Brunei
The school organised a Virtual Overseas Immersion Programme (VOIP) to Brunei for 34 identified P5 Malay Language students on Wed, 8 Mar 2023 (Part 1) and Wed, 20 Sep 2023 (Part 2) with the following objectives:
- To expose students to the culture of Brunei School through virtual interaction with the school students
- To provide opportunities for students to develop their communication skills in Malay Language (ML)
- To inculcate the appreciation of Brunei culture in an experiential manner
- To promote cross-cultural sensitivity & understanding in our students by having the opportunity to experience being student ambassadors of Singapore.
On 8 March 2023, the students were brought on a tour to the outskirts of Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and Kampong Ayer. The livestream video experience with the tour guide was interactive to keep the students immersed with the virtual reality setting. The students asked questions about Brunei and learned the way of life of the people living in Kampong Ayer. It was fascinating for the students to understand the self-sufficiency of Kampong Ayer with accessibilities to a floating hospital, police post and a fire station despite being far away from the mainland.
The students learned the techniques of basket weaving and afterwards, put on their creative hats to produce their very own original patterns showing resilience, skill, concentration, and patience throughout the activities. They also attempted Brunei batik painting and different techniques used in Brunei’s batik like marbling, airbrushing, and sprinkling, uniquely different from those in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The highly anticipated activity was the school interaction between our students and students from Sekolah Tunas Jaya PGGMB Lambak. Conducted on 20 September 2023, the session provided opportunities for our students to enhance their use of the Malay Language authentically. They shared about the subjects and programmes offered by UPS and the places of interest, food and festivals in Singapore.
Needless to say, the students thoroughly enjoyed the VOIP to Brunei Darussalam.