Playing a Green Part for the Environment

Metta Welfare Association is proud to be among the four chosen recipients out of 700 community gardens to attain the prestigious Environmental & Biodiversity Award in NParks’ Community in Bloom Awards 2014 .

                                        Metta Welfare Association’s green team

For several years, our staff and clients have taken to actively participate in flourishing our community garden, attracting a kaleidoscope of living species from butterflies and birds, to micro-organisms and plant species variants. Our hard work has paid off this year when we are recognised by NParks to be one of the best environmental and bio diversified gardens in Singapore in their Community in Bloom programme.

                       An Olive-backed Sunbird baby spotted in our Metta garden.

                                                          A wasp that paid us a visit too.

                                                       The new herbs we planted.

Metta Welfare Association’s Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Ee Tiang Hwee, helming the green team.

Introduced in May 2005, the Community in Bloom (CIB) programme was spearheaded by NParks to kick-start a contribution to a green and unique landscape of Singapore.

The programme aims to create gardening communities within housing estates, educational institutions and organisations in Singapore by partnering various stakeholders including residents, government agencies, grassroots organisations, schools and organisations.

Apart from just being a green city, the CIB programme promotes community involvement in gardening by recognising the good efforts in creating and maintaining them. The community also encourages the interactive sharing of creative gardening ideas.

Today, NParks have more than 700 CIB gardens in Singapore.

 

CIB Award Judging Criteria

 a) Level of Community Involvement

• Planning, setting up, maintaining and managing the garden.
• Activities and events (gatherings, celebrations, talks, training, learning, outings, etc) related to the garden programme.
• Support for the garden programme – Partnerships with other communities, resources, and strategies to sustain the garden.

 b) Garden Quality

• Garden Design – General appearance (aesthetic), landscaping creativity / originality and practical use of garden layout.
• Plants and Hard Landscape Elements – Use of ornamental plants, suitable plant selection, health of plants, state of soil and use of suitable hard landscape elements (paving, trellises, sculptures, retaining walls, lightings, pots etc).
• Maintenance – Quality of up-keep and environmental safety.

 c) Environmental & Biodiversity Quality

• Plant Variety – The number of different plants that increase biodiversity.
• Reduce, Reuse & Recycle where possible to create a positive impact on the environment.
• Habitat Creation – Creating a suitable environment to attract local fauna.

 The awards ceremony took place on 23 August 2014, Saturday at the Singapore Garden Festival held at Gardens by the Bay.

          Mr. Ee Tiang Hwee receiving the award at the Singapore Garden Festival.

With this wonderful achievement as a strong motivation, we will no doubt continue to uphold our gardening efforts, high quality and standards to serve as a beacon and inspiration to other community gardeners in our neighbourhood and around Singapore.

For more photos of our bio-diverse flora and fauna, please visit our Metta Welfare Association Facebook.

Photography PVA @ the Zoo

Article shared from Metta School blog (www.mettaschool.edu.sg). For more photos, please click at this link >> http://www.mettaschool.edu.sg/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=362:photography-pva-the-zoo-11th-june-2014

The photography club had the opportunity to visit the Singapore Zoological Gardens on the 11^th June 2014 as part of the school’s Holiday Busy Programme. This activity was kindly sponsored by Canon Singapore who took care of all the planning and logistics at the zoo.

It was a bright and sunny day. Each child was paired up with a friendly volunteer from Canon and the students are tasked to search and take pictures of the animals listed on the activity worksheet.  Once they’ve completed their tasks, the students are to complete a http://www.animoto.com project back at school.

The activity at the zoo ended with lunch at KFC. The students mingled and took photos with their new friends from Canon. Everyone had a great and enjoyable time.

The students also managed to complete their http://www.animoto.com projects that very afternoon. They added captions or titles to each photo that they have taken. Finally, when they have completed, their works were showcased in front of the entire class.

The following are the web links of video by some of our students:

1. Main
2. Shi Yang
3. Kiefer
4. Afiq
5. Al Khair
6. Farid
7. Hakim
8. Khairul
9. Wen Hao

I hope you will enjoy the above clips as much as the students have enjoyed creating them.

A special thanks to Mr Edwin Low for volunteering in this activity.

On behalf of Metta School Photography PVA and teachers (Mr Zahid, Ms Mi Li and Ms Ivy Yeo), we would like to thank Canon again for always keeping Metta School in your heart. Till next time…

Project CIP @ Batam by V4 & Stomp Warriors

End of last year, I was planning for some activities that I can do with my class. Coincidentally, I was watching a documentary about orphans in Indonesia.I thought to myself: In 2013, my class had served the school well, as well as, did CIP at a local level. IF, they were able to serve the school and some others well, why not serve some under-privileged others from overseas

Hence, I had decided to share this meaningful activity with my class and 6 Warriors.

The Sharing
During one of my English / PVA lesson, we brain stormed this topic together and decided to help an orphanage at Batam.

They were excited to hear about the orphanage and the kids there. Once I knew the students were all enthusiastic about this community service activity, I shared with Ms Yvonne (HOD, V Program) my students’ enthusiasm and I was told to immediately proposed it.

I feel happy and much thanks goes to Ms Yvonne and Mr Anuwar for not only being supportive but also both of them believed that our students have the abilities and skills to do a wonderful job at the orphanage.

As this is a CIP, I did not want to rely on the school or SMC for the full funding. Instead, I wanted the students to learn “Compassion”, “Respect” and “Openness” the hard way, that is, through service- learning. Service learning is for students to use the skills and knowledge they already have and use it to further improve for e.g, baking cakes for donor, teach them dancing/games so the children will learn a new dance and some new games, and use the skills they learnt in school like housekeeping to clean up the orphanage. Also, when they are doing community service work, they will be able to apply our school values like caring for the kids, respecting their culture and openly talking to the kids and not putting them down.

The Fund-Raising
The total cost for the Batam trip cost $4158. We got an approval of $2800 from the school. The balance $1358 was raised through our V café earnings, some donations and through our own garage sales.

The Gratitude
I like to thank these special people:

• Ms Pritam for her continuous support for V café and for helping the team get some donations. She helped in guiding the Ice-Breaking group (Ramdan, Rui Cai, Wei Li & Crystal) with games and activities.
• Mr Rick for preparing the song sheets and discussing with the Song & Dance group (Hakim, Kiefer & Khairul) on the song choices. He also helped set up the computer corner and fixed the light bulbs at the orphanage.
• Ms Valerie for her generous donations and food to feed the orphans as well as to feed us too.
• The 3 other wonderful donors who helped make this trip possible for me and my students. They each received a loaf of butter cake for their generous donation.

The Reflections
As it was my first attempt, glitches and hitches were expected. But I learnt and grew from these small hiccups.All 16 students who went had done me and the school proud because they did their part zealously and without complaints. Students shopped for all the items needed to make sandwiches and for housekeeping. Students participated in counting money in rupiah (counting skills) and they also worked as a team to load and unload all the stuffs from the van.

At the hotel, students were paired up and each pair checked into their own room. They were told to keep track of the time to meet for breakfast and dinner. Students were well-disciplined and they were able to report on time for breakfast and dinner without being called by the teachers. Also, they gathered together during breakfast and dinner to chat and share some jokes. Ms Selina took the opportunity to brief students and also seek their feedback on the activities and discussed the next activity.

While at the orphanage, we had the same food as what the orphans had – rice, 1 egg, some vegetables and a tiny little piece of meat. We did not request for better food, we ate simple food too for all our 3 lunches so that our students are able to see for themselves that when we have little we are contented with whatever is offered to us (no complain for this and that).

My Cook & Bake group (Xue Fang, Kia Yi, Irwan and Gerald) also did a great job with the simple peanut butter sandwiches and potato salad with corn. All the kids enjoyed the snacks prepared by the group. It was indeed an ‘eye-opener’ for our students to watch the kids enjoying a simple snack.

During the housekeeping, it was raining heavily, but these did not deter the students from going about their work. Though it was muddy outside the home, students were not bothered by it as they moved about throwing rubbish, getting water to mop, clearing the storerooms despite being so dusty and above all, they worked hard as a team. Everyone helped each other.

At the orphanage, all 16 of the students worked really hard. Therefore, at the end of each day, the students got to enjoy their days with a little shopping, coffee and donuts break and soccer time too. In the shopping mall our students were divided into groups and they did their shopping on their own (Yes, in Rupiah). Students brought along some money and they were able to see for themselves that making purchases required good planning with the little money they had. Mr Rick was kind to bring Koon Wee and Rui Cai to buy some clothes. He thought them ‘how to convert Rupiah to Singapore dollar’ using a calculator so they can compare the prices. Instilling in them, “if they work hard, they can play hard” too so that they learn to balance their life between work and leisure (as our school mission-holistic development of our students to lead a meaningful and independant life)

Even though the Sports & Games group (Shaiful, Ariff, Shi Yang, Koon Wee & Wee Kiat) did not manage to carry out their activities because of the rain, they helped out in the other groups zealously as well.

Reflecting on our journey, I realized we have learnt a great lesson on “how not to take for granted some things” and I am very sure, for our next follow-up trip, all of us will be well prepared and minimized any hiccups.

All of us would like to thank our principal, Mdm So, who encouraged us to go ahead with our trip (we were worried about the haze) and she gave us very valuable tips on how to keep ourselves safe should the haze reached an unsafe level. She personally made sure we bring along the masks.

For more photos, click here.

Written By: Ms Pritam & Ms Selina
extracted from Metta School blog (mettaschool.edu.sg).

A new lease of life for the plastic bags…

Recycled Plastic Art Workshop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went for a Recycled Plastic Art workshop held by the National Arts Council at a Public Library. Ms Rene Ong was the instructor that day, having a sense of humor, the workshop was fun and easy to follow.

Plastic bags are everywhere, and based on my knowledge, it takes many many years for it to disintegrate. Coupled with my mission to save Gaia for our future, I listened attentively, the steps to give plastic bags a new lease of life!

The materials are easily available and steps are amazingly simple.

The steps:

1. depending on the size of the plastic bags, fold it into 2 or 4 parts, cut off the top and bottom part.
2. cut off the sides of the plastic bags
3. ensure there are a minimum of 6 layers of plastic bags, maximum of 8.
4. put whatever patterns you like on the top.
5. place a transparent layer of plastic bag on the top of the design to ensure the patterns (from the plastic bags) does not get transferred to the paper.
6. put a piece of paper each on the top and bottom of the plastic bags
7. and the ironing start

The heat will fused up the layers of plastic bags. But do not place the iron on 1 spot for too long as the heat will crumple up the plastic bags…even burning through a hole.

This recycled plastic art is all about timing. As long as you are able to grasp the heat part, the fused plastic really looks like a piece of art. Ideas fly through my head as I was ironing it..I can use that piece to either sew it up together to make any wallet, ipad sleeves, bookmarks and even as a piece of art itself. Amazing! You should Try it!

We have conquered Hong Kong and back!

Our journey began on 16^th March 2014 as10 pupils and 6 staff took a flight to Hong Kong for a 5 days 4 night learning journey. After bidding farewell to the pupils’ parents who came to send us off, we went through the immigration and had our lunch at Burger King. The plane took off at 3.05 pm. and landed in Hong Kong slightly after 7pm. Everyone was excited and looking forward to the upcoming learning experience in Hong Kong.

Upon arrival, our tour guide Ms Catherine, took us to an Indian Muslim Restaurant for dinner. Our pupils were attracted by the performance at the restaurant and some went up to learn to play the drums while we were having our buffet dinner. After dinner, we had our check-in to Kimberley Hotel at Tsimshatsui (Kowloon). Our vice-principal, Mrs Liu, who took an earlier flight to Hong Kong to prepare the logistics with the Principal of the school, met us at the Hotel.

Early the next morning, we went to CCC Kei Shun Special School. They welcomed us with a drum performance and we took a group photo together. After that, they brought us around to show us the facilities and activities of the school. We were impressed by the creativity of the school as every single space is occupied with the work of the pupils, and as we turned every corner, there are ‘surprises’ such as relax corner, gymnastics corner, reading corner and so on. The walls were decorated by the free drawing of the special pupils whose artistic potential was demonstrated. The pupils of Kei Shun School and our pupils interacted and made friends with one another as we gathered in the school hall. Metta School circus arts and sparks groups performed and shared the skills with them. We were taught how to make maltose biscuits and had a great time interacting with one another.

As exposure is one of the objectives of the trip, arrangements for our circus arts and Sparks group to learn new tricks from others were made. In the evening, we headed towards the famous Hong Kong Victoria Park to have a practice session with the Hong Kong Instructors. They were very friendly and willing to teach our pupils. Our pupils were so motivated to do better and to try new skills after the practice session with them. It was wonderful experience as they were aware that circus arts is cross-cultural, cross-societal and borderless among people anywhere.

On the third morning, we went to Hong Kong Baptist Convention Primary School, the school which invited us to perform, share and mingle with their pupils. The principal of Hong Kong Baptist Convention Primary School, Ms Wong, welcomed us. The pupils from Hong Kong Baptist Convention School brought us around the school and performed for us a song item and a dance item. It was lively and the atmosphere was so warm and friendly, and that our group was encouraged and motivated to perform with great confidence. After bidding farewell, we went for lunch at the busiest area in Kowloon – Mong Kok. In the late afternoon, we had the experience of riding on the ferry to cross the harbour – an unique and memorable experience for our pupils. At the Peak, we were amazed at the night scenery.

The fourth day was an exciting day for all of us after two consecutive days of practising and performing. After having lunch, we set off to Hong Kong Disneyland. Initially, some of the pupils were hesitant as they had no previous experience of taking the rides. However, after some time, all of them were having fun taking the rides. We were also mesmerized by the fireworks outside the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

On the fifth day morning, we packed our luggage and the pupils were guided to purchase some souvenirs for their families at the supermarket before setting off to Hong Kong International airport. We did have a good time in Hong Kong. This trip in Hong Kong was indeed an enjoyable, meaningful and fulfilling learning journey for all of us.

 

By Ms Dawn Tan
(article extracted from Metta School website, http://www.mettaschool.edu.sg)

Camp I M Possible – A Reflection by Lim Xia Ling

From 17 November to 20 November, Metta School Scout Group participated in Camp Possible at Sarimbun Scout Campsite. As soon as we arrived at the campsite, we were brought to our “A” huts, which was where we would be sleeping for the next 3 days.

Our first activity was to design our name tags. Ms Zaza told us that it was a competition but I did not believe her until the organizer told us. Joeina’s name tag design and mine were selected for the competition. It was like a dream come true. My design won first prize. After the competition, we went around the campsite to play games at the different stalls. The Opening Ceremony of the camp started later that evening. We sat around the campfire and sang songs. We had a fun time! When it was time for bed, I wanted to cry because I missed my parents.

The next morning, we went to the Gardens By The Bay where the most important thing my friends and I learnt was that “Dragonflies like clean water.” So if you see dragonflies near water, it means that the water is clean. We used a tablet and a code reader to scan and find information.

In the afternoon, we went to the Singapore Zoo. We watched 3 different shows but my favourite was the “Animals of the Rainforest” because I learnt about many animals. I did not like the Elephant Show because the elephants “did their big business” in front of us and it was so smelly. Nevertheless, I appreciate all animals because they are living things like us.

After dinner that evening, we had to share our reflections on the day’s activities with the cub scouts and the other extension scouts. Nabilah was brave to stand in front of the group to share her reflections. I hope to have the courage to share my thoughts aloud next time.

On our third day at camp, we went to the Jurong Frog farm. It was my first time feeding the frogs. The male frog is fatter and darker than the female frog. I hope I can have a chance to feed turtles the next time.

Later that morning, our group went to Bollywood Veggies. We planted a plant in a pot. The teacher who taught us to plant was Ms Zaza’s former school teacher. They took pictures together. I used the “cangkul” and “parang” to clear the weeds and plant fruit trees & vegetables. All the fruit trees & vegetables were organic. We then put the weeds into a machine to make natural fertilizers for the farm. We were also given organic banana cake to eat for tea break.

After lunch, our scout group & cubs from Poi Ching Primary School and River Valley Primary School played many different games like hula hoop hockey, sit down soccer, hula hoop chain and finding sweets in a plate on the floor. I did not want to play this last game, but since Ms Zaza was looking, I felt I had no choice but to get my face covered with to get the sweets.

The closing ceremony was held that evening. We all dressed up in different traditional clothes. I wore a pink Baju Kurung and we performed our “Chamak Chalo” dance. I was feeling shy when we danced but when the teachers said we did a good job, I was happy.

Before we went to bed that last night at the Sarimbun Scout Campsite, our scout group had a chit-chat session and light snacks. We all said we enjoyed ourselves and then went to sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast & strike-tent, it was time to go home. It had been a wonderful and happy Camp Possible!

for more articles, click on to http://www.mettaschool.edu.sg/index.php

Metta School School Song

It was nearly 12 midnight. We just had an fruitful day of meetings and discussions. Metta School was having its staff retreat at Malacca, Equatorial Hotel from 15^th – 17^th March 2010.

Back in our hotel room, I was having a chat with the Vice Principal, and I mentioned that the school still does not have a song. Why not write one? Impulsively, I picked up the guitar, played a couple of chords and blurted out some words, ”In Metta School, where school is cool….”.  Mr Anuwar immediately jumped off his feet, and mentioned, “Metta means loving, kindness…”.  After a brief exchange of words and ideas, we finally had a skeletal draft of the SCHOOL SONG. Mr Anuwar quickly took out his Iphone, to record the words together with the melody, just in case we’re not able to remember it the next morning.

The next day, we gathered a number of teachers back in our room, to practice the school song. We did an impromptu performance later that afternoon in front of everyone, and the song was pleasantly received.

One thing lead to another; back in school, we decided to record the School Song in a professional recording studio….

And that is how the story goes.

sing along with us…Metta School school song

~ article extracted from Metta School blog

How To Bring Out The “Colours” In You – Part 1

Wearing the correct colour combination that complements your skin colour, not only increase your self esteem but it also brings out the best in you!

Know the 3 Cs: Colours (colours of your skin), Co-ordinates (of your clothing and skin colours) and Camouflage (accessories).

Which is your skin colours?
1) Warm colours:
If your skin is bright. Yellow, orange and orangy-red colours of clothing suits you. Gold and copper coloured accessories complements your clothing.

2) Cold colours:
If your skin is pinkish or red, blue, purple and maroon coloured clothing suits you. Silver and white coloured accessories complements your clothing.

For more of the tips, read from this article. (Please note that the article is written in chinese).

The Truth about Bunions and Corns

How many times do you get a corn or a bunion? Is this number directly related to the number of times you wear your adorable but ridiculously uncomfortable stiletto heels? Do you know what makes your feet tick? We are going to tell you all about foot health.

Bunions occur at the base of the large toe, often distorting the look of the foot. The bunion pushes the big toe toward the other toes on the foot and causes pain. Corns also develop on the feet, and consist of hard layers of skin that form a cone shape, with inflamed skin surrounding the layers. Corns may cause discomfort when pressed and tend to develop in areas of the foot that do not bear weight.

Pretty Shoes and Their Rough Edges

The bottom line is; avoid shoes that are too tight or ill-fitting if you want to stay away from any foot problems. Tight shoes may cause bunions and corns. Shoes that are too narrow cause friction and compress the bones of the foot, causing corns. Distorting the position of the large toe causes the deformity of the joint where the big toe joins the foot. Most high heeled shoes are risk factors of developing unsightly corns and bunions. For the sake of foot health, heels should be no higher than one inch.

If you already have a bunion, wearing shoes with ample toe space helps decrease the pain caused by it. A callous over the bunion will be formed in prolonged use of ill-fitting shoes due to additional friction between the bunion and shoe.

Wear Socks with Shoes

This may seem like an obvious fact, but often goes unpractised; always pad your feet with socks before wearing shoes. Wearing shoes without socks put your feet at high risk of developing corns. The socks function as a go-between, absorbing friction between the foot and shoe. Without the cushion of the sock, the shoe may rub the toes to cause a corn. Also bear in mind that you should throw out socks that are too loose or too tight as they lose their effectiveness if they are ill-fitting.

Heredity

Unfortunately, heredity sometimes plays a part in this. The structure of one’s feet can affect one’s likelihood of developing bunions. Hence, some feet are just naturally more prone to developing bunions simply due to heredity. However, one can avoid wearing uncomfortable shoes and make the necessary preventive measures such as wearing socks to stay away from annoying bunions.

 

Occupational Hazard

Individuals with specific occupations have an increased risk of developing bunions because of stress placed on the feet. People in occupations such as teaching and nursing, which involve a lot of standing and walking, are susceptible to bunions. Ballet dancers, whose dance routines often put their feet in severe repetitive stress, too often suffer from developing bunions.  Additionally, if pregnancy is an occupation, full-time mothers also suffer from bunions and other foot problems during pregnancy as hormonal changes loosen the ligaments and flatten the feet.

Damage Control

By the time you read this article, you may already have developed bunions; hence you will need to do damage control before your condition worsens. A moleskin or gel-filled pad may do the trick and they are easily available at drugstores. But please do make sure that your shoes have enough space to accommodate it. Alternatively, when the bunion is irritated and painful, warm soaks and ice packs can help relief discomfort. For more severe pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen may help. Should all else fail, you should see a physician before it gets worse.

Credits: Livestrong.com, Harvard Health Publications

Revisiting Past Symbols of Prosperity

Metta’s earliest participation in the lunar 7^th month charity auctions traced back to 1997. For every auction dinner or ‘getai’ the organisation attended, our representatives have to sit through the event to ensure the process of auctioning the item runs smoothly. Very frequently, the representatives from Metta have to facilitate the auctioning arrangements with the auctioneers and organisers, requiring them to think on their feet and react to unforeseen circumstances. In its early years, Metta’s President, Venerable Shi Fa Zhao, had taken upon himself to participate in the various charity auctions.

Today, Metta continues to inject a concerted effort to upkeep the participation in the lunar 7^th month charity auctions in reaching out to a unique community who are regulars to these events. Participation in these auctions has in turn supported a large part of Metta’s fund-raising efforts.

Overwhelmed by nostalgia following our 20^th anniversary celebrations, we uncovered some of the past auction items! As we aim to please, we are putting up the items on sale! If you are as much of a softie as we are, you may be interested to purchase these auctions items that are dated back to 1999. Contact Ms Jolyene Kor at 6580 4616 for sales enquiries.