A Burst of Colour and Kampong Games
Friday, September 4, 2009
As the National Education Hub for its school cluster, you’d expect Elias Park Primary School to pull out all the stops for its celebration of Racial Harmony Day. Besides giving pupils the option of wearing ethnic dress, there were activity corners where pupils could learn about the customs and traditional games of Singapore’s different ethnic groups. In the canteen, there was a mouth-watering spread of ethnic food prepared by the school’s parent support group, which gave the canteen vendors a run for their money. And thanks to an ongoing collaboration with Temasek Polytechnic students, pupils could have a digital photo taken with friends of other races, superimposed with their well wishes for Racial Harmony Day.
Have a look at what Elias Park Primary School pupils got up to, whether it was munching on free kacang puteh or trying their hand at the tanggu (Chinese ceremonial drum).
Elias Park Primary School pupils could wear ethnic garb or PE attire to school. Most of them seized the opportunity to dress up in their own cultural costumes, and there was plenty of free kacang puteh being handed out too. The kacang puteh snacks had been packed the day before by parent and student volunteers.
The canteen at Elias Park Primary School was transformed into a multicultural bazaar, with plenty of homemade food or special treats on sale, such as potong ice cream, vadai , papadum and Eurasian chicken stew.
While the biggest hit at the food fair was the potong ice cream and vadai —which sold out within minutes—the parent volunteers also did a roaring trade of other tasty fare, such as the roti prata that this American pupil was happy to dig into.
Pupils could use software to take pictures of themselves and add a personalised Racial Harmony Day message. The software was developed by Temasek Polytechnic students in collaboration with the school, and the polytechnic students may also develop an e-trail using the school’s National Education learning resources.
The building SHAPE (Singapore Heritage @ Elias Park) is home to a number of heritage and history displays. There are also little kampung corners where pupils can try out different traditional games, such as congkak (shown here), pick-up sticks and five stones.
Specially for Racial Harmony Day, the school brought out some tanggu (Chinese ceremonial drums) that pupils could try their hands at. Here, Pri 4 pupils Sean (second from right) and Gerald (second from left) are sharing with their schoolmates Azrin (extreme right) and Sidqi (extreme left) some of the beats.
Pupils also try their hand at Chinese calligraphy at SHAPE. For these pupils, schools remain a common space where pupils of different races, religious beliefs and backgrounds come together, interact, and learn more about each other and the world they live in.