So it's been about a month since we came back from Hainan... and I think it's about time to blog about the trip before it goes stale...
The Hainan trip was an overseas community project organised by lecturers and students of FBI which took place from 4-11 April 2009. This was a culturally interesting experience for me, as it took me back to my Chinese roots, allowing me to appreciate the history and the geography of it all... And no, I'm not Hainanese (if you're wondering) but in general, Chinese... and for me, with very little sense of being Chinese, this was an awakening in its own right.
Another purpose on this trip was the community project... we were heading to a small town to teach English and perhaps IT (if the lab was fixed) and we were to interact with the children at a primary school... in a way, to help out and do some good (hopefully more good than harm) over there...
We started off in Haikou, moving down to a neighbouring province, Wen Chang and then to a small town in Wen Chang called Pu Qian. In between, we stopped off at a village where we stayed the night and experienced village life... if the weather had been better, some farming would have been lined up for us. The highlight, I must say, was the Kong Ming lanterns where the releasing of these lanterns signified the releasing of wishes to the gods, in the hope that it would be answered...
The simple lifestyle of the villagers, with their mahjong reminded me of what life was meant to be... ENJOYABLE. And as the Kong Ming laterns were released, I realised how important hope was... as it brought about faith.
On the way in to the village...
The releasing of the Kong Ming laterns...
Then a trip to a foreign language school for some interaction with Chinese students of about the same age... this was a student exchange organised for us and it was amazing to see their living conditions and how vastly different it was from ours... brought me back to school days in the dorms... although their crowded conditions were wanting, their excitement to meet a batch of foreign students outshone the gloomy facilities.
We were then transported to Pu Qian for the "real" community work we were supposed to do... Time was to be spent at Pu Qian Primary School where we would work on restoring some classrooms and teaching English... but above all, the interaction with their students was key.
We played games, taught them English, painted one of their classrooms, and taught them the chicky dance... then there was the cultural exchange where we brought a little bit of Singapore to Hainan with a Malay dance and a song.
But these young children taught us something that no amount of education could... it was that simple pleasures were most precious and these were the things that made one happy. The smiles on their faces, the looks of glee and the glows they exuded said it all... they were happy.
Malay dance at the cultural exchange
To sum it all, this experience was beneficial for all as we brought a bit of Singapore, something most in Pu Qian would not see in their lifetime and we took back fond memories, fast friendships and valuable learning points, something most students in Singapore would not experience. :)
... Ms Jo
Chng Cheng Ye Benny could have chosen any other course, given the excellent results he obtained for his 'O' Levels but he chose to enter a new diploma back in 2006 known as Financial Business Informatics. 
