Past Activities

CHRISTMAS GRADUATION PARTY ‘07

ASCEND will end the year in style with our Christmas Graduation party on Wednesday December the 19th.

As you can see from the photos from last years party there was lots of fun and laughter with students joining in the festive mood singing Christmas carols, playing games and eating the delicious food.

All our Students are invited and they can bring along a friend. Our students will be given their certificates and prizes will awarded to the top student and most improved student in each class.

We look forward to wishing all our students a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2008!

Deepavali Outing to Little India  - 05 November 2007

For the second part of Intermediate classes’ "trying out food from different countries" (last Monday we went for Vietnamese) Victoria, Annie and about 23 students (from IELTS and the 2 Intermediate classes) went on an outing to Little India Monday

November 5th to check out the Deepavali celebrations.

We had done some preparations with photos from last year, the internet and Karan Jit from our Intermediate class gave a brief introduction to Hinduism and the thousands of Hindu Gods.

We walked down Serangoon Rd to the temple admiring the decorations. In the temple we spent almost one and a half hours listening to Karan Jit telling us about the Gods. The evening service started with drums and clarinet, oil lamps, priests in tea-towels blessing people and us and many happy Indians praying and celebrating Deepavali. It was a fantastic experience, the students really enjoyed it and took tons of photos. After the temple we went to the big Deepavali market where we spent about half an hour. At around 8 pm. fifteen of us tried out some Northern Indian cuisine at the Delhi restaurant, which we also enjoyed.

A big thank you to our student Karan Jit for telling us about Hinduism, Deepavali and the Gods – thanks!

All in all a great evening and students from the different classes mixed and talked. Here are some extracts from essays that our students wrote on the evening:

“Yesterday, it was good going to Little India, seeing Indians praying to God
and having special meals. Thank you! I wish we could have the opportunity like this very soon”.
 Kurata Sachiyo, Japan, from morning intermediate class

“I was absolutely delighted with my schoolmates to join the festival. It helps me improve my knowledge with friends and we discussed the Deepavali origin. So I recommend it to anyone who wants to discover many different cultures”

Le Chi, Vietnam, from afternoon Intermediate Class

“As we know there are many gods in India. They have their religions and their great culture. Our class are all interested in it and like it. Then we went to a shopping market, there are many good things and they are very cheap. After shopping, we went to an Indian restaurant to have dinner. All the food is very good. That day we are all happy to have a chance to go to little India and know India’s culture”

Jorden, China, from morning intermediate class

“My classmates and I with afternoon class students went to little India to visit Indian Temple. There were many light decorations and they were very interesting. I was extremely delighted because I could get to know about Indian culture and people. From my point of view the most astonishing thing in little India were about many gods in the Hindu religion and the way of worshiping their gods. We also tasted Indian food that was absolutely terrific!”

Mohammad, Iran, from morning Intermediate class

“In my opinion the strong point of this outing is we can have dinner with our teacher and classmates at an Indian restaurant. It was wonderful for me to eat Indian food with us and we took a lot of photos talking with each other. I really enjoyed it”

Su Jian Wei ,China, from Intermediate morning class

Pitch Black, Singapore - 16 July 2007

24 students, Annie, Victoria, Isabel and Paul had a wonderful night of movie magic

The first ECA of Term 3 was a huge success as students from all levels of EGL got together to watch Sense & Sensibility. The students had read the Pre-Intermediate graded reader to help understand the story and characters better.

We walked over to Pitch Black www.pitchblack.com.sg , a café & cinema, where students purchased a minimum of $5 for free entry to the movie. Much coffee, wine and beer was had. Due to the madness Ascend caused, the movie started 30 minutes late, but no one really minded. The movie was enjoyed by most, especially those who had finished reading the book, but all had had a good night out. At the end of the movie the students clapped.

Our next ECA will be held on Saturday 21st July – Ballet under the Stars.

St Patrick's Day Parade, Singapore - 11 March 2007

St Patrick's Day is the National Day of Ireland and falls on the 17th March each year. ASCEND participated in this year's St Patrick’s Day parade in Singapore led by St Patrick in his unique attire.  At 3.30pm, students, staff and their family joined in the parade and marched from the riverfront of Boat Quay near the new Parliament building and ended at the opposite side of the river next to UOB Plaza. A crowd of over 3,000 people were entertained by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Band, the SPF Ladies Pipe and Drum Band, St Joseph’s Institution Pipes and Drums, the LaSalle-SIA percussion band and the St. Patrick’s School Band. Traditional Malay dancers from Nanyang Polytechnic, a Chinese Dragon Dance Troupe from NUS, a performance by Temasek Poly students, dancers from CHIJ (Toa Payoh) and Irish dancers and musicians all the way from Ireland added colour and activity to this cross-cultural celebration.

Cranes to Grains - 6 October 2006  to 7 February 2007

This community service project is organized by the SouthEast Community Development Council (SE CDC) and it has been on-going since October 06 right up to February 07. Overseas Students' Association (OSA)  is participating actively in this project and has invited more participants to join in to help the less fortunate by folding paper cranes during this period.  For every paper crane folded, a bowl of rice (100gm) will  be sponsored by Song He, a rice company .  The rice will then be sent to the needy homes and families (coordinated by CDC).  Pieces of paper are also sponsored by CDC.  

We are very proud of all our students here at  ASCEND for their time and effort  in making these paper cranes and contributing to society.

BBQ @ Paul's - 15 Feb 2007

A great night was had at Paul’s by 37 students, friends and staff of Ascend. On the menu was rice with chilli beef and sour cream, noodles with chicken drumsticks, hotdogs with onion, mustard and relish and Korean spicy pork (thanks to Candy (Upper Intermediate) and Claude (Pre Intermediate)). Lots of chatting, dancing and partying set the happy relaxed atmosphere. Student brought music from Russia, Korea and Europe to dance to.

Too many marshmallows were toasted to end the evening before Paul made all tidy up and help carry all the utensils back to his house, where MORE partying (Coffee. Whiskey, Water and Wine) was had and songs sung (Russian, Irish, Korean) until again, Paul THREW everyone out of his apartment at 1am!!

The BBQ was a tremendous success and all the students were eager to plan the next one. A special thank you to Candy (Up Int Korea) and Claude (Pre Int, Korea) for making and cooking the pork, to Daniel (Int, Indonesia) and Ken (Int, Korea) for helping cook and carry everything and to Stacy and Rachel (both Adv/Ielts, Korea) for making a beautiful salad.

THAIPUSAM - 1st Feb 2007

ASCEND students from all levels and their teachers, followed the THAIPUSAM procession, a colourful and ritualistic Hindu festival, from Selegie Road and walked all the way to the temple Sri Thandayuthapani Temple.  Some of them went into the temple and later joined the devotees on the area outside where they watched in awe as the priests removed the spikes and spears. They were fascinated by the way friends and family supported the devotees and by the fact that they do not bleed when the skewers are taken out.  Most of the  students were horrified and shocked at first but later impressed  as shown by their comments below.

"I met a devotee on the way to the temple. It was amazing! He pierced his cheek and tongue, and walked without shoes. Also, he also pierced his body and carried a Kavadi which is a steel structure.  

The highlight was when the hooks and needles were removed from his cheek and tongue, and his body which was linked to the kavadi. People around him were helping him. That looked like so painful. Thaipusam was  a memorable experience for me." - Ken, Korea (Intermediate)

"They don’t feel any pain in a trance state.It is amazing that blood doesn’t flow." - Sandy, Japan (Intermediate)

"They also pierce their mouth and tongue with big needles. I was gripped when I saw it.
It was amazing and it was the first time I have seen this kind of festival." - Daniel Aldy, Indonesia (Intermediate)

"I never felt frightened and horrified. Thaipusam is unforgettable for me. It has been on
my mind for days." - Mamiko, Japan (Upper Intermediate)

"I learnt from this festival that there is nothing that humans cannot do if they truly believe
and this is the most memorable festival in my life....." - Ma My Kay Khaing (KK), Myanmar (Advanced)

CHRISTMAS GRADUATION PARTY  - 21st  Dec 2006

A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

ASCEND ended the year in style with our Christmas Graduation party. As you can see from the photos, there was lots of fun and laughter with students joining in the festive mood singing Christmas carols, playing games and eating the delicious food.

Students were given their certificates and prizes were awarded to the top student and most improved student in each class. Well done to all students on graduating and best wishes from the Ascend Team for 2007. CHEERS!!!

THE DUOLOS - The world's biggest floating bookstore - 15th Nov 2006

Our teachers took their classes on a trip to the Duolos - the world's largest floating bookstore - docked at the Promenade at VivoCity. The novel bookshop, carrying more than 6000 titles, sailed into Singapore for the 14th time. The last time it came to the City was in 2001. Duolos, built in 1914, is on a charity mission to deliver new, yet affordable books, around the world. It has been sailing for the last 28 years and has visited over 100 countries. Last year, Duolos helped to build 25 libraries in Sri Lanka and delivered books to inmates in Bangkok.

The students enjoyed walking around the ship and looking at the books. For many students, it was their first time on a big ship. All in all, it was a good educational and social tour.

Our students' comments:

'We went to see a large book store at Harbour Front. It's unlike anything I've seen in Singapore. It's in a huge ship! This ship, called the Duolos, was built just 2 years after the Titanic. The scenery from the ship was spectacular.'-Taka (Japan)

'There were so many English books, dictionaries, etc. We could see Sentosa from the ship. After the tour on the ship, we had lunch with our classmates. We had such a great time!' -Gina (Japan)

LANTERN FESTIVAL - 5th Oct 2006

ASCEND staff and students, and their friends, celebrated the Lantern Festival at the Chinese Gardens in Singapore. It is held under the full moon in the fall of every year where a huge lake floats dozens of lanterns in all shapes and colours. Thousands of Singaporeans and tourists visit the gardens during the week of the Lantern Festival to see the spectacle. Many bring moon cakes, Chinese pastries eaten only at this time of the year, to have a picnic under the stars.

Some comments from our students:

'It has been a very exciting evening!'
'It's nice walking around together, talking and laughing.'
'How long has this institution (Ascend) existed?'
'It seems like a very good place to study.'

THE SAUDI ARABIAN FASHION AND ART SHOW - 21st Sep 2006

ASCEND staff and students were kindly invited to the official opening of the Saudi Arabian Fashion and Art Show at Marina Square. We were warmly welcomed with Arabic coffee and dates as well as some local culinary delights by our accommodating hosts. The Fashion show opened all our eyes to the colourful, ethnic, and chic designs of contemporary Saudi Arabian fashion. We were given a guided tour of the exhibition and were briefed on how oil plays such an important role in our daily lives and in the Saudi economy.

We also learnt about the artwork, jewellery and craftwork of Saudi Arabia. Our students were kindly presented with special packages containing CDs and books on the history and culture of Saudi Arabia. One of our students, Huong, who specialises in graphic design, took 'endless' photos. It was indeed an enlightening experience.

A special word of thanks to Hadi for his kind invitation to the event.

ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM - 25th Aug 2006

The students and their teachers went on a tour to The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) at Empress Place. The museum's aim is to promote a better appreciation of the rich cultures that make up Singapore's multi-ethnic society. Singapore's forefathers came to settle in Singapore from many parts of Asia within the last 200 years, the cultures brought to Singapore by these different people are far more ancient. This aspect of Singapore's history is the focus of the ACM.

The Museum's collection centres on the material cultures of the different groups originating from China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia. Over 1300 artefacts from these civilisations are on display.

Here is Paul, one of our teachers, in a traditional Chinese costume.

A comment from one of our students:

'It was very interesting and most educational.'

GAN ANIM - 17th Aug 2006

Over 20 students showed up with their friends at The Esplanade to watch Paul's (our English teachers) gig. Gan Anim is a band that plays Irish songs and music. It was a huge success. The students were at first shy, but then started clapping, swaying and cheering to the music.

Students' comments...:

'Paul sings very well.'
'He is quite handsome.'
'The last song was very moving.'

'On 17th Aug 2006, I want to Paul's concert. I was very surprised because I think he is a good singer. I couldn't believe the person on stage was my teacher. It was a great time for me. This was my first time going out with my friends and school mates.' - Ling (Thailand)

BALLET UNDER THE STARS - 30th July 2006

Our English teacher, Annie, with a few of her students and friends went to watch 'Ballet Under the Stars' at Fort Canning Park, Singapore. They made it into a real picnic with food, wine and candles. It was an incredible evening. Huong, our Vietnamese student said, 'It was magical. The atmosphere was fantastic.' It was her first time ever watching a ballet.