Lesson 1  : A picture paints a thousand words

1) Group reflection : to reflect about poverty in Singapore.

Despite being one of the richest country in the world, Singapore still faces the issue of poverty. Nearly 400,000 people are living in poverty in Singapore. Results from a recent survey showed that they have only $5 a day after paying for installments, utilities, school, rent, loan and healthcare. An interviewer, a single mother of 6 children, said that it is still a struggle for her to raise the children even after the government has aided them financially. She has to work at least 4-5 jobs a day to support the family. She states that even though the government have shown that they have been trying to help these families, however, most of Singapore's spending will go to funding for the elder generation, as known as the "pioneer generation", for their hard work and contribution to the nation in the early days.  In Singapore, if you take the Mass-Rapid-Transit (MRT) or visit the hawker centre, there are many elderly selling things like tissue papers. Of course, amongst those who sell these items for a living out in the streets, there are some who are not really in need but trying to gain money through this manner People, ranging from middle-aged to the elderly, are seen selling out in the streets and in hawker centre.  This can prove that sometimes the poverty in Singapore is due to the laziness of people not finding a job or the inability to find a job. Due to the increasing amount of foreigners trying to find a job in Singapore, Singaporeans are now unable to find jobs as the number of job availability are decreasing due to the increasing number of foreign competition. As a result, Singaporeans have to find a lower income job even though they hold a certain degree. When they get a lower income job, they have lesser money to spend on their daily necessities, thus falling into the "poor" category.

2) Individual reflections

1. Lim Gee Yan, Valery (12)

In today's lesson, I learnt that we should not judge a book by its cover and not be so judge mental about things.

When the teacher showed the class these two photos, my first thoughts towards the man was that he did not deserve any sympathy as he was wearing layers of coats and a sports shoe. Since he was able to afford all these necessities, he should be able to keep himself from starving. He also looks well fed, so even if he was jobless, he would be able to find a job to gain income. When I saw the woman with a child, I pitied her as she was alone with her child, out in the streets begging for money. I felt that the woman deserved some sympathy and that she was such a strong woman to be able to persevere and take care of her child even though she could have easily gave her child away. However, when the teacher told us that the man lost his home during a war and that the woman belonged to the syndicates, I felt very ashamed to judge the man on a quick note without asking myself what happened to him to make him to go out on the streets and beg after knowing his plight. However, this new information towards the woman will not change my choice of donating money to her as I believe that if she does not meet a certain requirement, she will be punished.

All in all, this lesson has definitely taught me a lesson to not judge things so quickly, but to think deeper with each item I see.

2.  Lim Min Qi (13)

From today's lesson, I learnt that we should never judge a book by its cover.

At first, when the teacher showed us two pictures of two different beggars, one of a man , well dressed with shoes, shirt, pants and a beanie and another with a woman with a baby ,wear a dirty shirt and shorts. We were given a choice to help either of them. However, it was hard to choose as both were very pitiful. At first, I had the thought of help none as I was not clear of their background. However my group came up with the idea of helping the woman as they think that with a baby, it is very hard for the woman to find a job while taking care of her baby while the man is alone. Thinking that they made a point, I changed my mind and decided to help the woman.

However, when our teacher told us that the woman belonged to the syndicate while the man was deaf after an explosion during a war he participated in, I really regretted my choice and felt remorseful as I criticized the man without giving a greater thought of his background. After knowing all of this, if I had a chance to choose again, I would have definitely helped the man but at the same time, I will help him find a job as he would not make ends meet if he depended on begging to survive. It is like providing a person with fish, so why not teach them how to fish instead.

Thus after this lesson, I feel that we really should never judge a book by its cover.

3. May Thin Khiang (15)

When the teacher flashed us 2 different pictures of a man and a woman begging on the street, I pitied them and thought of helping them. Bust as I looked closer, my previous thoughts changed. I decided that if I chanced upon this two people in the picture, i would only help the woman. The reason is that the man has layers of neat and tidy clothes, proper pair of shoes and a beanie. This shows that he is able to afford these items and furthermore, he looked like he could easily find a job to make a living and that he was just plain lazy. I pitied the woman with her child. She appeared to be a single mother, who could not support herself and her child, so she turned to begging. I felt that the woman strongly needed help and I sympathized with her. But, all my assumptions and thoughts changed after the teacher told us about their profile. In the end, I made the decision that i would help both of them. The woman belonged to the syndicates. If I help her, I'm helping the syndicates and encouraging them. Not to forget, the syndicates might  punish or even abuse the woman and her child if she do not earn the required amount of money. Therefore, I would help her. On the other hand, I felt guilty towards the man as I judged him for his appearance without knowing his struggles. I would help him and do my best to convince him to try to find a job as there are jobs available for the disabled in the world today.

4. Sarah Peh (21)

In today's lesson, I learnt that seeing is not believing.

We saw a guy holding a sign which said "god bless" while in another picture we saw a lady carrying a baby. Both of them were begging for money. Then, we were asked to discuss our opinions in our small groups.  What I said about the guy was that he was able bodied and thus should be able to work. So, he should be working instead of begging. What I said about the woman was that she was using the baby to gain sympathy from others for money, so we should not give her money.  The teacher then revealed that the woman was part of an organisation which made use of many people. The head if the organisation gets the people to beg for money and they would have to give the money collected to them. Then, a portion of the money would be given to the people.  Then, the teacher shared that the guy had just come back from war and he was deaf. Having no home or family to go back to, he had to resort to begging.  The lesson I learnt today was different from most of my other classmates. I was right about the woman but was wrong about the man. The guy looks normal, but he is deaf, so he needs help. If I really saw him, I would not have given him any money because I would have thought that he could work. But if having experienced this and I saw the woman after that, I might have given her some money.

At the end of the day, we can never make 100% correct decisions, so I guess the only option we have is to follow our gut feeling.

       5. Tan Hui En, Joanne (22)

I realised the importance of not jumping into conclusions simply through learning about the background of two photos.

We were asked to look at two different photos on begging on the streets and think about the photos. One of them was a man well dressed and holding a sign "God Bless". The other was a photo of a woman who was carrying a baby while begging, clad in dirty clothes. Initially, I sympathised with the woman and felt that she was very pitiful. She appeared to be a single mother and had to beg to raise her baby unlike the man who was well dressed and did not need to resort to begging as he did not seem to possess no physical disabilities or suffering from poverty. I thought that he could have easily found job and earned more but was lazy. However, my opinion of them changed after hearing about their circumstances. The man was deaf from fighting in the army thus unable to find a job easily. My teacher also added that those who joined the army were mostly poor people. I also learnt that the woman was part of a begging syndicate. The baby was used as a prop to gain sympathy from the public so that the woman was able to get more money. However, the woman would only be able to keep less than half of what was donated to her as the rest would be taken away by the begging syndicate. The woman might not have a choice in joining the begging syndicate as the syndicate might do something to her but she needed the money. Both the man and woman's predicament were very pitiful.  I regretted the way I jumped into conclusions to help the woman. I decided that both of them needed help. Even though I would help and encourage the begging syndicate when I donate to the woman, the woman would still be able to earn more in a smaller amount. Every little thing make a difference. In addition, if the woman does not meet a certain requirement for the amount of donation she gets, she might be abused by the syndicate. As for the man, instead of donating money to him and encouraging him to continue begging on the streets, I would advise him to look for a job. Also. I would tell him that there are many organisations that offer help to disabled people.

I believe that through this method, we can help more people.

             6. Tan Xuan Zheng (35)

In today's lesson, I learnt not to judge a book by its cover in the way that we should not believe in everything we see without knowing the insight story.

When the teacher first show me two pictures, a man with able-bodied and a woman carrying a baby, both on the street begging for money. He asked us who we would donate the money to. I personally feel that I would donate to the woman with the baby as I felt that they would need more support as compared to the man who could have found a job instead of begging. When the teacher told me the background of the two beggars, I was in shock. The man had lost his home in a war and the woman was from a beggar syndicate. At first, I regretted choosing to donate to the woman as I felt that she was simply conning our money. After further thinking, I realized that the woman also had no choice as she might be forced into the syndicate. Thus, when we donate the money to her, we are helping the mastermind behind the syndicate and also the woman. In the end, I choose to donate to both of them as they have specific reasons leading to their poverty and I take no side.

In conclusion, I realise that we should always look at the full picture before jumping into conclusions.