Toa Payoh trail

Toa Payoh Trail project under the Love Toa Payoh East Movement has indeed stirred many nostalgic emotions within me... Toa Payoh is my hometown and playground as have many great friends and neighbours here. I hope that by taking on this learning journey, I will be able to network with those whose hearts have been etched with pleasant and fond memories of Toa Payoh.

When i was approached by the teachers at first, i thought i was in trouble for whatever reasons. But when i found out it was about the project, i felt shocked because it was my 1st time doing a very big project.

The difficulties i faced was finding the necessary information. Its hard to summarise the information up when you're bombarded with informations from everywhere. Sometimes, the members could not meet up and we had a tough time to sort things out. However, with members co-operation and patience, we managed to tackle this together.

Ah, yes, the Flash animation. Its so hard that i almost gave up. Even if there is a slight mistake to edit the picture, it will screw up everything and you have to start again from scratch. But, practice makes perfect.

My group was in charge of the Toa Payoh Interchange. For me, i discovered alot more about the interchange. For example, it was the first air-condtioned Bus Interchange in Singapore. How interesting is that? The interchange is also bigger and I see alot of people there often when im coming home from school.

Zul-qisti

Hi!
I was surprised when the teachers approached me. I also felt proud and honoured to be part of this trail. Its exciting to research and know more about your neighbourhood.

The difficulties encountered were about the time. We worked in groups, so I did not have time to meet up regularly. It was hard to balance school work, my cca and the trail. I had to manage my time carefully so that our training sessions does not crash. Sometimes we also had difficulty finding the information I want as most of the website gives similar information.

The skills we have learnt is the Flash Amination. It requires alot of patience because we need to follow the steps to make an attactive animation. I really must thank Archie on that as he helped me through the process of making. It was a great experience.

My research was about the Queen Elizabeth coming to our Toa Payoh housing development board. In the 1990s, that time singapore was known for their flats, HDB. the Queen came to visit singapore to learn about the flats. Then again, she came during the 21th century to our neighbourhood. I remembered she wore a green striking hat that day as we crowded around the HDB flats. Its fun and interesting to learn about what Toa Payoh used to be, how it came about and on... I have enjoyed myself during the process of learning.

zhongyi

When I was first approached by the teachers to research on Toa Payoh, I was shock and surprised because I never expect myself will get into this Toa Payoh Trail. I felt honoured that I can be in this team, working with all the members, was also a great experience for me.

The diffcult part I experienced was that the research info was diffcult to search on. Nt able to find alot info on my research was a big problem to me. But at last, through days of researching, I am able to find info about my research.

I was to attend a workshop about learning of FLASH. Is quite interesting and fun to do with it, dicussing with teammates how are we going to do, are also fun too. We exchange our opinions and then decide what to do. It was a great experience for me.

Researching of tree temples tells me that it is a chinese temple which the buddhist can pray.

aileen

Hello to all(:

Toa Payoh is a rather interesting place as there are all the facilities needed for oneself. Like the stadium, swimming complex & shopping malls!
When I was first selected to do this project, I was feeling thrill, but at the same time, not knowing how to go about doing it as perfect as i could. But because i had a great team- Jolie & ZhongYi, we were quite successful in the research part. We trekked to alot of places in Toa Payoh just to do interviews & the most tedious part was to stay up all night just to make a trip to the night market near the school. Jolie & i were all very tired, but coming to think that since it's part of our project, we had to do something significant to impress ourselves & prove others wrong. However, it was not included into this project.(But, we certainly had fun!)
As what Jolie had said, we went to many places. & i think to both of us, the most memorable part was the research done in the library. We had to make alot of trips up & down between the floors just to get the resources we want. But all hardwork has not gone down the drain because there're groups using our research(:
The Flash Animation was also quite interesting. We learnt alot from the workshop organised by Ms Lee & i'm grateful for her guidance throughout the workshop. I had alot of problems doing the flash because it was tough & i received help from my teammates & classmates.

Thank you to all the teachers who has helped me in one way or another.

- Shanhui (:

Well, I feel quite honoured when I got selected. I learnt alot, mainly about Toa Payoh & much more. I was given encouragement by teachers & friends, & that's what that got me continue going through into all these experience.

What I found out about Toa Payoh is that it was once an extensive and notorious squatter district. Most squatters were engaged in farming and rearing pigs. The others were hawkers, factory workers, mechanics or domestic helpers. & as Archie said, Toa Payoh is a Hokkien language reference to "big swamp" (toa is "big" and payoh means "swamp"). The Malay word for swamp is "Paya". The reference indicates the large swampy area that preceded the later development of Chinese market gardens in this area. Lol.

Also, I learnt alot of new skills for the Flash Animation lesson, & probably, I can learn more if I have the chance. I might forget some of the skills taught, but still, I had the experience & got the chance of trying them out. Hee. Thats all then.

- Qurrah

hello people.

when the teachers approach me, i was a little shock.

it was told that this groups of students were being chosen because we have the potential.

and the first thing which came into my mind was, "i have potential??"

however, i was very eager to try out new things, working with different people for one common target, which is to complete this project as fast as possible.

when workshops and meetings started, i was trying my best to keep up the work as well as my school work.

in the holidays, my group, zhongyi and shanhui, and i were out to do the project together, such as researching for information in the national library for hours, have interviews from different organisations, and walked around the whole toa paoyh to look for places that were once there and took pictures of them. the difficulties i had was unable to have a suitable timing that the group could sit down to do the project together. but we still manage to overcome it by doing it together once we were free. or we work individually, then we will compile our work together. each was given a job to do so no one was been left out.

there's a workshop during the last year holidays and it was about how to make websites and animation. it was kind of hard and it needs alot of patience to do that. i learnt how to use the photoshop to take parts of the picture that we wanted.

i have done quite a number of research regarding the history of ToaPayoh, however, some was not been used as part of the project as there were changes. i did a research on the ToaPayoh Garden. it was a very pleasant place for couples in the past. now it is still a pleasant place with a better environment suitable for all kinds of occasions. there's a restaurant in the ToaPaoyh garden ever since 198os.

this is a picture of the toapayoh garden restaurant in the 1980s.

pic taken from http://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/majong-at-toa-payoh/

but for now, it is more beautiful and the garden is a peaceful place.

Jolie:))

I feel happy because I finished the trail and I had fun doing it. I also got to know people from other classes which I do not usually talk to. I learned many things about Toa Payoh which I did not know before. I feel proud to have been part of the Toa Payoh trail and have contributed to the school. I also gained leadership from the trail.
I had difficulties in managing my Flash Animation because I did not really understand the how to go about with the animation. I find it hard to find information for the Toa Payoh trail too.
I learnt Flash Animation and also learnt an easier way to find information in the library and the net.
Toa Payoh stadium and the Toa Payoh swimming complex was once used for the olympics and many people used it to train. Nowadays, it used for soccer matches.

Ri Yan

When I was approached by the teachers to do this project, I didn't really know how to react because I myself was not sure of the history of Toa Payoh. I felt that this was going to be a bit of challenge because of the time constraint and that I have to spend hours on finding books about Toa Payoh but it was all worth it because now I know so much more about Toa Payoh. How it was once a big swamp to now towering bulidings all over and bustling people walking around. I felt happy and relieved at the same time because we were able to find loads of information and that I had play a part in letting people know more about Toa Payoh.

Mainly the difficulties that I experienced was spending alot time in the library under the cold. As there were many books, it takes some time to find the right book and I had to read it if I needeed the information for the trail. It was also difficult to find suitable pictures for the trail. Another challenge for me was the Flash Animation as I spent hours trying to make it look nice and beautiful. Sometimes, it does not turn out what I expected it to be and it frustated but nonetheless, with patience, I managed to complete it.

I have been equipped with the skills of Flash Animation and I attended a talk on finding the right information form the internet and books. It helped me alot because I was able to find the exact information I wanted. The flash animation also helped me because atleast now, I know a few tricks from Flash Animation.

I researched on the Toa Payoh Stadium and Swimming complex and found out that it was once used for the Olympics and that many people from other countries used the Stadium and the swimming complex to train then. Now, it is used for recreational activities and the stadium holds soccer matches and allows schools to hold their Sports Day Event there.

Jenina

My feelings when approached by the teachers to research on Toa Payoh.

Hello mate!Initially,when the teachers approached me, I felt that a research on Toa Payoh was a daunting task for me.Simply because i did not grow up in Toa Payoh:D and had little prior knowledge about this INTERESTING town!However,with the aid of the teachers,my interest grew.The teachers gave us a guideline on how to do a report on Toa Payoh.Our research skills was really useful and made our report excellent.

One of the things I learnt about this town was how the name Toa Payoh came about.Toa Payoh is actually derived from Hokkien language.It means Big swamp:D VERY INTERESTING FACT! HMMM.i wonder what lays under this swampy town.cya! toodles

ARCHIE

Introduction