Racial Harmony Day in Frontier

Colourful Frontierers: We Came in Our Traditional Costumes!

20 July was the day my school officially commemorated Racial Harmony Day, which falls on 21 July. It was another exciting day! My friends and I went to school in our unique traditional costumes. Lo and behold! Our teachers were also wearing traditional costumes! The school looked very colourful with everyone in their unique costumes!

Teachers also Came in their Traditional Costumes!

My Teacher sharing About the RHD

The Racial Harmony Day Special Assembly Programme started with Mdm Koh Ser Lian telling us an interesting story entitled ‘Games We Played’. The story, written by Mdm Koh, was about how children used to make kites as a pastime in Singapore. Next, Mdm Nellie Soh talked about the importance of Racial Harmony Day. She taught us that there were racial riots in Singapore on 21 July 1964 and highlighted the importance of living together in harmony and appreciating the different cultures that make up Singapore. Through the talk, I learnt that the MOE Racial Harmony logo is in the shape of a heart as it represents both the brotherhood of Singaporeans and the deep emotional, visceral bond that we share. After the talk, my friends and I went on stage to sing the song ‘The more we get together’. This was followed by a fashion parade in which Mdm Soh pointed out the features of the various traditional costumes!

Parent Volunteers Manning the Stalls

Sticky balloon!

That was not all! To our delight, there was a local food and games bazaar during recess! There were traditional snacks such as kacang putih and crackers on sale. How I love the crispy nuts! Games such as kuti kuti, Goli and sticky balloon were also on sale! My friends and I bought the sticky balloon, but I did not know how to blow the gum into a balloon, so my teachers helped us. I was fascinated by how the toothpaste-like gum could turn into a transparent ball after blowing it with a tiny straw. Drums of various sizes were also on display to let us play with them. Besides these, there was a booth where I could go to try on other traditional costumes! It was really funny to see my friends wearing other costumes! These activities were all organised by my teachers and parent volunteers. Thank you, we really appreciate this!

Trying some costumes!

Chinese Drums!

Buying Kuti Kuti!

On the whole, I enjoyed myself tremendously! I love the Racial Harmony Month activities, especially the games! I’ve not only learnt how to play some traditional games, but I’ve also learnt the importance of being united and living in harmony with others, regardless of their race and religion. Besides, I have learnt to appreciate Singapore’s cultural diversity. National Day is approaching. I wonder what the school has planned for us! I am learning so much this year!

A picture for my album

Kampong Days in Frontier!

Now, what do you think this is?

Awesome! That’s the word to describe the whole month of July! July was really exciting and fun because there were many activities for us to take part in as part of Racial Harmony Day celebration!

These Games are fun!

Earlier in July, I saw some kampong house structures in the canteen! Wow, I was intrigued by them! I didn’t know that the older generations lived in such small wooden houses! I was shocked when I saw the toilet that was used in the kampong! It was small and did not have any toilet bowl. Instead, the toilet was raised above the ground with a platform that housed a bucket, covered by a wooden board. From the description provided by National Heritage Board, I have learnt several other things. In the 50s and 60s, many kampongs did not have electricity. Most households used firewood or charcoal for cooking in a brick stove. To get water, the kampong residents had to fetch water from public standpipes to their homes every day. Wow, I can’t imagine myself having to fetch water from public standpipes every day. I must really appreciate the modern amenities that I have and use them wisely instead of taking them for granted!

Kampong Doors~ Are these doors secured?

I was really glad that the Travelling Exhibition by NHB lasted for two weeks because that meant that I could play traditional games with my friends for two whole weeks! Hurray! Look at some of the games that I played with my friends! Gasing, Hopscotch, Goli, Capteh, Congkak, Five stones and Pick-up sticks etc. Have you played them before?

Frontierers playing Congkak

Initially, I did not know how to play the games. Fortunately, my Social Studies teacher taught us how to play the various games during Social Studies lesson. She not only passed the different games such as capteh and kuti kuti around to let us feel and touch, but also demonstrated how to play the games and showed us videos from http://www.gamesweplayed.sg/about.html  to let us have a deeper understanding.

Kuti Kuti - You mean My Mom Used to play with these!

I thought that the word “kuti” is an English word, but I learnt from the website that it is actually a Malay word that means “flick”. After we learnt about the various games played by past generations in Singapore, we had to complete a worksheet to identify the various games. I was super happy that all my answers were correct!

Capteh and skipping ...

During Music lesson, I learnt to sing the song “The more we get together” in the various mother tongue languages. The song, which has a lively tune and rhythm, is about friendship. My classmates and I thought it was pretty cool to sing a song in different languages! My teacher told me that these are the songs that my parents may have learnt as children.


Learning "The More We Get Together" in Different Languages



Dragon Design for me!

My Kite, My Design

Art lesson was also amazing! My teacher taught us to make kites! She also taught us the design elements found in various cultural designs! For instance, I learnt that motifs are repeated to create patterns in Malay designs and Chinese designs tend to use bright colours such as red and pink! With oil pastels and tracing paper, I drew a Malay floral design and my friend drew an Indian henna design on her kite! Although I’m not sure if my kite could really fly, I’m proud to make the first kite of my life!

Zero Point!

Other traditional games such as ‘Sepak Takraw’ and ‘Zero Point’ were introduced to us during PE lesson.  Wow! I was surprised that rubber bands could be tied to one another to form a long skipping rope! I guess I would start collecting rubber bands now to form my own Zero Point rope!

So, these are the games that my mommy and daddy used to play!