1) How did people fight for democracy?

2) What role did/do the trade unions play?

Chinese actor Xiao Zhan was chosen as the first ever Global Brand Ambassador in Wedgwood’s history.

1) Suggest some considerations behind this decision.

2) What other connections to Chinese or Chinese culture did you observe in Wedgwood’s story?

In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.

Make a comparison with S’pore and/or China/USA if you can. Feel free to use an analogy or a picture (e.g. Use Padlet’s “I can’t draw” to generate an image with AI) to illustrate your point. Include specific examples from our trip in your written explanation.

For instance, visiting the London Ashmolean Museum highlighted how the UK uses its vast collection of artefacts to showcase its historical connections to the world, presenting itself as a center of global heritage. Similarly, the integration of cultural experiences like afternoon tea and royal ceremonies symbolises the enduring appeal of British traditions.

Comparatively, Singapore exemplifies soft power through its multiculturalism and success as a global trade and innovation hub. For example, the Gardens by the Bay attracts worldwide attention, promoting its image as a garden city, and its hawker culture promotes the multicultural heritage as well.

Meanwhile, China and the USA contrast in their balance of hard and soft power. China emphasises economic might and technological advancements, such as the Belt and Road Initiative. The USA, like the UK, excels in soft power through media and technology, but retains dominance through military and economic leadership.

At Bletchley Park, I saw how Britain’s code-breaking efforts during World War II boosted its scientific and technological leadership during WW2. The MediaCity tour showcased the industrialization of Manchester as well as the future of Manchester as a business and media district, key to the UK’s industrial success historically and presently. These reflect the UK’s hard power—using technology and economic strength to shape its global role.

The UK’s hard power is still very much evident despite its fall in the world standing, through its role in the financial market and military in the Middle East. Similarly, Singapore’s hard power is exercised through Finance and we also pride ourselves in our Military.

In terms of environmental sustainability in infrastructure, we also saw many successes and challenges in the UK, both of which we can learn and implement in Singapore, especially with high precipitation in our country. Such as the slants on the ground, water collection system, heat distribution system and materials for construction (limestone) for a cooling effect. Many designs are similar to what we have in Singapore, but have a slight variation, we can consider them.

Soft Power

The UK’s cultural strength was evident in places like Oxford which showcased its academic excellence, how it is a magnet that attracts foreign talents and students from all over the world. The Ashmolean Museum is a showcase of its political influence throughout history, through military, economic and culture.

Singapore also uses soft power through its multicultural identity such as the Hawker Culture and our racial diversity.

As compared to Singapore, UK has a unique university tutorial system where one to one teacher to student session are held for deeper education. In terms of schooling, they also pride themselves in work-life balance as shared by our seniors.

The UK has a rich history and plays an important role in today's economy.

In Manchester, we learned about the adaptability in UK as Manchester shifted from being a trading hub to a modern media center, in order to boost the economy. I think Singapore and all other countries can learn from this adaptibility and make changes quickly to suit the needs of the people.

In Oxford,we understood UK's tradition of education and culture through visiting different colleges. This showcases UK's soft power as prestigious Education institutions like Oxford contribute greatly to educating the masses. Singapore's own Education institutions like NUS also attract students globally, with soft power similar to UK's.

London's museums, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, emphasize the UK's role in preserving history (eg. through artefacts and artworks), while touring the museum we also keep in mind how many of these artefacts are from former colonies, this raises complex questions on cultural heritage and legacy. Singapore, not being a colonial master historically, does not have such a vast collection of artefacts from around the world like in the UK, but we still take pride in Art from our country and Singaporean culture, and proudly display them in our own museums (National Gallery etc).

Additionally, the visit to the Bank of England highlighted the UK's economic power and role in finance. The Bank of England is crucial to economic stability in UK.

In contrast to UK, Singapore's traditional culture is not as old, since we are a younger nation, I feel that we focus more on technology and urban innovation to stay relevant and have a place in the global market.

Through this trip to the UK, I have learnt how the country uses both hard and soft power to shape its global presence.

Hard power (econ and tech)

The UK’s hard power can be seen through its economic and technological achievements (for instance the country’s role in the industrial revolution and its financial leadership today.) At Bletchley Park, I learned about Britain’s history of code-breaking efforts during World War II, which strengthened its scientific and technological standing and saved many lives. The MediaCity tour in Manchester showcased the city's growth as both an industrial and media hub, showcasing UK's current economic influence.

Soft power (education and culture):

On the other hand, the UK’s soft power is deepyl rooted in its rich cultural legacy, prominent in world renowned educational institutions like Oxford University and its museums. Its rich cultural legacy attracts people from all around the world, emphasizing UK’s role as a global center of education and culture.

Comparison:

Compared to Sg, UK’s hard power is achieved through a long history, while sg focuses on achievements more modern, eg: its global financial position and advanced infrastructure. Both countries use soft power, but Singapore emphasises more on its multicultural identity, eg Sg Hawker culture/ Sg food culture and racial diversity. The UK’s unique educational system, consisting personalised teacher-student interactions, prominently practiced in Oxford Uni, showcased uk’s commitment to achieving academic excellence. In terms of sustainability, we learnt about both successes and challenges in the UK’s infrastructure through the Sustainable Architecture Walking Tour, which offers valuable lessons we can learn and practice for Singapore. All in all, both nations utilises hard and soft power in ways that reflect our histories and current global ambitions and priorities.

In Manchester, I learned about the city’s role as a cotton and textile industry during the Industrial Revolution, due to its favourable geographical location which allows for rainfall. In current times, the media city in Manchester continues to be an investment hub for people all over the world, and hosts a wide variety of companies such as BBC.

In Oxford, the most memorable experience was the student exchange with Singaporean students  at Oxford University. I learned about the collegiate system unique to Oxford University. We also learned about the flagship programmes by each college such as Political Science in Queen’s College. Adding on, we further understood the difference between studying in the UK and Singapore, the main differences being the pace of study and student life experience.

Finally, in London, I learned much about culture and history. One of the learning points for me was how UK still operates as a constitutional monarchy. This was very apparent to me when we visited Buckingham Palace and the Churchill museums to see how UK functions as compared to Singapore. During the dialogue with the first secretary of the Singapore High Commission, I also learned more about the economic and political situation of UK through the lens of a Singaporean. I was very grateful to have learned about Brexit and how it impacts the world market.

In our history textbooks, there are many ways that illustrate the United Kingdom’s history of power and influence and this can be linked to how the United Kingdom is still quite influential on the world stage. For example, Singaporean English is mainly British English as we were once developed by Britain in terms of education, finance, and healthcare etc. This shows the hard power Britain had because of its history as a former colonial power, and current soft power as it still has far reaching influence over its former colonies and around the world.

On this trip, we have seen many sights such as those in Bletchley Park, the Ashmolean Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. All these hold important and ancient artifacts of many places around the world because of Britains former inhabitance of these areas. Because they hold all these important historical artifacts, they do have a say in what to do with these artifacts and has captured the attention of many people with these items, which aptly shows soft power.

However, Britain has no doubt declined in power and influence over the years after decolonisation because it now lacks the authority to make use of its colonies to improve itself. Hence, in terms of hard power, Britain does not have much over other countries, and has in fact been replaced by the United States of America and China, who have enough power and influence to have a significant presence on the world and its decisions will massively impact most things worldwide. Singapore has come a far way from a small colony to a powerful economy because it had a good foundation and great leaders, which I feel is something Britain has lacked which led to its decline, for example Brexit inconveniencing the British. In general, I feel that Britain has a lot to be proud of and many things that Singapore can learn from, but it should also efficiently solve its own internal problems first before becoming more prominent on the world stage.

Manchester: From the walking tour, I realised the amazing ecosystems of the salford quay- it became breeding grounds for birds like swans and the area was slowly developing into a nature reserve despite the fact that it is thriving to develop economically too. Another key learning point is how Manchester progressed from a major cotton industry into a thriving city of commerce and technology. Similarly for Singapore, it had progressed as a small island into a thriving country economically and made itself known on a global stage.

Oxford: The highlight for me in Oxford was visiting the different colleges as part of the Oxford University. The architectural style was very different from that of Singapore’s as many still maintained the older architecture style since its history also dates back to a much older time as compared to Singapore. (Singapore’s NUS is mainly modern buildings whereas all the colleges we visited had styles like baroque, gothic, etc.) It was really interesting to compare the older and newer buildings in Oxford and some colleges even had a combination of two styles. This shows the cultural and historical differences between the UK and Singapore.

London: One observation I made in London was the architectural designs difference it has compared to previous two cities. Through visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum, I saw a variety of collections of artefacts and what really stood out to me was the number of artworks and sculptures that depicted stories from the Bible which really shows how big the influence of Christianity was in the olden days which drove many artists to create art based on that. The museum made me think about British’s colonial power in the past, that gained them the artefacts from around the world which showed its influence as a huge empire in the past.  In the sustainable city walking tour, I learnt about some measures put in place to help London run more sustainably and efficiently, for example the drainage system where rainwater is collected with sloping pavements and then used again in cleaning of buildings or watering of plants. It makes me realise different methods that could be used to run a city more sustainably such that it is useful and efficient (taking the Strata Tower for example, it had wind turbines to provide energy yet the noises wind turbines made were not taken into consideration, hence the turbines were then no longer used).

Comparing with the green technology that UK and Singapore uses, what I realize most is that Singapore uses solar energy as its primary source of sustainable energy. Although in UK, there are many buildings that uses solar panels to generate power from the sun, they are also able to build wind turbines due to the large land space that they have and the windy weather.

During the dialogue session with First Secretary (Political), Mr Ivan Tan, I have learnt the importance of having strong relationships with UK, despite it not having the same global power as it had before. Like what Mr Tan had said, there are many things that we can learnt from the UK and many things that we can offer to them.For example, after Brexit, UK is trying to diversify away from the EU and sees the Indo-pacific as a place that offers new markets for its trade. Singapore is working towards achieving Singapore Green Plan 2030, it is important for us to also learnt from the UK about their green urban planning that they have. Such as the shape of architecture, materials that they use (what we have seen in the sustainable tour). Their effective planning can be seen from the 15% power generated by wind power.

After coming to the UK, I noticed that there were many differences in the culture. At Oxford, I really got to immerse myself in the rich history of the colleges and buildings around. It was really breathtaking to see buildings hundreds of years old, and learn about all the amazing people that have studied and graduated from Oxford. The most memorable moment for me was walking into the library at Queen's college, where we saw books that were hundreds of years old. In comparison, Singapore does not have buildings that date back as far away as the 1300s, and it was really a fulfilling experience.

Throughout the span of 9 days, we got to try many different types of food, from British fish and chips and Italian pasta, to Chinese meals in restaurants. And this made me think about the diversity of the food we have in Singapore as well! Just like how food from UK is expensive in Singapore, food from Singapore is expensive in the UK as well!

We also got to go on interesting tours, such as the tour at Mediacity in Manchester, learning about how it managed to reinvent itself, and how similar it was to our Singapore River. Another tour that was interesting was the sustainable architecture tour in London, where we explored the different features of buildings that keep it sustainable, and learning about how some factors that were unforeseen in the modeling and planning of the buildings could affect the functions, and learnt that we need to think of future development around the buildings (there may be other buildings blocking the sun and the solar panels will not work as well as expected, reducing the benefits; the wind turbines may cause unbearable noise etc)

Christmas culture: People in the UK view Christmas as an important event, and I felt the Christmas spirit all around, with many Christmas decorations, Christmas markets and shops selling Christmas related items. We were given time to walk around in one of the Christmas markets and most of us really felt the Christmas spirit through and through, with all the Christmas music being blasted, people in Santa costumes walking around etc.

Wine drinking culture: We often see that shops sell mulled wine and many others, and there are alot of pubs all around. Peoplw would go there to discuss business over a drink, for leisure, and much more. During the exchange with our alumni 姐姐们 and fellow Singaporeans studying in Oxford, they also mentioned that this was one of their biggest culture shocks!

The Ashmolean Museum is an example of the UK’s soft power. It holds a huge collection of art and historical artefacts from around the world, like ancient Egyptian statues and Greek pottery. By showcasing these items, it helps people from different countries understand and appreciate each other’s cultures. The museum also supports education through exhibits and research, which strengthens the UK’s reputation for knowledge and learning. It attracts visitors from all over, who come to see its collections and learn about history, making the UK a respected place for culture and ideas. With the strong cultural influence around the world, UK was also able to earn and benefit from to strengthen their own economy.

At the Buckingham palace, we witnessed the change of guards ceremony. The ceremony, being a globally recognised event, also attracts millions of tourists, enhancing UK’s cultural influence and boosted their economy.

After coming to the UK, I noticed that there were many similarities and differences in the culture of Singapore and the UK. At Oxford, I really got to immerse myself in the rich history of the colleges and buildings around. It was really breathtaking to see buildings hundreds of years old, and learn about all the amazing people that have studied and graduated from Oxford. The most memorable moment for me was walking into the library at Queen's college, where we saw books that were hundreds of years old. In comparison, Singapore does not have buildings that date back as far away as the 1300s, and it was really a fulfilling experience.

Throughout the span of 9 days, we got to try many different types of food, from British fish and chips and Italian pasta, to Chinese meals in restaurants. And this made me think about the diversity of the food we have in Singapore as well! Just like how food from UK is expensive in Singapore, food from Singapore is expensive in the UK as well!

We also got to go on interesting tours, such as the tour at Mediacity in Manchester, learning about how it managed to reinvent itself, and how similar it was to our Singapore River. Another tour that was interesting was the sustainable architecture tour in London, where we explored the different features of buildings that keep it sustainable, and learning about how some factors that were unforeseen in the modeling and planning of the buildings could affect the functions, and learnt that we need to think of future development around the buildings (there may be other buildings blocking the sun and the solar panels will not work as well as expected, reducing the benefits; the wind turbines may cause unbearable noise etc)

Christmas culture: People in the UK view Christmas as an important event, and I felt the Christmas spirit all around, with many Christmas decorations, Christmas markets and shops selling Christmas related items. We were given time to walk around in one of the Christmas markets and most of us really felt the Christmas spirit through and through, with all the Christmas music being blasted, people in Santa costumes walking around etc.

Wine drinking culture: We often see that shops sell mulled wine and many others, and there are alot of pubs all around. Peoplw would go there to discuss business over a drink, for leisure, and much more. During the exchange with our alumni 姐姐们 and fellow Singaporeans studying in Oxford, they also mentioned that this was one of their biggest culture shocks!

Like the UK, Singapore also focuses more on pragmatic soft power, promoting itself as a model of economic success and multicultural harmony. An example would be our hawker centre culture and Racial Harmony Day.

For China, they develop their military skills and missile technology to secure regional dominance, for example the “South China Sea”.

The most memorable moment for me was when we visited the different colleges in Oxford University. I was amazed at the education system where they had 1 to 1 university tutors. I loved how our seniors and jiejiemen from SNGS were so helpful and I am really grateful for them! :)