Mother Tongue
Vision:
Cultured and passionate learners of Mother Tongue Language
Mission:
To make the learning of Mother Tongue Language fun and to keep it as a living language
EXPOSURE
Theatre & Drama Appreciation
We believe that MTL is a living language. We want to develop students’ awareness of cultural identity and cultivate an appreciation of their cultural roots. Through going to the theatre, students are exposed to the use of MTL outside classroom settings. These experiences will help MTL to stay relevant to our students’ life.
The Chinese drama performances that we organised for our CL students this year include:
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Chinese Cross Talk Laughter For All Ages《相声老少乐2019》by 新风相声学会 on 4 July at SOTA Drama Theatre for Secondary 1 and 2, and
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Chinese Musical Play – Rock Guardians of the Sea 音乐剧——《守护海洋的神岛》by The Fool Theatre Ltd on 5 July at Drama Centre for Secondary 2 and 3.
Creative Writing Competition (Lower Sec)
The Creative Writing Competition aims to provide a platform for students to master their MTL. Sec 1 Chinese students will have the chance of being a news reporter, while the Secondary 2 students need to design a brochure which showcases the cultural aspects of our Nation. For Malay Language, the Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 students are given a topic and students are required to write the essays based on their knowledge and creativity.
Chinese Cultural Camp (Secondary 1)
All Secondary 1 Chinese students will be participating in the Chinese Cultural Camp, where they sign up for cultural related workshops such as making of mooncakes, Chinese chess, Chinese fan painting and Wushu based on their interest and preference.
EXTENSION
MTL Fortnight - Learning Journey and Workshops
To create a more robust learning environment for students to use MTL, and with the goal to kindle students’ interest in the languages through novel and exciting ways, we invite external instructors to conduct workshops and we also bring students out for learning journey. Some examples are “Drama Workshop”, “River Hongbao Tour”, “Cultural Heritage Walk”, “Mid-Autumn Festival Tea Culture Learning Journey and “Fun-with-Riddles Workshop”.
ML students enjoying themselves during MTL Fortnight!
Secondary 1 students learning about ‘Wayang Kulit’ or Shadow Puppets. Students were tasked to create their own puppets and come up with a story line to act out using their puppets.
Secondary 2 and Secondary 3 Normal (Technical) students were given an opportunity to learn about acting and dramatization from a theatre company. It was clear that the students welcomed the opportunity to express themselves in many ways.
Secondary 3 Express and Normal (Academic) students were enrolled into a workshop – Pentas Peribahasa or Transforming Idioms into a short skit. They had the opportunity to experience the idioms on a more personal level and deeper understanding. After which, they had the chance to act out and get their fellow peers to guess the idioms.
EXCELLENCE
Competitions
In order to stretch our students to maximize their full potential, our teachers will identify and encourage students to participate in various competitions. We have achieved 2 Golds and 1 Silver in the National Malay Language Creative Competition.
As finalist, AUNI SYAURAH and SRI PUTRI PUTIH had to go through another round of creative writing at the competition venue.
In preparation of the National Malay Language Debate Competition, Secondary 4 Express students went through an internal debate competition in class. Through the session, best speakers were selected to represent the school.
During the prestigious 4PM Debate Competition, our school compete against Tanjong Katong Secondary School and we won the first round being MUHAMMAD DANIAL M K emerged as Best Speaker (below).
For the next two rounds with Commonwealth and Bartley Secondary Schools, we were unable to proceed to the Finals. Nevertheless, the debaters learned valuable lessons and acquired confidence throughout the whole experience.
For National Malay Poetry Recital Competition at Raffles Girls School, ARISSA NADYNE M R wrote and recited a poetry entitled Sang Nila. Sang Nila Utama’s pursuit of his dream through the discovery of Singapore Island truly inspired Arissa and thus the poetry. Below is her entry.
Sang Nila Pemacu Jaya
Terpacak tegap nama Sang Nila Utama
Di sana kau inginkan pulau idaman
Di sana kau inginkan ketenteraman
Pulau indah dan bersih
Ombak mendayu-dayu
Pasir pantai putih berbuih
Menjadi penyeri hati yang rintih
Malangnya dalam engkau meniti pulau itu
Kau dilanda onak dan duri
Tatkala bahtera dilayari
Malam gelap kilat menerangi
Guruh dan taufan turut menemani
Namun Sang Nila, kau teguh berdiri
Menghadap lautan bergelora
Yang lapar menggila kerana inginkan mahkota
Kau sanggup berkorban
Biar mahkota hilang abadi
Asalkan pulau menjadi idaman hati
Asalkan anak kapal setia berdiri
Kau berjuang dengan berani
Tanpa rasa gentar dan rugi
Kau cekal dengan pulau idaman hati
Akhirnya bahtera melabuhkan tirainya
Kau terpersona dengan serinya
Kini kau berada di pulau idaman
Namun secara tiba-tiba
Seekor singa datang menerpa
Kau merenung mata Si Singa
Kau dan singa bertentangan mata
Sinar matanya memukau jiwa
Akhirnya kau menang dalam renungan itu
Kerana kau tahu nilai pulau ini
Pulau ini idaman hati
Lalu kau namakan pulau ini Singapura
Kini terpacak tegap nama Sang Nila Utama
Aku menganggapmu sebagai idola
Kerana kau langsung tidak berpaling tadah
Kau teguh bertekad memahat sejarah
Sang Nila Utama
Kau di sanubari anak Singapura
Arissa Nadyne M R
Sekolah Menengah Greendale
26 Mac 2019
NURUL UMAIRAH N R’s poetry was about Badang in which entails the strength of Malay folk character in his search of his true self through the various challenges that he faced.
Monolog Si Badang
Wahai Badang gagah perkasa
Berani melawan sesiapa sahaja
Kau menarik kapal dua bahtera
Kau menjulang batu Singapura
Kau gagah Badang kaulah perkasa
Tidak! Aku bukan yang kau maksudkan
Malah aku hina
Aku dicemuh tanpa belasan
Kerna aku kurang berdaya
Aku insan kerdil dan lemah
Siapakah diri ku ini?
Aku masih mencari-cari
Aku rasa kehilangan
Setelah aku makan muntah itu
Muntah itu telah meracuni jiwaku
Siapakah Badang sebenarnya?
Seorang pengecut yang tiada maruah
Memakan muntah sebagai ganti
Hanya membuktikan keberanian
Yang tidak pernah wujud sama sekali
Tetapi aku percaya kegagahanmu luar biasa
Kau bertarung nyawa
Kau mengalahkan semua
Mungkin kau masih belum mengerti
Kekuatan dan kegagahanmu
tersemadi di dalam diri
Kau kuat bukan kerana muntah
Kau kuat bukan kerana jin yang menggoda
Sebenarnya keberanian sudah ada pada dirimu
Di hati ini tergulung sebuah harapan
Jika kau Badang dapat membela
Izinkan aku membela masa depanku
Demi negara yang ku cinta
Demi kasih dan hak insani
Demi memartabatkan manusiawi
Aku sanggup berusaha
Kerana aku ingin menjadi sepertimu Badang
Keberanianmu menjadi nilaiku
Ketekalanmu menjadi budayaku
Kejayaanmu menjadi sejarahku
Nurul Umairah N R
Sekolah Menengah Greendale
26 March 2019
Some other competitions that our students have participated includes the National Secondary School Chinese Newspaper Editing Competition, Creative Writing and Photo-taking Competition.