Hello!!

On 8 April 2015, we had an activity to complete 2 of the components of the 5-Point Programme badge - Multi-cultural and Advocacy!

The I/Cs (Crystal, Jaynell and Shihui) first started the activity with a mini skit, depicting bad dining etiquette. We then taught the other YAs basic social etiquette in all aspects in our daily lives, including dining (especially at formal dinners), conversing and personal appearance. We also went through specific skills such as how to shake someone's hand properly, and tips on how to behave properly in the modern world, such as the importance of punctuality and the meaning of RSVP.

We then moved on to the topic of race, where we first discussed the difference between race and ethnicity then gave a mini lecture on multiracialism in Singapore. It is interesting to find out more about what the Singapore government is doing in order to promote racial harmony, as well as to learn more about the current trends in Singapore with regard to this topic. For example, the number of inter-ethnic marriages in Singapore has been on the rise.

In order to facilitate more interaction among the YAs and to create a platform for everyone to share their thoughts, we then had a debate and discussion session. The YAs were split into 2 teams - 1 for and 1 against the respective proposition. The first debate topic was "Is multiracialism still relevant in Singapore today?" and the second was "Do SAP schools go against the notion of having a multicultural society?". These topics were chosen as they were highly relevant to ourselves, being Singaporean citizens and students at a SAP school. Often, we only look at the surface of many issues and do not think deeper into them, such as the significant implications of the issues. This served effectively as a platform for us to listen to alternative viewpoints and broaden our knowledge on the topic.

YAs having an intense debate!

Lastly, we ended the activity with some games! One of the games we played was to address the problem of the mispronunciation of certain words. This is crucial in improving one's public speaking skills, thus we hope to make use of this opportunity to address this problem. YAs were split into 2 groups and formed a line opposite each other. The I/C will show the first person in the line a commonly mispronounced word. If the person pronounces the word correctly, the opposing group would have to do 10 jumping jacks. If the person got the pronunciation of the word wrong and the opposing group got it right, the first team will have to do 10 jumping jacks. If neither team got it correct, they will have to do 5 jumping jacks together. Examples of commonly mispronounced words include "baguette" (pronounced as "bah-get"), "almond" (the "l" is silent), and "Wednesday" (pronounced as "Wens-day").

This activity was indeed an enriching one and we learnt a lot from the various activities :)