208 SPICE Groups (Environment - Wk 8) by JL Ang

Stuff

yujiawang13531 — 2019-05-15 00:49:12 UTC

1. Do you think that social experiments like this one should be carried out in secondary schools?

Yes. They promote human interaction in modern Singapore and the can result in unlikely duos like Kieyron and Bill in the video. Human interaction is important in ensuring that we have a healthy and warm environment and community.

2. What can you do as an individual to bring about an inclusive community in your neighbourhood?

Voluntarily interact with people of different race and age in the neighbourhood. Seek to help people in need. Willingly approach those who seem left out and most importantly, avoid prejudice and stigma in one’s mindset.

Pre module

7114180287 — 2019-05-15 00:50:50 UTC

1. Do you think that social experiments like this one should be carried out in secondary schools?

Yes, considering the student agrees and wants to do the experiment as well
Yes, as it is a new experience for every student
Yes as we can learn to mix with people in another age group as us

2. What can you do as an individual to bring about an inclusive community in your neighbourhood?

Have little chats with different people in our community
Be open and friendly
Do not discriminate and try not to judge people based off of first impressions
Do not stereotype
But like i dont think its good to invite people to your house unless you are SURE that they are good people

PRE MODULE READINGS

7114180172 — 2019-05-15 00:58:21 UTC

1. Do you think that social experiments like this one should be carried out in secondary schools?

I think these social experiments could be tried out for a period of time to test if the children from both schools are able to interact and mingle with each other.
I think these social experiment can be carried out to let the different generation understand each other more and make new friends.

2. What can you do as an individual to bring about an inclusive community in your neighbourhood?

Get support to organise small trips and activities to create more bonding time
Take the initiative to approach and bond with people with special needs and not just ignore, exclude them
Be more accepting to different types of people, everyone is different and unique.

3. What prevents people from letting others know about their disabled family members?

The negative judgement and the ignorance
They feel shame and fear of the judgement form other, unsure of how their disabled family member would be able to integrate into the society.
they may feel embarrassed that their family members are “different” and can’t take care of themselves.
The fact that they might be treated differently and being perceived as weak, poor etc.

4. What attitude do the majority of the people have towards the disabled in Singapore?

Many Singaporeans feel uncomfortable interacting with the disabled. Thus, causing the matter to feel shut out from society.
Many Singaporeans deem them to be very different from them and are defined by their disabilities.
some might choose to ignore them and pretend they never saw anything

5. What can the government do to help change the perception of people towards the disabled?

Create awareness by starting at school, giving the students talks so that they can gain a greater understanding of these people in our community.
Local community, community partners, religious organisations, schools and merchants should get greater support to coordinate and mobilise resources to allow people with disabilities have an easier time getting out of their homes. In the long run, others will take note of them too.

6. Besides the government, what can individuals do to build a more inclusive society?

Be considerate to everyone
Greet others to show others that you acknowledge their presence
Be more accepting
take initiative to learn more about them, prevent from being too judgemental.
parents can start by setting a good example by showing their children how to be inclusive to the people in the society
The adults are the ones who instil a mindset in the children against the people with special needs. Children are not born with a specific mindset but are shaped by the influences around them.

ADDITIONAL READING

1. What are some statistics that you think are important in this website? Identify any three that you think are important.

Aging population (proportion of residents aged 65 years and over has increased from 8.7% in 2008 to 13.7% in 2018).
Fewer working adults to support the elderly (aged 65 and above), indicated by the falling resident old-age support ratio from 7.6 in 2008 to 4.8 in 2018.
Fertility (the fertility rate fell from the peak of 1.96 births per female in 1988 to 1.14 births per female in 2018).

2. What are the implications of these trends now and in 20 years’ time?

Our ageing population will keep increasing, and they will make up a greater percentage of Singapore’s population. This means that we need to move towards building a nation that is more easily accessible for the elderly.
Lesser and lesser children will be born each year and this only widens the gap between the young and the old, increasing the proportion of elderly against the general population.

3. What are some of the needs of the people that the government and individuals could plan for in advance (or for the future)

Ensure that the nation will be easily accessible for the elderly (this can be done by implementing more lifts for overhead bridges, increasing the time between green and red lights on pedestrian crossings, decreasing the speed limit etc.)
A better world for the elderly means a better world for everyone too.

Pre module

2019-05-15 00:59:11 UTC

Shennon and Ee-Lyn

1)We think that more of these kinds of social experiments should be done, not just that the people in the experiment can benefit, but the those who watch the video can also be reminded of having an inclusive society. This gives the students a chance to understand and experience interacting with the elderly and allow stronger relationships to forge between the two generations. It is important for the elderly people to be in an inclusive environment, and for the young people to learn from the elderly.

2)We can talk to the uncles and aunties at the void deck and help them with their groceries when we see them coming back home. If we don’t meet them when we are around the neighbourhood, we can visit them or go to the old folks home to meet other elderly people.

Yi Hui:

Besides the government, what can individuals do to build a more inclusive society?

The government has done a lot for the disabled community, such as giving more funding for education and therapy services, among other things, for children with special needs. However, changing mindsets of people to accept and include those with disabilities remains a challenge and it is not something that can be achieved by granting more money for those with disabilities. We have to promote inclusion as the number of the disabled in Singapore is likely to rise with more children may be diagnosed due to the improvement of the awareness, detection and capabilities to manage these conditions. Singapore is also ageing rapidly, and old age and illness can render a senior disabled. Thus, the best way to change mindsets is through interaction, by creating ways to facilitate meaningful interaction between people with and those without disabilities and it can help correct misconceptions. Parents can send their child to Kindle Garden, a pre-school that children with disabilities learn and play alongside other kids in the same classroom. About 30 per cent of its children from 18 months to six years of age have disabilities, such as autism or Down syndrome. So slowly, with more Kindle Gardens around, more parents will find that it is not so scary to have their child playing or studying with a special needs kid after all.

Shu Ting:

Some people are afraid to let others know of their disabled family member or relative because a lot of people in Singapore are still unwilling to interact with disabled people. They keep their disabled family members out of public's sight because of shame, fear and helplessness. They also fear discrimination from the public because of their disabled family members.

A survey has shown that two third out of 1000 people are unwilling to interact with people with special needs. The segregation between people with special needs is what is preventing people from learning how to accept them. As the article goes, it is not the children that discriminate, but the adults. A survey has also shown that most parents are uncomfortable with their child sitting next to a child with special needs.

Sabrina:

Charities that support those with disabilities, such as the Disabled People's Association (DPA) and SPD, have been holding talks to raise awareness about disability issues for years. The DPA goes to schools, offices and other organisations to get the public to understand what people with disabilities are going through and to think of how to ease the barriers. Some students who attended these talks have gone on to run similar campaigns at their schools, said DPA executive director Marissa Medjeral-Mills. On a larger scale, the NCSS also launched its disability awareness campaign last Thursday. Through a website (seethetrueme.sg) and public talks on various disabilities as well as tips on how to communicate and interact with people with disabilities, among other measures, the NCSS hopes to promote inclusion. Raising awareness aside, there also has been a greater push to promote inclusion and interaction between children with and those without disabilities. The government can allow students to go out into the community to help those with special needs, allowing students to learn how to interact with them and understand more about their lives.

Activity 1

7114180235 — 2019-05-15 01:05:26 UTC

1. Yes. We feel that these social experiments can change the stigmas associated with children nowadays.
2. Open up more to our neighbors and talk to them. Share our joy and items with them, eg. cook for them or give them simple cards during festivals etc. Basic acts like learning the language of our neighbors of other races will sure be able to make them feel more accepted as well. These acts may seem small, but a simple act goes a long way after all.

Reflections

2019-05-15 01:05:44 UTC

1. Yes. This helps the students to understand people from other generations and people from different generations know different informations and they can teach each other.
2. We should not judge people by their looks and we should accept their not so normal behaviours. We can initiatively talk to the people who seems to be excluded, so that they will feel that they are more included and accepted into the society. We should not leave anyone out because we think they are different or reasons as such.
3. Some people looks down and discriminate the disabled people because they think they can’t do things as fast and productive as the non-disabled people. The family members of the disabled person wouldn’t want to get discriminated because of their disabled family member so they chose to hide the truth so that they can somehow fit in with the majority.
4. I think most people i see are quite kind and friendly towards the disabled and most of them try to help the disabled people such as helping them to move more conveniently. However, there are some unfriendly and uncivilised people that discriminate and look down on the disabled people, even though they are the minority, i do think it is a problem and the nation should educate people to respect each other.
5. I think the government can hold interaction sessions of the disabled people with non-disabled people. They can interact and know each other and so the non-disabled people can understand and empathise the disabled people instead of having stereotypes of them.
6. We can try to understand how the disabled people feel and not just assuming what they are thinking. We can try to talk to them or even make friends with them so that they will feel included.

yujiawang13531 — 2019-05-15 01:06:46 UTC

3. What prevents people from letting others know about their disabled family members?

A lot of them are scared of losing face in front of their relatives or friends, for having a family member who is disabled. Sometimes they did this because they felt helpless and they don't have a clue on how to salvage the situation.

They were perhaps shameful, and fearful of what others will say about them.

There were also few reasons to go out as there were few support services, much less job openings, for the disabled, compared to what is available now.

4. What attitude do the majority of the people have towards the disabled in Singapore?

Majority of the population feel uncomfortable interacting with the disabled.

No matter how much the government tries to let the disabled interact with the non- specials, sometimes most adults are not open to the idea, and they still hold judgment and prejudice against them, also influencing their kids. Usually children are more open to accepting people regardless of who they are as compared to adults.

5. What can the government do to help change the perception of people towards the disabled?

“In its bid to build a fair society where no Singaporean gets left behind, the Government will focus on building an inclusive society with opportunities to succeed regardless of background, support its seniors, foster a caring society, as well as increase support for young families to make parenthood more enjoyable.”

“Public education is needed to raise awareness of disability issues.

The lack of interaction and the concerns about their children sitting next to a special needs child spring more from ignorance and uncertainty than prejudice. If so, the best way to change mindsets is through interaction, by creating ways to facilitate meaningful interaction between people with and those without disabilities. This can help correct misconceptions”

In 2012, the Education Ministry said the 20 special education schools for children with disabilities would be paired with mainstream schools, so that students from both schools have opportunities to mingle, for example, during recess and at school events.

The Government can raise public awareness on people with special needs and get people to empathise. They must make the problem know from a young age and promote inclusion even to children. The Government can allow children with disabilities to mix with those in mainstream schools while giving special programmes or lesson to help those with disabilities catch up in school work. Courses can be conducted in Community Clubs to teach the public what to do when someone is suffered greatly from a certain disability that is not common. In this way, we are prepared to step up and help those in need.

6. Besides the government, what can individuals do to build a more inclusive society?

Individuals should not shame, discriminate or bad mouth the disabled behind their backs, but instead, learn how to accept difference. They need to face this issue with an open mind and try to suspend any judgement as much as possible.

Also, individuals should try to see the disabled as one of them instead of segregating them in their mental space.

Pre module

7114180287 — 2019-05-15 01:08:50 UTC

3. What prevents people from letting others know about their disabled family members?

They’re scared of judgement, and how the people in society might judge them because of their disabilities
The society has molded them into a mindset that disability equals weakness

4. What attitude do the majority of the people have towards the disabled in Singapore?

Many people are also uncomfortable interacting with the disabled, so they will shun them, together with the family members of the disabled
They are ok with sharing a space with them but are not comfortable with interaction
Sometimes, people show disgust toward them
People at times may also treat them as though they are infectious
A lot of people naturally shun away from them or stare at them for too long to be just looking around

5. What can the government do to help change the perception of people towards the disabled?

The government should educate the people, and correct their misconceptions of the disabled (seminars, talks)
The government can promote more interactions between the two groups

6. Besides the government, what can individuals do to build a more inclusive society?

Be more inviting and be more open towards others
Be considerate and understanding, dont think of people with disabilities as scary/weird

Activity 2

7114180235 — 2019-05-15 01:26:26 UTC

3. We feel that family members are not open in sharing about their disabled family members and are in fact conservative about such information as, firstly, it can be resulted from societal views, as the modern society is not so accepting of these people because of our lack of understanding and exposure.
4. We feel that the general majority typically do not know about disabled people, like what they need etc because we are not exposed to them from young. People in Singapore also seem to use avoidance as an attitude in shying away from the people. However, and fortunately, there are more advocates in recent years to promote understanding.
5.The government can allow for more platforms, whether in public sectors or in schools, for the society to interact with and learn more about people with disabilities.
6. As individuals, we can take our time to understand these people better in our own efforts. We can volunteer our time for them for more personal interaction and understanding.

Activity 2

7114180235 — 2019-05-15 01:26:27 UTC

7114180128 — 2019-05-15 01:45:06 UTC

Yes we feel that these social experiments can be tested out over a period of time to observe these children and how they interact

As an individual, we can interact more with people such as our neighbours or people from different generations through simple actions such as saying hello to each other. There are also communities centres to help you interact with different people.

We feel that what stops them is the stereotypes we have of each other and the things we hear. However these things do not apply to everyone in that community and it is merely an impression. And there is fear of shame and judgement of being different.

Many people in Singapore feels uncomfortable interacting with disabled as they do not know how to interact with these people

I think the government can spread awareness through community centers, schools can also hold talks and bring them out to schools for disability to interact and to know them better,

As individuals, we can try to hold an open mindset so that we see for ourselves and not influenced by others judgement.

Module activity

7114180287 — 2019-05-15 01:48:19 UTC

1. What are some stereotypes the Indian lady and the Chinese have of people from the other racial group?

The Indian lady thought that Chinese were very arrogant and always made fun of and teased them
The Chinese boy thought that Indians were scary at first but now he wanted to learn more about the other cultures of other races
The Chinese girl thought that Indian babies are not cute at first but her opinion changed
That Chinese were of a more superior race as compared to the other races such as the Indians

2. What other barriers prevent a society from being inclusive?

The judgement, and influence from others
Fear that sparks from stereotypes, fear to get close to those people
Parents sometimes teach their children wrong things like telling them to beware of other races which may lead to the child thinking that they didn’t belong with other races, this will make them afraid to interact with other races as they grow up
Everyone in the society has different stereotypes of the different races, and this is a barrier between them, as they do not put in effort to take a step to get to know them more

MODULE

7114180172 — 2019-05-15 01:48:30 UTC

First video: The House Guest (CNA Insider)

What are some stereotypes the Indian lady and the Chinese have of people from the other racial group?

The Chinese children kept asking questions that were a little bit disrespectful and rude
The Indian lady perceived the Chinese as arrogant as they are the majority in the society, and also because she didnt have pleasant experiences with chinese as well when she was young
The Chinese children didn’t dare to approach the Indians as they thought that they were scary and were unaware of their culture.
The Chinese children thought of Indians as dark and that they didn’t bath
The Chinese children didn’t understand their practices and thought it is weird
The Indian lady thought the Chinese was rude and offending.
When the kid was asking about the red dot she felt offended

What other barriers prevent a society from being inclusive?

Gender discrimination
Childhood experiences
Religion
Parental influence
Disability
Jobs
Nationality

Stereotypes

7114180175 — 2019-05-15 01:49:32 UTC

Chinese think that Indians are very scary and dont understand why they do certain things. The indian lady thought that chinese were arrogant and did not have good experiences with them. She thought that they were exclusive and the children were a little rude and insensitive.
Other barriers are language barriers, age barriers, gender barriers, societal class/ position barriers etc.

7114180128 — 2019-05-15 01:50:43 UTC

1. What are some stereotypes the Indian lady and the Chinese have of people from the other racial group?2. What other barriers prevent a society from being inclusive?

Some stereotyped the Indian lady have of the Chinese is that they are very mean and non inclusive and the Chinese stereotypes are that Indian are very dirty and scary

Some other barriers are the social standing and financial status.

1. What are some stereotypes the Indian lady and the Chinese have of people from the other racial group? 2. What other barriers prevent a society from being inclusive?

2019-05-15 01:52:16 UTC

1. Some stereotypes were that the Chinese thinks that Indians don’t bathe, they are black and smelly, they don’t eat meat and pork.
2. Age, skin colour, hai colour, tattoo, piercings

Environment cluster

2019-05-15 01:52:17 UTC

1. The Chinese thought that the Indians were dirty and scary. The Indians thought that the Chinese were arrogant.
2. Different stereotypes and the fact that majority of Singaporeans are Chinese. Gender biasness and age gaps.

Pre Module Activity

7114180282 — 2019-05-15 01:53:02 UTC

1. I think these social experiments can be tried out. They will help both generations to better understand each other, and hence be able to live together in a bonded community.
2. Be more friendly towards neighbours, be proactive in trying to develop bonds with them, and be accepting and understanding towards everyone.
3. People may tend to have stereotypes of disabled people and may discriminate or look down on these people. The individual's family may feel embarrassed or want to protect their disabled family member from any embarrassment or upset feelings.
4. People generally tend to discriminate disabled individuals. They may also build up stereotypes in their mind that these people may be incapable of handling tough jobs or living as a normal citizen.
5. Create awareness by arranging talks in schools, arranging activities in community centres and school activities for people to be able to interact with disabled individuals so they can understand them more.
6. Be more accepting, and take initiative to build bonds with our community and get to know others before we judge them.

Reflections

7114180323 — 2019-05-15 01:53:10 UTC

1. What are some stereotypes the Indian lady and the Chinese have of people from the

racial group?

The Chinese kids had many impressions that Indians were scary and bad people. To quote the little girl, “I don't really like Indians” This shows that she already judged the family before even getting to know them better or interacting with them, which was quite upsetting to witness.

The Indian lady had impressions from school that the Chinese were all very arrogant. Perhaps she thought they only cared about themselves if they didn’t interact with her as much.

2. What other barriers prevent a society from being inclusive?

Income groups from different ends of the spectrum.

Age barriers and stigmas about the elderly.

Discrimination against people with special needs.

Narrow minded people who are not willing to understand people.

3. What are the barriers/challenges faced by the community in your ComEd=-`1

[E.g. services provided by the VWO but not accessible by the family for various reasons.]

Some barriers faced by children with special needs are prejudice from other people, negative perspectives, not having the ability to speak their opinions, being treated unfairly by others, meeting people who do not have the patience to understand them and guide them and they might have a harder time making friends.

4. How may these barriers/challenges be overcome?

[Post your preliminary ideas.]

Learning with an open mind about people different from you.

Learn to be accepting and step into the shoes of other people. Imagine what it’s like to be them for a day.

chinese kid didnt like indians for no reason at all chinese kid liked the indian baby despite race “ i like babies whether they are indian or chinese” chinese kid assumed indian woman was an immigrant and not from SG chinese kid assumed all indians cannot eat pork and meat during the session

2019-05-15 01:53:18 UTC

Module activity

7114180287 — 2019-05-15 02:00:00 UTC

3. What are the barriers/challenges faced by the community in your ComEd?

[E.g. services provided by the VWO but not accessible by the family for various reasons.]

A lot of people tend to look the other way when they spot people with special-needs
Many people always look disgusted when they see people with special needs, they don’t want to sit next to them in the mrt, etc.
Some of them may not be able to communicate very well and that may lead to some people misunderstanding them when it is not really their fault
Many people tend to judge and have stereotypes of the special needs
People do not understand what the children are doing as they may not know that they have special needs and may mistake them for being rude

4. How may these barriers/challenges be overcome?

[Post your preliminary ideas.]

People need to be educated about the special needs people, so that they wouldn’t have stereotypes and misconceptions about them
People need to have a HEART and sympathise with them
People should be COLOUR-BRAVE and not COLOUR-BLIND

What barriers do the coummnity in your com ed group face

2019-05-15 02:05:19 UTC

We sometimes will think that they are really different from us, so we talk to them in a different way, but actually we don’t need to do that, as they are not as different as we think they are.

Challenges

7114180175 — 2019-05-15 02:05:36 UTC

The community we are serving have special needs and possible barriers and challenges that they face are discrimination from the public. They also face the challenge of getting accepted in society. Some of them have physical and speaking barriers and are unable to move or interact with others effectively. They also have trouble expressing themselves and some of them do not like to interact with other people.

workshop questions

2019-05-15 02:07:31 UTC

what barriers/ challenges does the community in you com ed face in their environment? (children with disabilities)

- discrimination

- they are treated differently in a mostly negative way by the public

- stares from the public with mixed emotions

- they are underestimated are are assumed to be unable to do anything

- bias treatment

- facilities around them may be restricting

- trouble understanding why the judgement and all this is placed upon them

- parents may spoil their kids too much due to the fact that they have a disability

challenges

7114180244 — 2019-05-15 02:08:04 UTC

some challenges we face is that the children are very ignorant about race because they probably weren’t educated by their parents about racial importance

Barriers and challenges faced in the community

2019-05-15 02:08:47 UTC

People perceive people with disabilities and special needs as bad tempered, bad natured, not as smart and not nice. They tend to avoid them in public places and do not mingle with them as much.

7114180119 — 2019-05-15 02:23:03 UTC

Stephen Cluskey broke his neck when he was younger in an accident.

Accessibility is when we take everyone’s needs into consideration and include them in different facilities so as to make it easier for many to use such a facility.

MODULE

7114180172 — 2019-05-15 03:08:49 UTC

Second Video: An Accessible world is an inclusive world

Why did Stephen Cluskey become disabled?

Due to an accident, was not born handicapped

What is accessibility? Why is it so important?

The ability to access something
How easy it is to do something
It allows people the convenience to move around and travel

Poster

7114180323 — 2019-05-15 03:58:20 UTC

7114180140 — 2019-05-15 04:38:16 UTC

Post-module

2019-05-15 05:08:44 UTC

1. People become poor when there is lack of job opportunities or the salary given is too Low to support the person and/or his or her family. This may also happen when a person is not employed because of various reasons.
2. I think its the government’s and the poor people themselves responsibility to help. The government can come up with different useful plans that can help the poor people to improve their living conditions. The poor people also need to work hard themselves to improve their economics, they cant rely on just the government or other people’s assistance.
3. As these poor people are minority in Singapore, they do not get noticed much and are often neglected and not known by people. Therefore, they are quite invisible as nobody takes notice of them and they don’t get concerned by people.
4. They can do more volunteer work and try to reach out to these people. If they have the ability, they could even provide money for them or help them financially.
5. For the children, they need more support from their parents and even their friends and teachers. Therefore, we could organise a few days where they have their family and friends interacting better with them so that they can understand that they have the support from them.
6. There is not enough communication between the children and the family and friends and the overall general community. This wouldn’t have any impacts on the other groups.

Post workshop

2019-05-16 01:47:29 UTC

1. Being poor is night really a choice, we feel that it is a situation that one is forced into, making the party seem helpless and in a lower social class because of income limitations.
2. To help the poor is not a responsibility, more of on a volunteer basis, where one is open to give and share with the knowing that he/she has better privileges. In this way, with people willing to move forward and lend a helping hand, it can help in bridging the societal gaps and change the perspective of society.
3. These Singaporeans are hidden from the view of tourists and even locals, making the country seem to be seemingly home to all, where everyone is priveledged enough for a home to return to each day. However, this is not actually true. Out of the city’s views, there are poorer people who lead less privileged lives.
4. The only way individuals can reach out to these invisible Singaporean’s is to build understanding in what they really need and want. As for a cas to cause basis, not everyone will willingly accept items or money as a form of help and may feel unaccepted in a way that they feel that they are pitied by the locals, which I believe is not what they want.