The Night Zafari Experience

Today was tiring but really, really fun.

Hwa Chong Institute Flag Ceremony

We were formally introduced to the Hwa Chong Institution community. A flag raising event was held in the central plaza to welcome and introduce us to the HCI students and teachers. They welcomed us to their beautiful and impressive school, and we were really thankful for their warm hospitality.  

Afterwards, we attended classes, which they refer to as lectures and tutorials. Hwa Chong’s learning system was different from ours, but was good as well.

Lecture Hall

Classrooms

A lecture is a one way discussion from one speaker to students of around 200 in number. Students just listen to the speaker, take down notes, but may not yet ask questions. After the lecture, students go to their respective subject teachers for tutorials to further discuss the lesson, answer exercises and ask certain question that they have. We got a chance to understand new topics and experiences the Hwa Chong way.

At the Singapore Zoo Entrance
(L-R) Zyra, Sam, Bianchi, Ferdie, Jeks, Renzo

At around four, we left for the Singapore Zoo while Mr. Jayson Bingcang, together with the two Japanese teachers, went to the Asian Civilizations Museum.

The zoo has a great variety of species. It was really big, fun, and interesting. We saw animals like snakes, elephants, lions, otters, really big turtles, giraffes, zebras, baboons, tigers, monkeys, flamingos and other wild animals.

After visiting the zoo, we went to the Night Safari. While eating dinner, we watched a very cool presentation where men played with fire. He did a lot of tricks with the fire such as throwing it up high in the air and catching it again. When he blows the fire, an amazing effect was created.

Also, we took the Leopard Trail inside the Night Safari and it was an experience similar to a horror movie as we followed a path through the forest to view an exhibit of nocturnal animals. We passed by the wooden bridge and it was really cool because we scared each other by jumping, which made the bridge shaky.

Then, we went to watch another presentation entitled “Creatures of the Night” which showed some of the tricks done by nocturnal animals such as owls, binturongs and civets. After the presentation, we rode a tram for the safari experience. We followed a path that cut through the forest. Left and right, we saw animals up close, in their natural habitat.

The safari was composed of a similar but smaller version of eight geographical locations in the world. These regions included India, Africa, Himalayas, South America, Asian forests and others.

They displayed the unique animals to be found in that region. Animals we saw included lions, elephants, hyenas, flamingos, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and bears. A few unique ones were the Malaysian tapir, gaur, markor, bharal, babirusa, red dhole, giant anteater, capibara and different kinds of deer such as the serval, thamin and barasingha. 

The zoo and the safari serve as a sanctuary to these endangered species and as a place for people to appreciate them. Seeing these animals sparked hope in each one of us that we could strive for a better world, not just for us humans, but for every organism here on Earth.

by: Samantha Fusingan