chaizze

May 24, 2019June 7, 2019

Globalisation

Here are some of the things that we had learnt through our pre-cluster session as well our one-hour cluster lesson based on the module regarding globalisation!

What is Globalisation?
> the word comes from “globe”
> means the worldwide coming together of countries and nations

3 driving factors
What are some main reasons for globalisation?

– Technological Advancements
Advances in technology such as mobile phones, telephones and the internet > made the growth of transportation and communication possible > exchange of information and goods can be done quickly in a less complicated way

– Developments in Transportation
Development of airplanes, lorries, ships etc. > allows the exchange of information and goods to be done quickly in a less complicated way

– Growth of Multi National Corporations (MNCs)
Technical, cultural and economic developments that have come about through globalisation > multi-national corporations (very large corporations) can sell and produce goods and services worldwide in various countries > competition for local companies > world grows closer together > active exchange of goods between countries

The four terms regarding Globalisation
What does the terms “glocolisation”, “globalisation”, “homogenisation” and “cultural hybridisation” mean?

1. Globalisation: the process of companies moving to global countries for profit or other reasons, often spreading local culture along the way

2. Homogenisation: reduction in local culture because of globalisation/ 5eprocess of things becoming uniform

3. Cultural hybridisation: the process of blending things of different cultures (foreign and local culture) into one and produces new cultural products

4. Glocolisation: integrating both concepts of global and local aspects of something into one/ taking them into consideration

Impacts
What are some positive and negative impacts of globalisation?

Positive impacts:
– makes business management easier and efficient for the company
– allows the world to come together
– the world grows closer and there is an active exchange of goods, services, knowledge, cultural goods and languages
– more affordable products for more people
– growth of transport and communication networks possible
– exchange of goods in a less complicated way

Negative impacts:
– more production to economically disadvantaged countries > locals have more jobs > less money
– ^ people in industrialised countries lose jobs
-climate change > more airplanes, ships, lorries etc. > more carbon dioxide emitted into the air > global warming

Summary: Globalisation is neither good or bad as it has its pros and cons

May 20, 2019May 20, 2019

NyConnects- Day 1

On day 1 of NyConnects, we had three speakers to present about the traditional food, architectural and intangible sectors of Singapore’s four main ethnic groups. Here they are!

1. Ivan Yeo – Teochew Chef

Through Mr Yeo’s presentation about traditional Teochew cuisine, we learnt more about:

Different Teochew cuisine and their types.
How traditional restaurants are modernising food by presenting them in a more attractive and appealing way, and slightly altering their ingredients to suit the needs of the modern society.
How Mr Yeo became a Teochew Chef and the difficulties he had faced.

2. Tew Hwei Cheng – Founder of Designscape Architecture

Ms Tew, an alumni of Nanyang Girls’ School, shared with us about architecture and here’s what we learnt:

How to overcome the challenges of being an architect, for example now having enough space to work on.
What an architect does in their job, for example surveying land conditions and designing buildings.

3. Patrick Yeo – Board member of Teochew association

Mr Patrick Yeo, as well as being a board member of the Teochew association, is a heritage guide at Geylang Serai Community Centre. Through his presentation about the Teochews in Singapore, we gained a better insight of:

The difficult and arduous lifestyle of first generation Teochews in Singapore.
The lifestyle of first generation Chinese migrants in Singapore, for example the food they eat, the jobs they take on, and the activities that they do.
How Mr Patrick Yeo accepted and handled his busy daily life.

Conclusion

Through the day’s NYConnects session, we managed to better understand Singapore’s main ethnic groups.

May 17, 2019June 7, 2019

In week 7, we went through a lesson where we learnt more about food models and how to make them. Through the lesson, we learnt the different methods to make food models and the history behind it.

Origami folding
Felt
Paper mâche making
Jumping Clay modelling
Felt needling

History of food modelling in Japan

Back in the 1920s when eating out became popular, many people often went to department store cafeterias which offer a variety of dishes presenting both Japanese and Western cuisine to have their meals. During that time, waiters often ordered at the table, which became a problem when there were many customers at the restaurant as it would slow things down. As a result, there were always people waiting to get in to the restaurant. When the food came, customers complained that the food was not what they had expected and would change or cancel an order.

Trying to solve that issue, restaurants presented real food at the entrance as visual menus, but the food would change colour and attract a lot of insects, causing it to spoil easily and last no longer than a day. This caused restaurants to search for a solution to the problem. One evening in 1932, a man named Takizo Iwasaki was observing a candle when he picked off a piece of molten wax from the candle with his fingertip. He observed that his fingerprint was imprinted clearly on the hardened wax. After exploring more about the wax, he realised that the hardened wax took on the texture of whatever it was originally on. He was intrigued by the possibility of wax. When an acquaintance asked him if he could make model food samples, he decided to try and use wax to make the food samples. He founded a factory that made these food models. He also rented out them out to restaurants. As many cafeterias used these food models, they were adopted all over Japan, making the culture of plastic food sample originate.

During the food modelling cluster lesson, teachers recommended us some methods for our food models and also advised us on the types of brands were suitable for our prototypes. We also got a chance to have a hands-on session with some clay, felt, thread and string! We had so much fun testing out the materials!

We later decided to use clay as it was not only easy to use but also visually appealing. Here are some of our food models of Peranakan delicacies:

While making them, we made sure to take note of our budget, only buying extra clay when necessary. We also tried our best to keep to the time frame as we had to spare time for other tasks like our presentation video as well as our infographic board. We also tried our best to make the food models as detailed and accurate as the real food as possible so that the target audience would be able to identify it easily.

Summary
Through this food modelling module, we have learnt and discovered more about food cultures, the different methods on how to make food models and the materials needed for the various methods. We also learnt how to make our food models to the best that we could. It was an enjoyable experience learning about this!