Hidden In The City, Yet In Clear View

Final Project: ‘Beneath our success’ booklet

by Noraidil Sufyan & Lester Tan

Full pages available online: http://snack.to/bhp0dil9

Our project is based on the session we had at HealthServe as well as the interviews we did near Jurong East with migrant workers. We decided on creating a booklet as a documentation of these workers. We aim to enlighten the public and to remind Singaporeans of the existence of these people who are responsible behind the success of our country.

The booklet is largely a photo montage with few words, as we want readers to develop their own feelings when flipping through the pages. We inserted a few quotes for every worker we interviewed. Some of the names were altered to protect the identity of these workers.

A) Write a narrative of how your idea developed. (Begin by giving some response to the 1^st dance and games night)

The first night at HealthServe served as an ice-breaking session between the students and the various foreign workers present. The dance and games actually helped most of us open up to each other, leading to a smoother conversational opportunity. We found out about their dormitory lives as well as the kind of food that they had to consume. This made us wonder, just what these foreign workers experience while living and working here in Singapore.

B) What about our meet-ups and the conversations you had created the interest in the area you ended up researching? Use your documentation photos etc.. to explain this process.

Whilst communicating with the workers, we found out that we knew very little about them aside from the fact that they are in Singapore to work and take home their monthly salary. Across the 3 trips to HealthServe, as well as our interactions with foreign workers in public areas, we got to learn a little more about their daily lives and thoughts living in the lion city. Along with these information, it prompted us to note and document these information which for the most of us, have never heard before.

Showing us the living condition of their dormitories

One of the social workers (far right) telling us stories of these workers

Sampling of food they eat everyday

Dinner and chit chat session with workers

C) Discuss your exchange with the foreign workers.

Having spoken to multiple foreign workers, most of them have claimed that they liked their time working here in Singapore. In fact, a few of them even went on to say that the government, transportation and people here triumphed what they face back home. It was also interesting to hear about the jobs that they are contracted to do – working at heights, in the shipyards, plantations etc – as the chances of hearing a local in that job is low. Also, it was a common point from them that the aim of coming to Singapore to work was to earn money to support themselves and their families. And perhaps the most surprising thing was just how friendly and even jovial they were through our interactions. This was definitely not what we would have expected pre-interaction.

How did you initially see the foreign workers? Did you even consider their experience before our meet-ups?

Lester’s response:

I have had the opportunity to work with foreign workers from various countries in the past before, but without a chance to interact with them about anything other than work related issues. I only saw them as people who came to Singapore to work and earn money to take home for themselves and their families. Aside from work, I never thought that interacting with the foreign workers was possible, as the chances of chatting with a random foreign worker in public was low.

Noraidil’s response:

Before the visit to HealthServe, I admitted that I was indifferent towards foreign workers here in Singapore. While I do have some knowledge that living conditions of these people in dormitories are terrible, it was a rude awakening to me to find out the severity of this issue. I came to realisation that Singaporeans are taking the migrant workers for granted, and that we are not grateful to the things we already have. They deserved much more, after all they have done in making this country a better place for us to live in. After few visits to the Activity Centre in Tai Seng, I found out that these workers were very easy to talk to and, open-minded.

Along your journey what to, and when did you change your ideas/plans in response to what you learned/experienced or observed from contact with the foreign workers?

Lester’s response:

The idea of featuring stories about the foreign workers didn’t actually come to use during any of the three meet ups at HealthServe. In fact, the idea only popped up when we were trying to capture images and interviewing the foreign workers who were hanging around Chinese Garden and Jurong East. Speaking to multiple foreign workers made us realise that we didn’t really know anything about their lives and experiences, which gave us the idea of documenting their experiences here in Singapore.

Noraidil’s response:

My initial idea was to focus on what they do in their leisure time. I wanted to gather information on how they spend their free time here and which part of Singapore they usually hang out. However after several visits to HealthServe centre as well as interacting with random foreign workers near Jurong East area, I gather that leisure time was not important to them. These migrant workers do not have much leisure time; they even have to be on standby on their off days in case of emergency. At this point, I realized it was more important to document and create awareness to Singaporeans on how foreign workers’ live their lives and their experiences here.

What new knowledge did you gain from the interaction with the foreign workers and the action you took executing your project?

Lester’s response:

Upon the interactions with them, it can be said that the foreign workers are very happy to be here in Singapore. Most of them have showered praise upon the government, transportation and people, which is the complete opposite of what most Singaporeans would say. Also, the working life and conditions that Singaporeans experience cannot be compared to those of the foreign workers. 6-day work weeks doing odd jobs for long hours, and at inconvenient places are what these foreign workers do week in and week out. And yet, they hardly complain. Thus, if we were to compare our working life with theirs, we definitely have it better than them.

Noraidil’s response:

If there is one thing about these workers here that we Singaporeans are lacking, is being thankful to what we have. These foreign workers were not shy of commending Singapore’s modernized system. Particularly, the transport and security system of Singapore. They were full of praises, often comparing to the ones in their countries. I also gather that some of these workers work much longer hours than an average Singaporeans do, with measly salaries. On the other hand, more often than not we see Singaporeans making a big fuss on the littlest things. Complains are palpable everywhere especially on social media, trains were too slow, houses are too small etc. It’s a pity that there will never be enough for Singaporeans.

What did you gain or what are the strengths/weaknesses/ differences & responses to learning that does not follow the conventional path of lecture/ tutorial and studio practice: learning by creating experiences beyond the classroom? How did you feel about creating a project where there was no clear path to follow–where you had to develop a unique path?

Lester’s response:

Life experiences. Using this project as an example, the idea of any of us interacting with foreign workers would probably never have popped up in our minds pre-project. And that probably wouldn’t be possible had we remained in a classroom environment. Giving us the freedom to create a piece of work encourages us to think out of the box; to get creative to say otherwise. At times, following a path laid out for you restricts your creativity level. Hence, with the freedom to do a project on any medium, the possibilities are certainly endless.

Noraidil’s response:

I was at first, very uncomfortable and confused when I learnt that the class does not follow the conventional lecture or tutorial practice. As a student from the engineering faculty I am used to following curriculum structure. However towards the second half of the module, I began to appreciate the motives behind the boundless classroom setting. I was able to think out of the box and let my creative juices flow. There was no ‘correct’ way on how I should embark on my project and this freedom allows me to constantly explore the topic on my own with little guidance. I would certainly hope every art module to be in this manner.

Lino Cut (The Road)

[Story: The Road]

This is a story of a mother who lost her daughter. The love of a mother towards her children is incomparable. When her child is gone forever in this world, one can only wonder the pain, agony and loneliness a mother. This is a story of a mother who, with heavy heart, has to accept the fact and move on with life.

The mother in tears, reminiscing the times she had with her daughter.

The woman walking a lonely road to the unknown, finding solace. In life, we have to move on no matter what, and keep fighting because if we don’t, you will never know the greater things that are in store for us in the future.

Nightscape

[Nightscape Photograph]

Above is the picture taken during the ‘Nightscape’ outing in NTU, just outside the school of ADM. Many pictures were taken however I have chosen the said picture, because I want to make the man with the umbrella as the main subject and also because the background has nice hues of blue with orange and yellow light contrast.

[Color Study]

I experimented with using gouache paint, to achieve the different hues of blues that shows the night scene. The colour relationship between the sky, trees and lights near the bottom of the paint creates the sensation of the night. You could see how the light from the streets have created the shadow that was casted by the tree at the foreground.

[Paper Cut]

Above is the final development of the Nightscape work. Given the limited colour papers, the different hues of blue and green of the glass were achieved by intentionally using a much darker shade of respective colour.

National Gallery

[#1 : Social Realism]

“Chinatown” by Ho Yee Ping.

This painting shows a buzzing Chinatown in the 1960s; it gives me the sense of togetherness among the people there. Back then life was slow-paced and laid back, and people know each other. Pushcarts and trishaws are some common forms of getting income at that period.

“Conversation” by Ho Kok Hoe.

This painting shows three young boys having a conversation. They are seen on a dessert, which implies carefree; when children talk, they tend to be in their own world and not a care of the outside issues. They are separated from the reality because most of children, especially during the word war, could never understand the situation that they were in. I feel empathy for the children in the era.

[#2 : Lino Cuts]

The intricate details of this lino cut evoke the feeling of desperation and loss. Although it can be seen that the image shows the aftermath of a massive fire or war, the artist beautifully used lines of different weight to show his feelings. The lines in the sky depict calmness whereas the thicker lines at the foreground shows the ruins and feeling of hopelessness.

[#3 : Abstract Gallery]

“Birds in the woods” by Wu Guanzhong, 1993

Serenity. Feeling of serene was i first thought of when looking at this abstract painting. The black lines and the patches of black (birds) show order and organization, while the green, yellow and pink patches gives the sense of carefree. Although it may seemed that they may be alot of things going on in this picture, there was thematic unity; there was no focal point, which to me, is what serenity supposed to be. There was calmness among the birds.

Color Still Life

Week 2: Color Still Life

Black & White

Week 1: [Sequential Black and White]

“Story of a boy who wandered in the woods and chanced upon an abandoned house”

One – The first panel shows the point of view of a person from behind a tree, looking at the abandoned house from a distance. The contrast in scale and proportion can be seen with the big tree being the foreground and the smaller shapes of the houses and trees at the background; sizes of object indicates the distance they are from each other.

Two – The boy (or the viewer) gets closer to the house and steps can be seen leading to the main door. Perhaps there is a balance by position of eye direction as the steps lead up to the door, to the small window by the side, and back to the steps.

Three – Curious, the boy opened the door and entered the mysterious house. Implied lines shows the shadow of the boy casted on the floor with sunlight coming from the outside.

Four – The boy entered the house, not knowing what he had got himself into. Again, contrast in scale can be seen from the small figure of the boy and the big empty room.

Five – As the boy wandered, he stumbled upon an old rustic piano at the hallway.

Six – He went into the one of the rooms and saw a ancient looking chairs and tables. In this panel, crystallographic balance was achieved by making shapes of same size to be put across the workpiece.

Seven – The boy looked up and was amazed to see the beautiful glass dome at the ceiling. The shape of the dome creates the radial balance.

Eight – He was astounded by the massive size of the window the house had. He looked outside to check no one was watching him.

Nine – There were a few birds seen outside the window in the sky. One of the birds were purposely seen going in another direction to show the opposition of thematic unity.

First ever post

Cool! My first post.

Art class using an online blog? Greatest idea ever!