grasp the significance of Chinatown to Singapore's past and present, as well as enabling them to learn about Chinatown in an interesting and easy manner.
Chinatown is the heart of Chinese culture and traditions, and it has lived the past, experienced the present and awaits the bright and promising future together with Singapore. Hence we believe that by having such a web site, we are helping the local community to develop a stronger sense of belonging towards Singapore and to have a deeper understanding of our local history and heritage.
By using IT presentation we, as students, are able to benefit from this project both in culture and technology, therefore killing two birds with one stone.
5. How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?
Madam Chua, a long resident at Chinatown provided us with invaluable help and imparted her knowledge, anecdotes and personal experiences of Chinatown to us. As she has lived in Chinatown for quite a period of time, she was our "primary source of information" and we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to her.
Other than Madam Chua, a few other occupants also assisted us willingly when we approached them. During our interview with them, we exchanged information and experiences about Chinatown and the information we gathered really boosted the quality of our project. Therefore, we thank these residents from the bottom of our hearts.
As we are not very familiar with Chinatown, we had difficulty finding our way around. Fortunately, we were able to have a fruitful day at Chinatown due to assisstance provided by the people there. A big "Thank You" to you!
Last but no least, we are also thankful and grateful to our teachers and parents for their contributions, be they in terms of advice, photographs or real life experiences of Chinatown. Their encouragement and support are also much appreciated.
Link to our Cyberfair 97 Entry
Link to our School Home Page