Holiday Homework-Part 1: Understanding the "The Elderly Challenge"-Tan Jianhui

Q1. a. Elder-friendly housing: Singapore has been successful in making a lot of homes for people. As the population of Singapore is ageing, more elderly people means that the requirement of elder-friendly environments are needed. So one of the recommendation is to equip the housing environments with age-sensitive features. 

b. Barrier-free society: In order for our seniors to live independently and engage actively in society, the environment around them must provide unhindered access from homes to public places, communal and recreational facilities. So one of the recommendation is to have elder-friendly buses to move around Singapore more easily. 

c. Holistic affordable healthcare and eldercare: As the elderly require more healthcare, Singapore will need to ensure that its seniors are well taken care of. So one of the recommendation is to top up Medisave accounts of less well-off Singaporeans when there are budget surpluses. 

d. Active lifestyles and well-being: The elderly can still contribute to their families, communities and society meaningfully, so Singaporeans, both young and old, must adopt positive attitudes towards ageing and seniors. So one of the recommendation is to set up a fund to seed more programmes and activities for seniors and by seniors. 

Q2. One recommendation suggested by the CAI report is to make all HDB housing estates barrier-free across Singapore. This will allow seniors to move out of their homes and into the community; and participate actively in society. 

Q3. a. Top up Medisave accounts of less well-off Singaporeans when there are budget surpluses that the Government can share with the people. 

b. Family physicians should play an important role in the management of healthcare needs for seniors. 

Q4. a. Maybe we can use recycled materials when "upgrading" the houses. 

b. Always help them when you see them in need. 

c. Have more involvement in CIP regrading the elderly. 

Personal Reflection (NEWater visit)

The 3 takeaways from today's visit is
We need to conserve water, the four national taps supply us with water and NEWater's method of supplying water.

Two concepts I learned today:
We need more water resources to ensure a constant water supply and the processes of how NEWater clean water.

I learned that NEWater is very safe for human consumption but yet NEWater does not advertise about their products and sell it to industries and commercial places instead.

By actively participating in conserving water, or if possible, improve the methods or even develop new methods.

Personal Reflection (8th Mar 2010)

3 takeaways from today's lesson:
1. Our purpose must be clear.
2. Summarise all texts.
3. Be prepared for questions.


2 concepts I have learnt today pertaining to design 
1. Drawing must be simple and clear
2. Research on the design must be sufficient in order to ensure originality. 


Why is it important to design?
They are essential because they ensure that the target audience understands the purpose and the function of the design. 


The most interesting thing I learnt today is that far-fetched ideas can lead to innovative opportunities. 

Photography-People

This Mac corner is the "hospital" for friends of Macs only! (Malfunctioned due to too much gaming and homework at the same time). 

Science park? No, it is a science garden - a garden in the School of Science and Technology, Singapore. Or a garden for future scientists and engineers to talk and think!

Who knew what they were talking about? 

Surely, gossip loh!  

How do I know?

You see, nothing on the table at the canteen! Definitely not for lunch la!

Behind the science park, I mean, behind this park! What do you see behind this park? Some buildings under the blue sky with floating clouds - yah,  poetic enough! 

They are not footballers, although there is a goal post at the right hand side of the picture. 

Some of them are hopping on the grass, so they are "grasshoppers", aren't they?

There is no specific time for photography as nowadays new technology offers all possibilities for photographers to take photos at any place, any time, any circumstances. 

Photography

Different types of photography:

1. Aerial photography
2. Animal photography
3. Baby photography 
4. Concert photography
5. Digital stock photography
6. Exterior architecture photography
7. Infrared photography
8. Landscape photography
9. Macro photography
10. Night photography
11. Panoramic photography
12. Photo journalism
13. Portrait photography
14. Satellite photography
15. Sports photography
16. Stock photography
17. Street photography
18. Sub-miniature photography
19. Time lapse photography
20. Travel photography 
21. Underwater photography
22. Video photography
23. Wedding photography

Basic camera equipment:

1. Lenses
2. Filters
3. Flash
4. Camera bag
5. Camera
6. Cases
7. Tripod
8. Cable releases
9. Remote light meters

Aperture refers to the lens diaphragm opening inside a photographic lens. The size of the diaphragm opening in a camera lens regulates the amount of light passing through onto the film inside the camera the moment when the shutter curtain in camera opens during an exposure process. 

Focus refers to the adjusting of the range that affects the distance from where the object is photographed. 

Shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’. It controls the amount of time that your film, or digital sensor, is exposed to light. In effect, the shutter determines what image is captured on your film.

ISO in ISO Speeds stands for International Standards Organisation and a few decades ago they came up with a standard for measuring the speed of film called the ISO Speed. The speed of a film(ISO speed) is the measure of how fast the film responds to light. A low ISO speed means a film responds slowly to light, a fast ISO speed means the film responds quickly.

Metering is a process which involves the camera taking a light level reading from the scene and selecting the appropriate combination of aperture and shutter speed to set the required exposure value.

White balance is getting the colours in your images as accurate as possible.

Composition (Rules): Rule of Thirds, Golden Section Rule, Diagonal Rule

Techniques (elements)

• Centre of interest
• Subject placement
• Simplicity
• Viewpoint and camera angle
• Balance
• Shapes and lines
• Pattern
• Volume
• Lighting
• Texture
• Tone
• Contrast
• Framing
• Foreground
• Background
• Perspective

Difference between Isometric, Oblique and Orthographic Drawing

An Isometric drawing is a method of visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions, in which the three coordinate axes appear equally foreshortened and the angles between any two of them are 120 degrees. It is used in technical and engineering drawings.

An Oblique drawing is a simple type of graphical projection used for producing pictorial, two-dimensional images of three-dimensional objects.

An Orthographic drawing is a means of representing a three-dimensional object in two dimensions. It is a form of parallel projection, where the view direction is orthogonal to the projection plane, resulting in every plane of the scene appearing in affine transformation on the viewing surface.

  Orthographic drawingoblique drawing

Definition of the theme- Environment

The environment is the circumstances, objects or conditions surrounding a person. The environment can influence a person or affect a person’s growth, so choosing an appropriate environment is essential.  For instance, the example of 孟母三迁. 孟子 was affected by the environment he lived in; when he stayed near a market, he begun to talk like a businessman and had many ideas of making money. When he moved near a cemetery, he began to imitate the cries of the family members of the lost loved one. Finally, when he moved near a school, he started to like studying. From this example, we can see how the environment can greatly affect a person’s life.

Another definition is specifically related to design and technology, such as architecture, landscaping, interior setting/design which deals with manipulation and function of space. 

Sources:

1. influences, stresses (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/environment.html)
2. the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment