Day 14 - Sports and The Students Posted by SuperJuniorF , Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 11:37 PM, in

Clear skies today are putting smiles on the everyone's face. I was weak and still recovering from yesterday but I tried my best to put on a smile. Today after class, I met one of the teachers from Ngee Ann Polytechnic who was teaching the students here in WUST. He commented, "Look at the students here, they are so quiet while doing their tutorial. The students in Singapore are like monkeys during tutorial class." Come to think of it, it is actually quite true what he said! From experience, most students take tutorial classes for granted and never make full use of it. The purpose of tutorial classes is to make sure students understand the module as lectures may be confusing sometime. However, students in Singapore use tutorial time to relax and take a break rather than using the time wisely. Look at how diligent the China students are during tutorial class! It gives me the motivation to work harder. ^_^

Study hard, play hard. When I think of those 4 words, I think of the students in China. The moment I step out of my dormitory on this fine day, every where I turn, every where I look, people are playing sports. In total there are about 10 basketball courts, more than 10 badminton courts and more than 10 table tennis tables. This is the first time I see so many sports facilities in one area but it is not the first time I saw so many people playing sports at the same time in Wuhan. In Wuhan, the 3 most popular sports are basketball, table tennis and badminton. It is not surprising since China's national athletes are performing really well in these areas. Yao Ming is a professional basketbal player who playes for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He represents China on the world stage playing in world championships and Olympic games. Lin Dan is the current dominant player in the world of badminton. He is the only player in badminton history to have won three singles world championship titles having done so consecutively in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Ma Long is a table tennis player and is currently ranked 1st in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). Recently in 2009, he was the champion for the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals and also for the ITTF Tournament of Champions.

Yao Ming, Basketball

Lin Dan, Badminton

Ma Long, Table Tennis

Well back to the non-professionals, everyone, mostly the students and some of the senior citizens here love sports! In the morning when I head out for school, I saw a group of senior citizens playing table tennis together and honestly, they are good! I have been living in Singapore for about 18 years now I have never seen a group of senior citizens playing table tennis! The only thing I have seen senior citizens in Singapore do is Tai Chi. However I think making this comparison is one sided because table tennis is not very popular in Singapore. Moreover, Singaporeans have to pay in order to even use the table tennis table which makes Singaporeans even more reluctant to play the game.

That was in the morning. In the afternoon after school, my friends and I decided to join in the fun and play badminton! To our dismay, every court with two standing poles are booked. So we have to settle with the only court in the area that has one pole. So to make it fair, after Si Hao became the pole, I became the pole too ! It was an interesting experience being the pole, it allows me to feel what the pole will feel if it was alive. ^_^ Somehow after being in China, I lost my sense of shameness. Even in Singapore, I would feel embarressed if I were to become the pole for a badminton court. However after being immersed in Wuhan, I am able to block out the thought of what people might think of me. I think may be most of the people here have the same mentality, that is why I am able to do the same. ^_^

Next thing that I am going to touch on is the attire that the Chinese students wear while playing sports, mainly badminton. Compare what we Singaporeans are wearing and compare what the China students are wearing.

China students wearing jeans and dresses

Singaporean students wearing sports attire

As you can see from the photos, dressing is not an issue for the chinese students. They wear basically jeans, t-shirt, jackets, and some of the girls are even in dresses and tights! I do not think it is possible to see this in Singapore because firstly, the weather is warm in Singapore, secondly it is uncomfortable to play in such attire, lastly, Singaporeans are concern with appearance. As you can see from the photos again, even though it is cold, Singaporeans still wear shorts and shirts when playing sports. From this I infer that it is no more about the weather or the appearance but about the comfort level and habit. Singaporeans are so used to wearing sports attire when playing sports that even in cold weather, they are able to withstand cold due to habits. This is the difference between Singaporeans and the Chinese people. The standard of living in Singapore is so high that even when it comes to exercising, comfort is something that must also be taken into consideration. ^_^

Reflection

Even when there is one free badminton court in the middle of 5 high rise flats, it will still be empty throughout the day. However in Wuhan, even though there are more than 10 badminton courts, all 10 badminton courts will be full. May be this is the reason why most of the chinese in Wuhan are not overweight even though they eat a lot. They exercise, thus burning off their calories and at the same time remaining fit and healthy. In my opinion, I think even though China is a less developed country, but in terms of keeping fit and healthy, they are number 1. Singaporeans come to China complaining about the oily food and also the condition of the country where there are rubbish here and there. However despite the country's condition, the people knows how to take care of themselves. Just imagine how strong China would be if they were as developed as Singapore and their people are still as hardworking as they are now. They would be a country many will fear. ^_^