Essay- What you had learnt from this project?

Lesson Learnt from Singapore's Independence

From this project, we learnt that it was a tough ,full of difficulties and challenges journey for the Singapore leaders to take steps by steps building a strong, independence nation . Singapore became an independent nation on 9 August 1965. Since Singapore is a small island lack of natural resources, our leaders, thought of many ways to further developed the country, tried their best to provide better living conditions and standards in Singapore.

Before the merger, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and other leaders had to explain through TV, radio and newspapers to explain the benefits and needs for merger.Benefits such as growth in economic so to let more people have jobs declining entrepot trade and the formation of Common Market. Political reasons such as gaining complete independence from the British.

However, it was not a easy task for our leaders.Malaysia did not agree on the merger at first and there were internal and external issuses which affected the merger such as opposition from the radicals within the PAP and opposition from the Philippines and Indonesia.

It did not take a very long time for Singapore to gain complete independence. Many unexpected events happened such as failure to set up Common Market ,racial riots and disagreement on how the country should be governed. As a result of all those events during the merger, Singapore had no choice to step out of Malaysia alone.

The separation from Malaysia was a disappointment to the leaders  but it was also a good start for Singapore to progress ,gained international recognition till today. Leaders , may have different views on how the country should be governed, but they all share the same dreams hopping a better future. Just like our school values, With Perserverance We Strive , With Pride We Progress ， they had make incredible efforts to strive forward.

Therefore, we should not take things for granted. We should treasure what we have in Singapore,always remember the tough lives that our leader had in the past which provide us with good living conditions.

Lesson Learnt from Chinese Students Riot

The strikes and riots that broke out affected the post-war recovery of Singapore. We learn that when there are strikes and disorder, the whole country can be affected. People’s daily lives are upset, business is disrupted and the economy suffers. Education had been disrupted by war. People were injured and their family members might be worried for them. I think we should solve problems calmly and a riot is not necessary. National services are conducted in order to protect the country, to strengthen one’s mind, and make people love the country and feel belong to the big family. We should always remember this riot because it reminds us that people in Singapore have the responsibility to protect the country, no matter what nationality he or she is in. We need to be united, therefore, i think that we should be loyal to our country, enjoy the process of national services and must feels honoured to join national service.

Lesson Learnt from  Maria Hertogh Riot  

Everyone in this world has their own religion. We believe in our religion, and we can prevent riots from happening due to religious issues by respecting other's religion. It can cause unhappiness to someone if we disrespect that person's religion.

Having riot is just showing a protest. Riot will definitely not solve the problems. It will only make things complicated instead. Riot will cause many people to get killed and injured and we will not gain any benefit from riot but to lose our loved ones.

People are going to stay all day at homes because they are afraid of going out. Riots will broke out at anywhere and anytime. Everyone will live in fears.

We will not benefit anything if we were biased or make fun of any religion.we must learn cultures and traditions of other races.We should also learn the history of the different races and religions in Singapore. Thus, we can avoid misunderstandings and conflicts of different races and make our country a democratic society. We must help people of all races. Then, we can all live together as one and face obstacles together. 

Maria Hertogh Riot event told us the importance of racial harmony, and we should definitely remember this event which occurred at year 1950.