Parent Volunteer to Xuan's National Heritage Tour : Mar-13

class sitting at the corridor after briefing, waiting to board the bus

I never thought I would have the chance to play parent volunteer with Xuan anymore.. afterall she is in P6 this year.  Hence it was a pleasant surprise when Xuan came home one day to say her teacher was looking for parent volunteers to accompany the class on their National Heritage Tour to Little India!

2nd-stop briefing by tour guide, on betel leaves and such ..

This Hindu god protects children by scaring midwives to do a good job ..

Recess break @tekka market ..

My brunch of 'local' fare - roti prata and coconut drink !

Xuan's friends - Megan, QiMin, Jamie, Antonia; Georgia's mum

Xuan's other friends ..

Everyone must cover head before entry into Sikh temple, a sign of respect

Singapore's main Sikh temple

Although I am by and large available as a SAHM, arrangements still have to be made as my morning duty is to bring En to school and Xuan's class is visiting Little India in the morning too.  I was so looking forward to the excursion after Pa agreed to bring En to and from school that day!!

On that exciting morning, I had to be in Xuan's school before 8am.  Juz as I was all fired up, En was equally charged -- she could not wait for her yeye to bring her to school and wanted to be the earliest that morning!!  Well, she did arrive early in school, even before the school gate opened and received the children!

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In all, there were two other mums and one dad parent volunteers who went with 6R7.  It was the school's first trip and two classes went that morning..

The buses alighted us outside the Little India MRT station where we began our guided heritage tour by the Indian guide.

We walked past rows and rows of closed shops.  The guide had wanted to show us how to put on a sari in one of the sari shops but all the shops were still closed at 9+am in the morning. After some more stories on the Indian and Hindu culture, the guide brought us to a Hindu temple of goddess.

We learnt that amongst Hindu temples, some worship gods and others worship goddesses.  Even the animal statues on top of the temple are differentiated, some male and some female, depending if it is a god or goddess temple!

There were a couple of pretty scary deities in the temple.  The guide explained that these gods are supposed to protect little children and the gory scenes were depicted to deter midwives from harming the little ones..

After putting on our shoes, the next stop is Tekka Market, where we can tuck into Indian food for our recess break!  Most of us had different versions of roti prata as that is Indian food.  Some of the children even took teh tarik or bandung drink, absolutely soaking in the Indian ambience!

I thought it was almost time to return to school after the prata.. well, we boarded the bus but it was not headed back to school yet, one more stop -- the Central Sikh Temple.  To prepare to enter the temple, all of us must tie a scarf on our heads.  "It's a sign of respect." we were repeatedly told.

The Sikh temple visit is MY highlight of the trip.  I have always been intrigued by this big and clean-looking building as I rode past it in the bus frequently in my school days.  Over the years, the temple has been revamped and given a new look.. yet I have always wondered how it looks on the inside.  At last, I knew!

First of all, the temple is really as clean on the inside as it looks on the outside!  There is no statue or deities or any seeming object of worship!  In fact, its cleanliness is comparable to our Soka centres, juz that there are more warmth and cosiness in our Soka centres.

Before we were led into the main prayer hall on the second floor, we were congregated for a briefing by the temple in charge.  He introduced the Sikh religion and its origin.  Essentially, the Sikhs abide by the Holy Book, which was written by 10 gurus who lived in different periods.

The one thing I was most impressed with is that the Sikh belief regards men and women as equals.  Even women having their period are able to enter and participate in the prayers!  As a Nichiren Buddhist, of course I am completely at ease with men and women being equal, but having came straight from a Hindu temple, I am all the more impressed with this small group of Indians with such a different philosophy from the Hindus!

We were first given a tour in the communal kitchen and dining area.  As the word communal suggests, anyone can walk into the kitchen and start to cook for other people; similarly, anyone can walk into the dining area and eat the cooked food, free of charge, even if you are not a Sikh.  As everyone there is on a voluntary basis, one is expected to put back his tray after his meal.

The worship hall is on the second floor.  An unexpected sight greeted us -- a pretty large water feature, a small waterfall pool in fact!

Their worship hall is very big and round and clean!  In fact, it is rather bare too, except for the pavilion which 'houses' the Holy Book, a little rostrum, a little stage where two or three drummers can sit down and strum.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the Sikh temple and introduction of the Sikh faith.  Although that Sikh in-charge told us anyone can enter the temple as long as they cover their heads, I don't think I will lay foot into this nice place again.. (^_^)

At the end of the Heritage Tour and back into HIPS, I was thoroughly exhausted..  Xuan's form teacher, Ms Martina Lim, is a very sincere lady.  She asked four students in the class to make four different Thank You cards for the four parent volunteers and made everyone in the class, including the form and Chinese teachers sign on it.  Hehee.. Xuan drew one of the cards.  No wonder Xuan was so mysterious a few days back, asking for permission to do water painting for a card yet refusing to tell me for who and what the card is for...  Well, the one I received was drawn by Georgia.  (: 

A half-day well-spent indeed!!

Communal kitchen in the Sikh temple on first floor .. it's open to all

On the second floor, walking towards the main hall.. guess what they look at?

The children are looking at this!

children peering at Holy Book behind the Sikh ..

the Holy Book, written by 10 gurus, which everyone can go up to read ..

front: the Holy Book; back: the very clean and almost bare hall ..

the children receiving the sacred food outside the hall ..

where the Holy Book rests every evening after the 5th prayer