Singapore Brands

Did you know that there are many very good local brands in Singapore? You have probably bought something that is designed and made in Singapore without realising it!

To let people become more aware that Singapore has some very good local brands, an organisation called GET SINGAPORE has managed to get 37 local brands to tell people what they sell and where to find them.

Some examples of these brands include Charles and Keith and Prints. Go to the GET SINGAPORE website at http://www.getsingapore.sg/ if you want to find out what the other 34 brands are.

Look out for the GET SINGAPORE logo the next time you are at a shopping centre!

Capable Women in Singapore!

Over the years, the People's Action Party has had female politicians in Parliament, but on the 1st of April 2009, history will be made as Singapore will have its first female full minister.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua (picture above) will become a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, as well as Second Minister in both the Finance and Transport ministries. It will be very interesting to see what she will do in the future, don't you think?

Another piece of news that involves capable women is the team of 6 Singaporean women who are attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. Its summit is 8,848 metres above sea level. The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone in Nepal, and Tibet.

The 6 women (picture below) have been training for the last 5 years so that they will be ready to climb the mountain. They left on the 21st of March and you can follow their progress from this site . Let's cheer them on!

How do you feel about the appointment of Singapore's first full female minister and the first all-women Singaporean team to reach Mount Everest's summit?

Leonardo da Vinci and flight

(From LRD pg 3)

After reading about the fascinating world of aviation,

3 new things that we have learnt are that:
1. the Wright brothers soared to fame for achieving the world's first powered flight.
2. Leonardo da Vinci observed birds before he invented vehicles that could fly.
3. Lightness is necessary for aeromodelling, but having a sufficient strength to accomodate the forces of flight is also critical.

2 things that we find extremely interesting are that:
1. Leonardo da Vinci had a long beard and many wrinkles on his face.
2. Leonardo da Vinci lived so long ago but he was so creative and innovative.

1 thing that we want to find out is:
1. Who invented the propeller?

Done by:

Zhu Zixuan, Clare Cheong, Desiree Tay and Lee Zhi Qing
P4 Faith

Earth Hour Singapore 2009

28 March, The Earth Hour

View more presentations from Archana Kulshrestha.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008, the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. In Singapore, many people, schools and companies have promised to turn off their lights on Saturday, March 28, from 8.30-9.30pm.

Will you support Earth Hour? If so, why? If not, why?

If you are thinking that you are too young to make a difference, take a look at these slides below and be inspired!

Earth Day Intro

View more presentations from adorngeo.

Who will get Fudge??

(LRD 10/3, pg 6)

Singapore celebrities, Jamie Yeo and Glenn Ong will be splitting up. They have a young 'boy' whose name is Fudge. Both of them are childless so they take Fudge as their own child.Who will Fudge follow? Fudge is seven years old Jack Russell terrier.

They want Fudge to stay in their matrimonial home as he is used to the environment there.

Half of the pupils in 4 Humility think that Fudge should stay with Jamie as she is a female and will be able to mother Fudge better than Glenn.

The other half of the pupils in 4 Humility think that Fudge should stay with Glenn as they think he is more responsible. Merissa feels that a dog is a man's best friend so Glenn should be the best person to care for Fudge.

What do you think? Who is a better caretaker?

Done by: 4 Humility

Pinky and Lilac talk about stress

Pinky and Lilac talk about stress - Pinky and Lilac

Should the Merlion be repaired?

At about 4.30 p.m. on March 1st 2009, the Merlion statue at the Singapore River was hit by lightning. Fortunately, only a small part of its head was damaged and nobody was injured.

While the Merlion is now being repaired, someone wrote a letter to the Forum Page in yesterday's Straits Times, which we read and discussed in class along with Little Red Dot.

In the letter, the writer said that he felt that the Merlion should not be repaired as it would provide a unique experience for tourists.

What do you think? Should the authorities have left the lightning-struck Merlion as it was?

If you would like to find out more about the Merlion, there are some interesting facts about its history at
.

Also, did you know that Singapore has one of the highest rate of lightning activity in the world? This link to the NEA (National Environment Agency) website has more deatails . This is why some people are now wondering if we should put a lightning rod on the top of the Merlion's head to prevent it from being struck by lightning again. However, other people have said that this would make it look more like a unicorn than a Merlion! What do you think?

Living in a country with such a high rate of lightning activity means that we need to be very careful when we are warned about lightning. The next time you see the lightning warning light outside our school library start to flash, remember to find shelter for your safety! You definitely do not want to have a hole in your head like the poor Merlion.

Show me the chocolate!!

(Based on LRD 24/2)

After reading the article on chocolate together from page 6 of this week's LRD, we found out that chocolates and chocolate products now cost more than they did last year. For example, a 1kg chocolate cake at Keng Seng Confectionery costs $3 more than it did last year. The cause for this price hike is low supplies from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are places in Africa.

We also discovered that a lot of chocolates were bought for Valentine's Day. In total, for 2008, 35.4 million kg of chocolate were imported into Singapore.

Which is better, to have a little of the best chocolate, or to have lots of not so good chocolate?

When asked if it was better to have a little of the best chocolate, or to have lots of not so good chocolate, 29 out of 40 of us thought that it was better to have a little of the best chcolate. As Jiexin says, "If we buy one bar of good chocolate, we can at least taste that it's nice and good. You will be satisfied easily so you don't need to buy so many chocolate bars to satisfy yourself, rather than buying a lot of not so good chocolate which will cost a lot of money."

What do you and your classmates think? Is it different from our class?

Done by 4 Joy

Budget 2009

You might have heard your parents talking about the 2009 Budget over the last few weeks. However, what is this budget that they are all talking about?

A budget is the amount of money that you plan to spend on something. For instance, if you have a budget of $2 for lunch, that means you only intend to spend a maximum of $2 for lunch.

Each year, the Singapore government announces what it intends to spend for the year in its budget. People want to know how much the government is planning to spend and what it is spending on in the coming year as it might help them plan their businesses and make better choices in the year ahead.

What the government spends on can help businesses and families in need.

For example, in the 2009 Budget, the focus was on jobs. Because of the current economic recession, many people have lost their jobs. To try and persuade less companies to retrench their employees, the Government has introduced a Jobs Credit scheme. Under this scheme, the Government willl give companies some money if they keep their workers.

What is very special about Budget 2009 is that it is the very first time that the Government is taking money out of its Reserves, which is like our national piggy bank. For many people, this shows how bad the current recession is.

As primary school children, you may not be earning money yet, but how has this knowledge about the 2009 Budget changed your view of spending?

More details about the Singapore Budget 2009 can be found at http://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/key_initiatives/index.html

The Breakdown of the Singapore Flyer

Where is the Singapore Flyer?
The Singapore Flyer is located at 30 Raffles Avenue. From City Hall MRT station, it would take you about 10-15 minutes to walk to it. It is the largest observation wheel in the wheel at 165 m tall and is capable of seating up to 784 passengers.

What happened?
On the 23rd of December 2008, the Singapore Flyer broke down because of a small electrical fire. In all, 173 people were left stranded in the Flyer, most of them for over six hours.

Who was affected?
Apart from the people who were stuck in the Flyer, the breakdown of the Flyer on the 23rd of December also affected other groups of people.

Firstly, it affected Singapore's tourism industry. The Singapore Flyer is a major tourist attraction so when it was shut down for a month after 23rd December, tour operators had to find other places that they could take tourists to, which would probably have cost these operators more money. Singapore's reputation for efficiency has suffered too as a result of this breakdown.

Secondly, it affected the business of the shops that are located at the Singapore flyer. Less people went to the Flyer's shops while the Flyer was closed so many tenants complained that they suffered losses. They were so angry that many of them asked the people in charge of the Flyer (called the management) to compensate them. This means that they wanted the management to give them some money to make up for the sales that they have lost.

It is hard to imagine that a 6-hour breakdown can affect so many people, but this shows that we are all interdependant on each other.

Why is this important?
Singapore attracts millions of tourists each year, and if more incidents like these happen, fewer tourists might want to come to our country. If this happens, many people who depend on tourism for their jobs, such as travel agents, hotel staff and store operators at tourist attractions, will suffer.

When did the Flyer resume operations?
The Flyer resumed, or started operating again on 27th January 2009, just in time for the Chinese New Year celebrations.

How does the management of the Flyer intend to prevent such an incident from happening again?
During the closure, the management installed a new back-up system in the Flyer and had international experts certify that it was safe to ride on. They hope that an incident like what happened on December 23rd will never happen again as a result of this new system in place.

What are your thoughts about the December 23rd breakdown? Leave a comment!

If you want to find out more about the Flyer and its breakdown, one website which contains videos of people being rescued manually from the Flyer is http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/2008/12/24/RTV3608108/

For other information about the Flyer, you might also want to visit its official website at http://www.singaporeflyer.com/

This is a video of part of the construction of the Singapore Flyer. As you can tell, it took a lot of effort and skill to construct it!



Construction Of The Singapore Flyer (Stop Motion Video V1.0) - Funny bloopers R us