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Existing solution: MWAW Lunch Tag and ICOON

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• MWAW 2016 • Lunch Tag #1 & #2

Have you ever wondered how a genuine conversation with people who helped built the infrastructure of your home will go? Do you want a chance to meet people you would otherwise pass by, and actually interact with them?

The two Lunch Tags allow two people who would have never otherwise met to sit down and connect over a simple lunch. RSVP here: http://tinyurl.com/rsvpmwaw !

Lunch Tag #1
31st Jan, 9am – 1pm, at Yale-NUS College Elm Dining Hall
This will kick-start with a friendly lohei decoration competition involving both participants and migrant workers. After which, everyone will be paired up to have lunch together at the Yale-NUS College Elm Dining Hall.

Lunch Tag #2
3rd Feb, 11.30am – 3pm, at Botanic Gardens
In the style of a picnic, this Lunch Tag will take place out in the nature at Botanic Gardens. There will also be games where participants will interact with foreign domestic workers from the HOME Shelter in a different setting than what we usually do.

https://scontent-sin6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/12622326_1110041615702747_8802435550716071044_o.jpg

https://scontent-sin6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/12622326_1110041615702747_8802435550716071044_o.jpg

Through a meal, people could have a more personal conversation to know each other. How would my FYP be different from this existing event is that:

  • It would not be a big event. For a meet up, there will only be 3 locals and 3 migrant workers.
  • I will document each session in the form of either photography, audio, or video, to be later be compiled for my installation.
  • I will design a set of conversation starters, accompanied by English and Tamil or Bengali translation. If needed, I will also design pictograms to help the conversation flow seamlessly.
http://www.icoon.eu/images/frontimages/editions_communicator/icoon-bildwoerterbuch-communicator.png

http://www.icoon.eu/images/frontimages/editions_communicator/icoon-bildwoerterbuch-communicator.png

Personal encounter with migrant workers

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I am thankful to be involved in Human Library as a volunteer as I got the chance to meet friendly migrant workers and interview them. Without this conversation, I would not know about their lives other than working as construction workers. They are a group of poets who meet on daily basis to discuss about poetry. Through this community, they get to know people, foreigners and locals, who share the love of poetry.
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Zakir Hossain, third from the left, won Migrant Poetry Competition in 2014 and 2015. As reported by The Middle Ground, Mr Hossain said that he felt many Singaporeans had harboured negative feelings against migrant workers after the 2013 Little India riots, which involved about 400 people. He was pleasantly startled at how “this competition has opened the door for many people to change their negative views about migrant workers” and wishes for more of such competitions to be held.

This morning, Zakir Hossain sent me the link to his TedX Talk he delivered last year in NTU. Enjoy 🙂

Thoughts for FYP:
I definitely want to hold a similar small gathering like this for the public to get to know the migrant workers on a more personal level. In return, the migrant workers will also get to know the participants.

News coverage of migrant workers in Singapore

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Efforts that have been taken to improve the lives of migrant workers in recent years, as compiled by TODAY:

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-making-singapore-better-place-workers-who-come-afar-0

Through her interactions with the foreign workers, Ms Sim notes that many have sought help from the NGOs (non-governmental organisations). “The Government, the unions, and NGOs have done their fair bit,” she says. “So (now) it’s for Singaporean individuals to know what role they can play… to show basic respect for another individual and better co-exist together.”

An MOM (Ministry of Manpower) spokesperson says the ministry is “heartened by various efforts from the different groups showing their appreciation towards these workers”.

She adds: “Some Singaporeans have also reached out to some of these workers in their own ways through various ground-up initiatives throughout the year, or by volunteering their time with NGOs.”

Stories of migrant workers:

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-searching-good-life-miles-home-0

Thought for FYP:

How to encourage the public to have more respect towards the hardworking migrant workers? What are the ways to do so?

Solution from a Visual Designer

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What I potentially make for my FYP is an installation featuring:

  1. A video or photo of a migrant workers telling their storiesInspiration: Singapore Dream by Sean Cham
    Bashar came to Singapore in 2008, and has worked in many different companies, but mostly as an electrician and engineer. He was born in Bangladesh, and left for Singapore after a few months of studying in Medical School at a young age of 20. Bashar has four other siblings, one of whom is his twin brother. They have grown up together since young, doing everything together. When Bashar left for Singapore to work, his twin brother felt lonely and joined him in Singapore a year later. He left Medical School to support his family, as they were facing financial difficulties and his father was ill. His father passed away two years after he left for Singapore, due to blood cancer. He was given a choice to go back to Bangladesh to visit his father, but he chose not to. He had to work hard to pay hospital bills, amounting to S$10,000, and worked even on weekends to earn money for the family. When he isn't working, he will spend his Sundays at East Coast Park or Kallang River with his twin brother, enjoying a quiet and peaceful stroll. His dream now is for his younger brother, age 19, to complete his degree in Medical School and be a doctor. Bashar, together with his twin, works to pay for his younger brother's education, in the hope that he fulfills the dream he never had the chance to complete. Source: http://www.nvpc.org.sg/newsletters/-/asset_publisher/qxyfn1XUjh5T/content/singapore-dream-a-photography-series?inheritRedirect=false

    Bashar came to Singapore in 2008, and has worked in many different companies, but mostly as an electrician and engineer. He was born in Bangladesh, and left for Singapore after a few months of studying in Medical School at a young age of 20. Bashar has four other siblings, one of whom is his twin brother. They have grown up together since young, doing everything together. When Bashar left for Singapore to work, his twin brother felt lonely and joined him in Singapore a year later. He left Medical School to support his family, as they were facing financial difficulties and his father was ill. His father passed away two years after he left for Singapore, due to blood cancer. He was given a choice to go back to Bangladesh to visit his father, but he chose not to. He had to work hard to pay hospital bills, amounting to S$10,000, and worked even on weekends to earn money for the family. When he isn’t working, he will spend his Sundays at East Coast Park or Kallang River with his twin brother, enjoying a quiet and peaceful stroll. His dream now is for his younger brother, age 19, to complete his degree in Medical School and be a doctor. Bashar, together with his twin, works to pay for his younger brother’s education, in the hope that he fulfills the dream he never had the chance to complete. Source: http://www.nvpc.org.sg/newsletters/-/asset_publisher/qxyfn1XUjh5T/content/singapore-dream-a-photography-series?inheritRedirect=false

    2. A pair of migrant worker’s shoes for the visitors to walk in.

    Inspiration:
    In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus explains to Scout that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (36).

    3. A booth for people to write their heartfelt gratitude towards migrant workers.

    Inspiration:

    #migrantmail was a collaboration between Geylang Adventures and Waiting for Lorry. They went around collecting handwritten letters and taking polaroids of migrant workers with the objective of curing homesickness by sponsoring the letter back to their hometown.

    #migrantmail was a collaboration between Geylang Adventures and Waiting for Lorry. They went around collecting handwritten letters and taking polaroids of migrant workers with the objective of curbing homesickness by sponsoring the letter back to their hometown.

    The collected letters might be collated in a book or uploaded to a website. It should be translated to Bengali, Tamil, Mandarin, etc. so the migrant workers can read them as well 🙂file_000-4 Published by The Young Entrepreneur Mastery, 2004
    It contains heartfelt letters from youth.

    5. Make a visual journey of my finding processes. It would feature the photos that I take.. The email excerpts..

    6. Visualizing the population of migrant workers in Singapore. The map can contain: places of work, residence, entertainment to show how close are they to us in daily life. I hope to encourage people to be more friendly to the migrant workers, everywhere they are.

    Inspiration:

    World Processor 1988 2014 Igo Günther © Knechtel Photography.

    World Processor 1988 2014 Igo Günther © Knechtel Photography.

Existing Platform: StandUpFor.SG

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https://www.facebook.com/StandUpForSG/

About:

What would it take from us to make Singapore a great city?

We have a vision for Singapore: a more gracious place. A more creative place. A more inspiring place. We believe that you too can start somewhere. And it is our sincere hope that we inspire you stand up for our Singapore too.

On 1st May 2016, they had an event in Little India to create a conversation between the locals and migrant workers. The migrant workers also got to write their thoughts on a piece of paper, and hang it on the wall.