ACTIVITY 1: IT’S MORE

FUN IN ASIA
IDENTIFY THE COUNTRY
WHERE THE FOLLOWING
LANDMARKS/BEAUTY
SPOTS CAN BE FOUND
 Answer:
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Siem Reap is the capital of the province
Siem Reap in Cambodia. One of their
most famous sites to visit is the Angkor
Wat temple. Besides that, they have
many more temples, museums, the Old
Market and the Cambodian Cultural
Village.
 Answer:
As one of the UNESCO World
Heritage Sites, this bay is a must-visit.
There exists over 3,000 islands and it
is inhabited by about 1,600 people
living in floating villages. To make
the most out of your visit, you should
take a cruise and experience life from
the water.
 Answer:
Taj Mahal, Agra, India
In 1632 an Emperor started with the
construction of a mosque to
commemorate his favorite wife. It was
finished in 1648 and it is the jewel of the
muslim community in India. It has
beautiful gardens, symbolizing paradise,
or a heaven on earth.
 Answer:
Great Wall of China
This massive structure was originally built
as a defense wall. With a length of 3945
miles, it is the longest wall on earth. Many
parts of the Wall have been damaged and
are no longer accessible. To see the Great
Wall yourself, you best go to
Qinhuangdao or Beijing.
 Answer:
Bali, Indonesia
Sun, a deep blue sea and long beaches.
Bali could be the tropical paradise for
you!
Besides the beach, you can also visit
caves, dive or visit temples. With a great
climate and different places to discover,
this is an amazing island to visit.
 Answer:
Banaue Rice Terraces,
Philippines
Banaue is a small town in the Philippines.
It is well known for the rice terraces. The
rice terraces were handmade many years
ago and are now part of the UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
 Answer:
The Shwedagon Pagoda is the
biggest, most sacred Buddhist
pagoda in Maynmar. It is 325 feet
tall, covered in gold and has over
7,000 gems. It is said to be over
 2,500 years old, but there are no
existing construction papers.

Why do we need to know

more about our Asian
neighbors?
 How does effective
communication serve as
our bridge to them?
What does it take to be
an efficient
communicator?

DELIVERING A SPEECH
 Effective, confident public
speaking should look effortless. In
reality most people need considerable
time and practice before they can talk
confidently in front of an audience.
You can use a number of techniques to
overcome stage fright, present
yourself confidently and keep your
audience engaged.
AVOID SIGNS OF NERVES
DURING YOUR SPEECH
Think of yourself as someone who is
sharing valuable information with
willing listeners. Don’t get so worked up
about how you will come across in your
nervous state: Audiences can rarely
detect anxiety in a speaker who claims to
 be very nervous. It seems much worse to
you than your listeners.
As long as you appear calm, it doesn’t
really matter that you’re feeling nervous.
Avoid these telltale signs of worry:
Fidgeting: Avoid touching your face or
playing with jewellery. Keep your hands in
front of you. If using a lecturn, place your
hands on either side of it.
Pacing: Rather than pace in a random,
panicky manner, move strategically. Move
a few steps and then stop. This can help
keep an audience engaged, and you can
use it to emphasise the message you’re
communicating.
Hands shaking: Use cards rather than
sheets of paper for your notes. This will
make your shakiness much less apparent.
 DEVELOP GOOD BODY LANGUAGE
The most important facial expression is
the smile. This creates an instant rapport
and will m4ake your audience warm to
you. Use facial expressions to help convey
key points: This will help to make your
speech seem more convincing.
Posture is crucial: Stand up straight with
your feet slightly apart and your arms
loose. Avoid placing your hands on your
hips and avoid swaying while you talk.
Looking rooted will make you appear more
confident and believable. “Closed”
gestures to avoid include crossing your
arms or legs and standing with your arms
behind your back. This creates a mental
barrier between you and your audience.
GESTICULATE FOR SUCCESS
Use your hands and arms to help your
audience follow your speech. Effective,
confident gestures command attention
from listeners. When your body and words
work together, they create a powerful
message. Make sure that you vary gestures
so that you don’t look like a robot.

Adjust your body language to fit the size of

the space you’re working with to
emphasise points effectively. When
delivering a speech, use bold gestures!
Tentative, half-hearted actions can make
you appear unsure and unconvincing.
 MAKE EYE CONTACT TO ENGAGE
PEOPLE
Engage your audience (and look as if
you’re interested in them) by making eye
contact with as many people as possible.
Don’t just fixate on one friendly face. You
should ensure that you engage all parts of
the audience, so scan the sides and back as
well as the people at the front. Spend more
time looking at the audience than your
notes. Notes should be a prompt, and not
something you read from.
 ACTIVITY 2: DEAR
ASIANS
IDENTIFY THE COUNTRIES BEING
REFERRED TO IN THE TABLE AND
DESCRIBE THE PEOPLE IN TERMS
OF TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS
Country Description Described
traits/characteristics

1. The relaxation of censorship that

followed the overthrow of Rana
rule in 1951 encouraged a revival of
artistic and intellectual expression.
2. The ancestors of the vast
majority of the population were of
Malay descent and came from the
Southeast Asian mainland as well
as from what is now Indonesia.
3. They constitute the
overwhelming majority of the
population. They are ethnically
closely akin to the other peoples of
eastern Asia. During the Edo
(Tokugawa) period (1603–1867),
there was a social division of the
populace into four classes—
warrior, farmer, craftsman, and
merchant—with a peer class above
and an outcast class below.
4. This is a diverse multiethnic
country that is home to thousands
of small ethnic and tribal groups.
That complexity developed from a
lengthy and involved process of
migration and intermarriage. The
great urban culture of the Indus
civilization, a society of the Indus
River valley that is thought to have
been Dravidian-speaking, thrived
from roughly 2500 to 1700 BCE.
5. Although the country’s tribes are
often considered “pure” Arabs—
certainly they are the descendants
of the peninsula’s original ethnic
stock—a certain degree of ethnic
heterogeneity is evident among
both the sedentary and nomadic
populations of this country.
6. The Karen are the only hill
people who have settled in
significant numbers in the plains.
Constituting about one-tenth of
the population, they are the second
largest ethnic group in this
country. They are found in the
deltas among the Burmans, in the
Bago Mountains, and along both
sides of the lower Salween River.
The Kayah, who live on the
southern edge of the Shan Plateau,
were once known as the Red
Karen, or Karenni, apparently for
their red robes. Although
ethnically and linguistically Karen,
they tend to maintain their own
identity and hereditary leadership.
7. This is situated at the meeting
point of two of the world’s
population groups, Asians in the
west and Melanesians in the east.
The great majority of Indonesians
are related to the peoples of
eastern Asia, although over the
centuries there also has been
considerable mixing with Arabs,
Indians, and Europeans. In the
eastern islands, however, most of
the people are of Melanesian
origin.
8. The Khmer account for the vast
majority of the population,
producing a homogeneity unique
in Southeast Asia that has
encouraged a strong sense of
national identity. Ethnic minorities
include Chinese, Vietnamese,
Muslim Cham-Malays, Laotians,
and various indigenous peoples of
the rural highlands.
9. The Han, the largest group,
outnumber the minority groups or
minority nationalities in every
province or autonomous region
except Tibet and Xinjiang. The
Han, therefore, form the great
homogeneous mass of the Chinese
people, sharing the same culture,
the same traditions, and the same
written language.
10. Jews constitute about three-
fourths of the total population of
Israel. Almost all the rest are
Palestinian Arabs, of whom most
(roughly three-fourths) are
Muslim; the remaining Arabs are
Christians and Druze, who each
make up only a small fraction of
the total population. Arabs are the
overwhelming majority in the Gaza
Strip and the occupied territory of
the West Bank.
Activity 3: Know What
Learned Chart
What do you know about Singapore?
What I What I What I
Know Want to Learned
Know

Singapore
 Singapore, city-state located at the southern
tip of the Malay Peninsula, about 85 miles (137
kilometres) north of the Equator. It consists of
the diamond-shaped Singapore Island and
some 60 small islets; the main island occupies
all but about 18 square miles of this combined
area. The main island is separated from
Peninsular Malaysia to the north by Johor
Strait, a narrow channel crossed by a road and
rail causeway that is more than half a mile
long. The southern limits of the state run
through Singapore Strait, where outliers of the
Riau-Lingga Archipelago—which forms a part
of Indonesia—extend to within 10 miles of the
main island.
Singapore is the largest port in Southeast
Asia and one of the busiest in the world. It
owes its growth and prosperity to its focal
position at the southern extremity of the Malay
Peninsula, where it dominates the Strait of
Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to
the South China Sea. Once a British colony and
now a member of the Commonwealth,
Singapore first joined the Federation of
Malaysia on its formation in 1963 but seceded
to become an independent state on August 9,
1965.
 Heavily urbanized, Singapore has a high
population density, but it also has been a
regional leader in population control. Its birth
and population growth rates are the lowest in
Southeast Asia. Singapore’s high average life
expectancy and its low infant-mortality rate
reflect high standards of hygiene and access to
a superb health care system. The low birth rate
and greater longevity of the population have
raised the median age, a trend also occurring
in other developed nations.
Singapore, one of the great trading entrepôts
of the British empire, has experienced
remarkable economic growth and
diversification since 1960. In addition to
enhancing its position as a world trade centre,
it has developed powerful financial and
industrial sectors. Singapore has the most
advanced economy in Southeast Asia and is
often mentioned along with other rapidly
industrializing countries in Asia, notably
South Korea and Taiwan. Singapore’s economy
always has differed from those of the other
Southeast Asian countries in that it never has
been primarily dependent on the production
and export of commodities.
Activity 4: Questions that
Matter
Let students listen to Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s
National Day 2012 Message and
 let the formulate questions
while listening

What questions have you

formed?
 Are the questions you
have formed important
that they need to be
addressed?
Given the chance to meet Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong, which
of the question would you like to
ask him? Why?

Activity 5: Say It Right

 Students will pick three
paragraphs from the text
of the speech and deliver
them to the class.
 Activity 6: My Trip
List down activities that
you would want to do
before going on a trip in
Singapore
How do you feel after the
speech? Was it difficult?
Were you comfortable?
 Draw a happy face if the
indicators given during
the speech were evident,
otherwise, draw a sad face

8-9 happy face = outstanding

 6-7 happy face = very
satisfactory
4-5 happy face = satisfactory
3-0 happy face = needs
improvement
Singapore is one of the Asian
countries frequently visited
by tourists. Why do you think
so?