At this year’s Cultural Heritage Walk, about 360 students from 14 secondary schools went on a virtual tour to learn more about Singapore’s culturally important landmarks in Bukit Pasoh and Chinatown, like the Siong Leng Musical Association, Sri Mariamman Temple, and the Masjid Jamae.
“This year is the fifth time that we have held this event, and it is also the first time that we have tried to switch from the previous physical event to an online format. We hope to be welcomed and affirmed by everyone,” says Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State for Education and Chairperson of the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL)
She also encouraged the students to deepen their understanding of Singapore’s multicultural heritage and develop their interest in the Chinese language and culture.
Jointly organised by the CPCLL and Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations, the Cultural Heritage Walk aims to encourage students to further understand Singapore’s history and appreciate the multicultural heritage.
This year, students worked together to visit nine virtual stations that each showed a cultural site. They also took quizzes to test their knowledge of history and culture. The purpose is to encourage students to learn more about local history and culture and deepen their understanding of Singapore society.
The event has specially designed a “Climbing Game” and during the “Climbing” process, students can learn more about Chinatown, Bukit Pasao and other areas. These places are the core areas of Singapore’s early development and scenic spots with multi-ethnic and multi-cultural characteristics.
Minister Gan is hoping that the students will have a greater interest in Chinese history and local culture after increasing their knowledge of the cultural landmarks in those areas.
Over the years, every “out of the campus, into the culture” activity has been carried out quite smoothly and achieved certain results.
Meanwhile, at the first-ever Green Bootcamp @ North-West, over 70 young people from different colleges and universities who wanted to make a difference in sustainability and green living were given the tools and space to develop, sharpen, and pitch their green ideas in the hopes of putting them into action in the real world.
The winning group, Team Igloo which comprised a mix of budding doctors and engineers, shared their aspiration of eradicating inefficient energy usage. The team came up with a prototype for “Igloo”, a thermoelectrical device that simultaneously cools and circulates water through the mattress pad, keeping the surface cool for the user.
The team expected when the solution rolled out, a user could save over 4,000 watts per use, which is almost five times more energy efficient than regular air-conditioning.
On the other hand, long bothered by the increasing use of disposable utensils due to the Circuit Breaker and delivery convenience, the Team BYOC proposed a standardised set of reusable containers in different sizes to be used for dine-out customers at hawker centres.
Team BYOC Buddy predicts that the implementation of their proposal would result in a mindset and behavioural shift for Singaporeans, with the community coming together to create new social norms through a common local hawker culture.
The many new ideas that came out of the first Green Bootcamp @ North-West show that the programme was a success. This is part of the government’s ongoing work to build a holistic green ecosystem that will help the North-West Community develop a green mindset and change their habits.
