EDICT

This is about the Design Thinking process – Emphatize, Define, Ideate, Create and Test. The Design Thinking is a human-centred approach that will enable students to take on the role of a designer, step out of their comfort zone and see problems or challenges as opportunities to bring about change for the better of the community.

Emphatize

Our target audience is the school community. We wanted to show that Singapore has many Chinese dialect groups, and that they are all equal, living in harmony, thus decided to focus on not only Chinese food but branch out to the different dialects – Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Cantonese, Hainanese.

Define

It is no point if we just know Chinese culture, as we have to experience it on our own, to further understand it. One-off events like the Racial Harmony Day is not adequate in SAP schools, as students are only exposed to the different races on that one day. In addition, due to less exposure to people of different ethnic groups, students may not think that day important and just do not care about it. NYGH is also a SAP school, and we are not exposed to different races frequently. Thus, we do not have a deeper understanding of the other races’ culture. It is only when we experience it on our own, example having a Malay friend, then can we better understand the different races and people, and better prevent the inequality of the different races in Singapore.

Ideate

We chose to focus on the different Chinese dialect groups, and it is important as we do not just focus on Chinese food as a whole. Instead, we look into each specific dialect group, and can also learn how the food are different, how they originated, etc. Arranging the food together side by side also shows that the dialect groups are equal, and we should not be bias to one or two of them. For example, during one of the NYConnects session, a Teochew chef, Mr Ivan Teo, shared how he made those Teochew fusion dishes. Hence, we need not focus on one traditional food of a specific dialect group, but can combine the different dishes to create something new and special.

Create

Thus, we created traditional food from the different dialect groups, with Jumping Clay, and placed them together to show that the dialects are harmonious, instead of separated and arguing with one another.

below is our planning for the kuehs, and the final product (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

In the infographic board, we also included information on the different dialect groups.

Test