In the week 7, we were exposed to understanding cultural heritage through poetry. With the help of “Little Things”, we were able to have a better insight of tradition and culture through poetry, specifically the following:
- After the Lion Dance – Chris Mooney-Singh
- Initiation – Alvin Pang
- Neighbours – Alfian Saat
- Chai – Marc Daniel Nair
- old house at ang siang hill – Arthur Yap
- Excuse me, what is your race? – Esther Vincent
Before the cluster lecture, we were tasked to write a journal entry of the poem that appealed to us. Which poem appealed to our group members?
JAMIE: I like the ‘Excuse me, what is your race?’ There is more diversity of cultures and races in Singapore.
XIN YING: I personally find ‘Excuse me, What Is Your Race?’ more appealing as it portrays the diverse cultures and races in Singapore. The speaker is mixed, being Sinhalese and Chinese but she does not understand either of these cultures. At the end where she say excuse me, what race? shows that she is not of a race since she is made out of two different ones, which I find quite interesting.
JOANNA: I like ‘neighbours’ as it tells us about the basic relationships between neighbours and their different cultures just like our neighbours and us.
CHAI RONG: I like ‘Neighbours’, as it talks about how two neighbours, who hate each other, treat the other. This is also relatable in local context as it is quite often seen in Singapore.
XIN YI: ‘old house at ang siang hill’ appeals to me as the poem shows how unappreciated old traditional houses are by the younger generation. Although it has been standing for many years, but there is a lot of hidden stories and past in it. Despite this, the younger generation does not value this house full of heritage, culture and tradition. They even think that it is very outdated and want people to leave so that re-development can be done. This shows how much they look down on tradition.
During our cluster lecture, other than a recap on literally devices, we were given a detailed explanation of ‘chai’, intriguing everyone especially when the story slowly unfolded to become very complex and complicated. It was definitely more that meets the eye!
After the lecture, we were given the chance to reflect on each poem. Let’s see what each of us had to say!
After the Lion Dance:
We learnt that it takes 2 hands to clap and sometimes we can’t do things alone. We should also not judge a book by its cover.
Initiation:
We learnt about how to use our experiences to link it to life lessons. We also learnt about alliteration through this poem. Learning a skill fully takes time and practice as well.
Neighbours:
We should respect people from other races and we should be more considerate and understanding. We should also be more accepting towards others and not discriminate them as well.
Chai:
When we migrate, we should try to adapt to the culture there, but still remember our own roots. Chai is a symbol of culture of the hometown in this poem.
old house at ang siang hill:
We should preserve cultures and educate the younger generation on the importance of culture to prevent the old houses from fading away.
Excuse me, what is your race?
We should not discriminate or judge others’ race and religion. We should instead understand and respect the practices of the other cultures.
Summary
We had a fun time unfolding the poems to further understand them, as well as being aware of the vast religions and races in Singapore. It was enjoyable learning through poetry! 😉
109 Group 2 