Latest news with #YPT
New Paper
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Paper
Teens are creating their own study culture - one Telegram channel at a time
Students here are building a parallel study culture of their own, through Telegram channels and other online spaces. There now exists a new subculture of student-owned Telegram broadcast channels, where students share study tips and notes, with some also documenting aspects of their school life. Over 20 of such channels have sprouted in the last two years and have become the go-to space for many looking for peer-driven support outside the classroom, apart from official resources like the Singapore Student Learning Space where teachers upload study materials for students. Secondary 4 student Rachel Ho said she has benefited greatly from joining these channels as they provide her with many resources to beef up her own notes. The 16-year-old often visits these groups before examinations to seek clarification for certain subjects, such as chemistry. This way, she does not need to "disturb" her teachers at odd hours, she said. To make sure the notes that she comes across are reliable, she also compares them with her textbook. Starting her "bluejaystudio" Telegram channel in May 2022 has made 19-year-old Ceri Chin Song Ai more motivated to complete her tasks. She posts daily tasks such as her homework or revision plans on her channel, which helps her stay accountable to her 300 anonymous subscribers. It helps that she, like many of her peers, spends a lot of time on Telegram. "When I am on Telegram texting my friends, I might be reminded to study more so that I can also update my Telegram channel," said the teen, who has graduated from junior college and is awaiting the start of her university studies. Raina Nafisa, 17, owner of "The Muggers" Telegram channel, which had over 2,300 subscribers at its peak, started the Telegram channel in July 2024 during her O-level year to share her notes and study advice with others as she wanted to motivate them to study. Alongside her Telegram channel, she also previously hosted a study group on the Yeolpumta (YPT) study app. The application allows students to track their study hours with a timer and helps them to be disciplined by restricting access to other apps on their electronic devices. Groups of up to 50 users can be formed, across educational levels from secondary school to university. Each group has a leader board displaying the usernames of students who clock the most hours studying daily. Raina, who declined to reveal where she is studying now, finds YPT helpful as it pushes her to study more. She said: "I would feel the pressure to study more than the person ahead of me on the leader board, although, as time went on, I realised that the quality of study matters more than the quantity." Some students have also turned their study channels into a side gig. Aspiring to be a teacher, 18-year-old Mohammed Danie Dahlan started posting his own social studies notes in 2023 right after his N-level exams. His "socialstudieslovers" channel on Telegram now has over 1,500 subscribers. The first-year polytechnic student also gives advice on answering techniques. First-year polytechnic student Mohammed Danie Dahlan, who owns the "socialstudieslovers" channel on Telegram, offers academic help like advice on answering techniques. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG In September 2024, he began to host one-to-one online consultations over Zoom with students, at a rate of $5 an hour. He has since coached around 20 students taking their O- and N-level examinations. Beyond academic help, some Telegram channels try to offer emotional support to subscribers. Junior college student Liesl Leong, 17, who owns the "smartie patootie" channel, gave her personal Telegram contact to her more than 200 subscribers so they can seek advice. She created the channel in July 2024 in Secondary 4. When the O-level results were released in 2024, she provided emotional support over text to one of her subscribers who did not do well. She attributed the rise in these channels partly to secondary school students now owning personal learning devices (PLDs) issued by schools. She said: "I wouldn't even have started a Telegram channel if I didn't see how I could reach out to others. The PLDs have definitely helped students familiarise themselves with platforms such as Telegram and have provided access to those who previously lacked it." Secondary 4 student Desirae Tay Xuan, owner of the "Rae's study corner" channel, said that online spaces supplement school support. "Online communities offer a more judgment-free environment. Since most students are strangers, students feel safer asking for help without the fear of being judged," said the 16-year-old. "I also get limited practice papers from my school as they only provide me with past-year papers from my own school. These channels help to fill that gap, giving me access to a broader range of materials."
Straits Times
2 days ago
- General
- Straits Times
Singapore teens are creating their own study culture – one Telegram channel at a time
First-year polytechnic student Mohammed Danie Dahlan owns the "socialstudieslovers" Telegram channel that has over 1,500 subscribers. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG Singapore teens are creating their own study culture – one Telegram channel at a time SINGAPORE – Students here are building a parallel study culture of their own, through Telegram channels and other online spaces. There now exists a new subculture of student-owned Telegram broadcast channels, where students share study tips and notes, with some also documenting aspects of their school life. Over 20 of such channels have sprouted in the last two years and have become the go-to space for many looking for peer-driven support outside the classroom, apart from official resources like the Singapore Student Learning Space where teachers upload study materials for students. Secondary 4 student Rachel Ho said she has benefited greatly from joining these channels as they provide her with many resources to beef up her own notes. The 16-year-old often visits these groups before examinations to seek clarification for certain subjects, such as chemistry. This way, she does not need to 'disturb' her teachers at odd hours, she said. To make sure the notes that she comes across are reliable, she also compares them with her textbook. Starting her 'bluejaystudio' Telegram channel in May 2022 has made 19-year-old Ceri Chin Song Ai more motivated to complete her tasks. She posts daily tasks such as her homework or revision plans on her channel, which helps her stay accountable to her 300 anonymous subscribers. It helps that she, like many of her peers, spends a lot of time on Telegram. 'When I am on Telegram texting my friends, I might be reminded to study more so that I can also update my Telegram channel,' said the teen, who has graduated from junior college and is awaiting the start of her university studies. Raina Nafisa, 17, owner of 'The Muggers' Telegram channel, which had over 2,300 subscribers at its peak, started the Telegram channel in July 2024 during her O-level year to share her notes and study advice with others as she wanted to motivate them to study. Alongside her Telegram channel, she also previously hosted a study group on the Yeolpumta (YPT) study app. The application allows students to track their study hours with a timer and helps them to be disciplined by restricting access to other apps on their electronic devices. Groups of up to 50 users can be formed, across educational levels from secondary school to university. Each group has a leader board displaying the usernames of students who clock the most hours studying daily. Raina, who declined to reveal where she is studying now, finds YPT helpful as it pushes her to study more. She said: 'I would feel the pressure to study more than the person ahead of me on the leader board, although, as time went on, I realised that the quality of study matters more than the quantity.' Some students have also turned their study channels into a side gig. Aspiring to be a teacher, 18-year-old Mohammed Danie Dahlan started posting his own social studies notes in 2023 right after his N-level exams. His 'socialstudieslovers' channel on Telegram now has over 1,500 subscribers. The first-year polytechnic student also gives advice on answering techniques. First-year polytechnic student Mohammed Danie Dahlan, who owns the 'socialstudieslovers' channel on Telegram, offers academic help like advice on answering techniques. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG In September 2024, he began to host one-to-one online consultations over Zoom with students, at a rate of $5 an hour. He has since coached around 20 students taking their O- and N-level examinations. Beyond academic help, some Telegram channels try to offer emotional support to subscribers. Junior college student Liesl Leong, 17, who owns the 'smartie patootie' channel, gave her personal Telegram contact to her more than 200 subscribers so they can seek advice. She created the channel in July 2024 in Secondary 4. When the O-level results were released in 2024, she provided emotional support over text to one of her subscriber s who did not do well. She attributed the rise in these channels partly to secondary school students now owning personal learning devices (PLDs) issued by schools. She said: 'I wouldn't even have started a Telegram channel if I didn't see how I could reach out to others. The PLDs have definitely helped students familiarise themselves with platforms such as Telegram and have provided access to those who previously lacked it.' Secondary 4 student Desirae Tay Xuan, owner of the 'Rae's study corner' channel, said that online spaces supplement school support. 'Online communities offer a more judgment-free environment. Since most students are strangers, students feel safer asking for help without the fear of being judged,' said the 16-year-old. 'I also get limited practice papers from my school as they only provide me with past-year papers from my own school. These channels help to fill that gap, giving me access to a broader range of materials.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘They speak English, drive on the left and even have chippies': Britain's enduring legacy in Cyprus
Britain's legacy in Cyprus was evident as soon as I turned out of the airport. The busy road was lined with signs urging 'Drive on the Left!' 'We're part of the EU, so people think we drive on the right here. You wouldn't believe the number of accidents on the road from the airport – we call it death row,' Giorgos at the car hire company told me. A British protectorate from 1878 to 1914, occupied from 1914 to 1925 and finally a Crown Colony, Britain relinquished control over Cyprus in 1960. As a condition of the handover, however, they kept two Sovereign Base areas: Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Covering roughly three per cent of the island, they are among the 14 surviving British Overseas Territories, alongside the likes of Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and (for now) the British Indian Ocean Territory. 'They are in our country but they have their own laws, their own schools – they even have their own police force, reporting to the UK's Ministry of Defence,' Cypriot friend Vassiliki explained to me the following day as we drove past miles of barbed-wire fence separating us from Akrotiri, with its golden beaches and salt flats flecked with pink flamingos. Surprisingly, there was no checkpoint to enter Akrotiri, on the southernmost tip of Cyprus. 'You can't enter the military areas, though,' Vassiliki warned. In contrast to Limassol's skyscrapers, glittering like knives in the bright sunshine across the bay, this enclave, inhabited by British military personnel and their families, along with several thousand Cypriots, reminded me of Lewisham in the 1980s. British flags hung limply above Indian restaurants, pubs bore garish facades, and there were rows of shuttered shops. 'Our clients are really intrigued by this little-known British territory in the Mediterranean with its red postboxes, riding clubs and British supermarket chains,' Morgan Bourven of YPT, a British company that leads tours of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, told me. According to local newspaper The Cyprus Mail, some 40,000 British citizens – mostly retirees – live in Cyprus. I was staying in Paphos, a seaside resort which is home to around 20,000 of them. Unlike the downtrodden Sovereign Base areas, Paphos was a busy jumble of brand new apartment blocks, many with plunge pools and pocket-sized gardens. At the sandy beach opposite the city's Tombs of the Kings, a subterranean necropolis where local aristocrats were buried from the 4th century BC, I met Rob and Jules from Birmingham. They have lived in Paphos for the past two years and adore it. 'They speak our language, drive on our side of the road. It's hot here most of the year, and they even have chippies – what's not to like?' said Jules. A short drive from the ice-cream vans circling the yacht-studded harbour of Kato Paphos, Vassiliki showed me another remnant of British rule. Built in 1958, Polemi Concentration Camp occupies scrubland near the village of Stroumpi. It is where the British incarcerated – and allegedly tortured – Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA) guerrillas during its uprising against colonial rule. A watchtower survives, the entrance gate yawned wide, and grass grew wild around a lone Nissen hut housing a crude model of the original camp, along with black-and-white photos of internees. 'You could say it's a little-known piece of local history – one that most Cypriots don't want to remember, and many British want to forget,' Vassiliki said as I flicked through the dog-eared pages of a visitors book where Magadalena from Liverpool said she 'couldn't believe this shameful episode in British history' and Cliff from Kent scribbled that it was 'amazing that the Cypriot people still like us'. In Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital, I lunched at Giagia Victoria. Celebrity chef Paul Hollywood is said to be a fan of this vintage café, with its 1950s décor, which backs directly onto the city's buffer zone, still filled with barbed wire, anti-tank ditches and minefields. It was an odd sensation to sip treacly Turkish coffee roasted over hot coals in a briki (copper pot) and chomp syrupy semolina cake politika, while gazing out over acres of empty buildings, their walls riddled with bullet holes and their roofs sprouting grass. They were abandoned in 1974 during the Turkish invasion. 'My home was over there,' waiter Andreas said, pointing to a crumbled apartment block with a tree growing through the middle. 'We took what we could and left in the middle of the night. We were never able to go back. From 1974 up until 2003, when the first crossing opened, we could not even go to the Turkish occupied side. I was going to be married to a Turkish-Cypriot girl – I never saw her again.' A short drive away in Nicosia's bustling suburbs, I visited a prison where EOKA fighters were kept in dark, cramped cells. 'Some were executed, but in order to avoid provoking riots, they were buried secretly near the prison in a tiny courtyard, now known as The Imprisoned Graves,' the guide explained. Just as in India in the days of the Raj, the British in Cyprus also had their hill stations where they went to escape the summer heat. Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Wolseley established the first such outpost in the 1870s. Sometimes called 'the Simla of Cyprus', Platres sits in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains. The leafy streets of this colonial relic are lined with an eclectic mix of architecture, ranging from chunky alpine chalets to no-nonsense brick bungalows and whimsical turreted follies. At the height of its splendour, this high-flung village was a magnet for celebrities and royalty, including Egypt's King Farouk, for whom the Brandy Sour was invented, and Daphne Du Maurier, who wrote Rebecca, her dark study of suppressed desire, at the (soon to be refurbished) Forest Park Hotel. Over dinner in the wood-panelled confines of The New Helvetia, one of the oldest hotels in Platres, I got chatting to a Canadian couple. 'This village is a real timewarp,' I remarked. Brian from Toronto chuckled, before replying: 'Just like the British in Cyprus!' EasyJet has flights to Paphos from £174 return. Luxury golf resort Minthis has suites from £275 per night, including breakfast. Young Pioneer Tours operates tours of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. In Nicosia, book a private tour of Northern Cyprus with Cemal from Get Your Guide from £420 for a group of four. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Euronews
06-03-2025
- Business
- Euronews
North Korea suspends foreign tours to border city just weeks after reopening
North Korea has suspended foreign tourism to the border city of Rason, weeks after allowing a group of international travellers to enter the nation for the first time in five years, according to tour companies. This week, two Western tour operators — Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours (YPT) — and China-based KTG Tours announced the suspension of trips to the hermit state. "Just received news from our Korean partners that Rason is closed to everyone. We will keep you posted," KTG Tours, which specialises in North Korean travel, said on Facebook. People planning North Korea tours in April and May should refrain from booking flights "until we have more information", YPT said in a Facebook post. Last month, 13 travellers from the UK, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Australia and Italy visited the northeastern city of Rason — where the country's special economic zone is located — for a five-day trip organised by Koryo Tours. The travel company's manager, Simon Cockerell, said the visitors crossed into North Korea by land from China. Whilst inside the country, they visited factories, shops, schools and statues of the country's first two supreme leaders, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. They were the first non-Russian visitors to enter North Korea since it shut its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the nation has been slowly scaling back restrictions and reopening its borders, with some 880 Russian tourists visiting the country throughout last year, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry. Stricter restrictions Before the pandemic, tourism was an easy, legitimate source of foreign currency for North Korea, one of the world's most sanctioned countries due to its nuclear programme. At least 300,000 Chinese tourists visited North Korea annually pre-pandemic— representing more than 90% of total international visitors — according to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea's intelligence agency. Yet experts have said the restrictions that North Korea has typically imposed on foreign travellers, such as requirements that they move with local guides and the banning of photography at sensitive places, will likely hurt its efforts to develop tourism. Koryo Tours told the BBC that the group's movements in Rason were more restricted than on previous trips — they had fewer chances to wander the streets and talk to locals. The tour company said earlier this week that it was accepting international applications for the Pyongyang Marathon for the first time since the pandemic. However, whether those applications will be processed for the 6 April event is now unclear. North Korea is expected to open a massive tourism site on its east coast in June. In January, when US President Donald Trump boasted about his relationship with Kim Jong-un, he said: "I think he has tremendous condo capabilities. He's got a lot of shoreline". Lee Sangkeun, an expert at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said that Rason, the eastern coast site and the capital Pyongyang would be the places where North Korea's authorities believe they can easily monitor and control foreign tourists.
CNN
18-02-2025
- CNN
US tourists can't visit North Korea. This American spent six figures on a second passport so he could travel there
For most of the world, the dark days of Covid-19 feel like a distant memory. But not in North Korea, said Justin Martell, who just became the first known American to step foot inside the secretive nation since the onset of the pandemic more than five years ago. Strict health measures, such as mask-wearing and temperature checks, are still routine, and popular tourist sites, including local markets, remain off-limits due to lingering fears of virus transmission. Martell said that pandemic paranoia remains deeply entrenched in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is officially known. He even encountered bizarre theories about the virus's origins. 'There seems to be a rumor that Covid-19 got into the country via a balloon sent from South Korea,' said Martell, a Connecticut-born filmmaker who founded Pioneer Media, specializing in documenting unique and hard-to-access locations. He was part of a small delegation of tour operators that visited North Korea last week to lay the groundwork for upcoming tourist trips. After spending five days in North Korea laying the groundwork for the limited return of Western tourism, a small delegation of tour operators crossed the bitterly cold Tumen River Bridge back into China on Monday. Martell and his fellow travelers—including Australian Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours (YPT) and Hungarian Gerg Vaczi of Koryo Tours—are wasting no time. On Thursday, they're scheduled to start bringing small groups of western tourists into Rason, a remote corner of North Korea near the borders of China and Russia. Tourists from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Macao and Jamaica are among those who have reserved spots. Beard, who has led tours to North Korea for more than a decade, says the upcoming trips mark a significant step after years of perhaps the most extreme isolation that already-isolated North Koreans have ever experienced. 'I'm over the moon that the first group's going this week,' said Beard. 'There's a lot of enthusiasm on the ground,' he said. 'But it's a hard reboot. And it'll take time to find that balance.' He noted that key experiences, such as visiting the Rason market to haggle with locals using North Korean currency, are currently off-limits. Despite these setbacks, Beard remains optimistic, emphasizing that tourism outfits are in discussions with local ministries to restore access and rebuild trust step by step. Beard noted that the North Korean bank account he opened in Rason more than a decade ago still had the same balance: about 25 Chinese yuan ($3.50). During their visit, the tour operators discussed the possibility of adding a local movie theater experience to future itineraries. North Korea has recently revitalized its film industry under Kim Jong Un, with new releases such as Korean War dramas '72 Hours' and 'One Day and One Night' playing in cinemas. North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, remains off-limits to Western visitors despite allowing Russian tourists access since last year amid deepening ties with Moscow. Though the pandemic shut out all visitors, Americans had been barred from entering North Korea since long before the coronavirus pandemic. The US State Department imposed a travel ban on September 1, 2017 following the death of Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American student who was imprisoned in North Korea and returned home in a persistent vegetative state, dying shortly after. Martell, who had visited North Korea 11 times by then, was in the country when the ban took effect. 'I was crossing the Sinuiju-Dandong border when it hit,' he recalled. 'It made me, I think, the last American tourist on a US passport to leave the DPRK.' Despite the ban, Martell remained committed to returning to North Korea. 'I didn't want to stop coming,' he said. 'I didn't want the conversation to end.' To bypass the US travel ban, Martell obtained dual citizenship from Saint Kitts and Nevis, a Caribbean nation known for its citizenship-by-investment program. By contributing a six-figure sum to the country's Sustainable Island State Contribution fund, he said he secured a second passport, which legally allowed him to return to North Korea without violating US restrictions. 'It was about a year of paperwork,' he explained. 'Background checks, financial disclosures — the whole nine yards.' But since the start of the war in Ukraine, prices for citizenship-by-investment programs have surged, he added. 'Prices have doubled and tripled because of the number of Russians getting second passports,' said Martell. 'It's now up to $250,000. I paid a lot less than that.' Despite the cost, he sees the investment as worthwhile. 'You have to really want to go,' he said. 'But my advice is: if you're going to spend the time and money, make sure the passport offers more than just access to North Korea. My Saint Kitts passport gets me into Russia visa-free — something my US passport can't do.' Beard says a 'well-known' YouTube travel influencer is currently engaged in the similar process of obtaining a Spanish passport, at a price tag of nearly $200,000. While US politics sparked conversation among the North Korean guides, the topic of Russia's war in Ukraine was treated with silence — or careful omission. Ukrainian and Western governments say Pyongyang has sent North Korean troops to fight on Russia's side, with many units sustaining heavy losses. Vaczi, the head of DPRK tours for Koryo Tours, observed the sensitivity around the subject. 'I had a guide who was incredibly knowledgeable about Eastern Europe,' he said, 'but I didn't bring up Ukraine. It felt like a line you don't cross.' However, Martell noted that North Korean guides were aware of global events, from the tariffs proposed by former President Donald Trump to the conflict in Ukraine. He found their perspectives more revealing in what they chose not to say than what they shared. 'We talked about geopolitics, but on Ukraine, they mostly listened,' he said. 'It was a topic they approached with caution, even as they expressed support for Russia.' Related video New Starbucks café in South Korea offers rare glimpse of North Korea Vaczi echoed that their guides demonstrated a strong awareness of world affairs. 'They knew about the recent events in South Korea, Trump's tariffs, and the situation in Ukraine,' he said. 'They're briefed because they're the ones who meet foreigners.' Vaczi found the itineraries in Rason, a special economic zone, limited and uninspired. 'A lot of factories and schools,' he said. 'No markets. No spontaneity. It gets repetitive fast.' However, there were some notable changes. Photography rules, once infamously strict, were far more relaxed. 'They only told me off once,' said Vaczi, 'and that was for filming a guide.' Martell, however, felt the scrutiny of being American—even with his Kittitian passport. 'I was asked to delete two clips taken at the same time; one was when I was filming the set-up of a mass dance, and the other was because the guide had mistranslated a propaganda slogan and then I had done a video explaining the slogan incorrectly.' Despite being an American, Martell says he didn't encounter any hostility. 'As for anti-American comments, there weren't any,' he said. 'One time, we were walking in Hae'an Park, and some kids saw us and ran away. One of the guides joked, 'Maybe because they know you're American imperialists!' I replied, 'Nope, just one!' And we all laughed. I didn't take it as a malicious comment.' Even the usual symbols of hostility toward the US seemed more subdued. Martell noted that he didn't see any anti-American propaganda posters on display and had to specifically ask for anti-American postcards at the foreign language bookstore, as they were no longer displayed up front. Despite the barriers, it was the human encounters — raw, unscripted, and personal — that stayed with Martell and his companions. At a local school, Martell found himself answering questions from curious students. 'The kids didn't care about politics,' he said. 'They wanted to know about music, sports — what life was like in the US. They wanted connection.'
