Friday, March 23, 2012
"Change and Continuity" in The River System/ River Profile and Ancient Civilisation
1. Based on your observation along the Singapore River and inferences, explain the activities that are carried out along the river during the early days and present days.
As you can see above in a modern picture of the Singapore River, at the top right hand corner, there is a lane of former shop houses. Shop houses are shops which function like normal shops on the first level of the building while having the second or upper floor as living quarters for the people working in the shop. Although the concept of "shop houses" are no longer frequently seen in Singapore nowadays, the shop houses are still in functioning as - restaurants, hawkers, provisions shops.
2. Using Photographic evidences, do you think that the shape course of the Singapore River will change in the future? Justify your answers.
The Singapore river has changed and will changed in the future as the Singapore river is now part of the Marina Reservoir after damming it at its outlet to the sea to create a new reservoir of freshwater. This will come to be known as the "Marina Barrage". Also, the original mouth of the Singapore River emptied into Singapore Straits and its southern islands before major land reclamation took place, the Singapore River now empties into Marina Bay - an area of water partially enclosed by the reclamation work. The Port of Singapore is now located to the west of the island, using most of the south-west coast, and passenger ships to Singapore now typically berth at the Singapore Cruise Centre at HabourFront. This meant that the core of the Singapore River's businesses has shifted away from the one of trading to the one of tourism and aesthetics. With the ever growing economy in the world, it would be safe to say that the Singapore River might have a change in its focus in the Future.
3. Identify one civilisation that you would discuss how people in the civilisation deal with their constraints and how their responses contribue to the social, cultural and technological changes that occurred in Asia.
Artefact's Name: Bronze Coin
Purpose Of Artefact: (Constraints) There was no base currency for trading in the ancient Chinese civilisation. This caused a problem where trading was not as "fair" or "effective". (Change) With the bronze coin, trading was a much simpler tasks and one could replace materialistic possessions in the world as substitute to the coin.
Differences (Modern Day vs Past): There is not much differences between the coins, accept the inclusion of notes in the money system (1), coins are made up of zinc and copper (2) and they are used more frequently in trading and commerce then in the past (3).
2. Using Photographic evidences, do you think that the shape course of the Singapore River will change in the future? Justify your answers.
The Singapore river has changed and will changed in the future as the Singapore river is now part of the Marina Reservoir after damming it at its outlet to the sea to create a new reservoir of freshwater. This will come to be known as the "Marina Barrage". Also, the original mouth of the Singapore River emptied into Singapore Straits and its southern islands before major land reclamation took place, the Singapore River now empties into Marina Bay - an area of water partially enclosed by the reclamation work. The Port of Singapore is now located to the west of the island, using most of the south-west coast, and passenger ships to Singapore now typically berth at the Singapore Cruise Centre at HabourFront. This meant that the core of the Singapore River's businesses has shifted away from the one of trading to the one of tourism and aesthetics. With the ever growing economy in the world, it would be safe to say that the Singapore River might have a change in its focus in the Future.
3. Identify one civilisation that you would discuss how people in the civilisation deal with their constraints and how their responses contribue to the social, cultural and technological changes that occurred in Asia.
The civilisation that our group chose to carry out the discussion on the Chinese civilization. Their responses that contributed to the social, cultural and technological changes were as seen below:
Purpose Of Artefact: (Constraints) There was no base currency for trading in the ancient Chinese civilisation. This caused a problem where trading was not as "fair" or "effective". (Change) With the bronze coin, trading was a much simpler tasks and one could replace materialistic possessions in the world as substitute to the coin.
Differences (Modern Day vs Past): There is not much differences between the coins, accept the inclusion of notes in the money system (1), coins are made up of zinc and copper (2) and they are used more frequently in trading and commerce then in the past (3).
Artefact's Name: Tea Cups
Purpose Of Artefact: (Change) The change with the tea cups was not mainly focused on the design and product itself, whereas its more orientated on its own cultural aspect.
Differences (Modern Day vs Past): In the product itself, not much has changed but the use of purpose of this product has changed quite a lot. Some of these changed are: tea cups have been replaced by mugs for drinking (1), they are as frequently used for cultural traditions (2) and the designs used were not as intricate in modern day as they were in the past (3).
Artefact's Name: Cotton Clothing
Purpose Of Artefact: (Constraints) In the past, there were not many efficient items that clothing could be made from, (Change) hence cotton was used as it was comfortable and relatively cheap and easy to manufacture then other materials at the point in time.
Differences (Modern Day vs Past): The product has changed greatly over the years, some of these changes are: shirts in modern day may not be made up of natural cotton (1), the style of clothing greatly differs between modern day and past clothing (2) and the clothing is now machine made and made in masses rather than sewn (3).
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