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Worker Writes

Poems, a piece of writing that expresses feeling and emotion by the poet. People often read poems written by famous poets, but did you know that Singapore’s migrant workers can also write beautiful poems? Bet you didn’t! In 2014, Singapore held its first Migrant Workers Poetry Competition and the top 3 poems that won the competition were spectacular. Here are their poems, in order of the champion, the first runner-up, followed by the second-runner up.

POCKET 2 [Written by Zakir Hussain Khokhon - 2014 Migrant Worker Poetry Competition first place] 

Still in the same world, we belong to different spheres You on that side and me on this: we can do nothing but remember each other The memories of you and me hang like posters on the wall of the Ekushe bookfair at the doil field, under the shade of the bakul tree at Charukala at Hakim square, in the hoodless rickshaw at the florists of Shahbag, at the open field of TSC on the water of Ramana lake in a night of shades and lights on our bed of love

I remember when I returned this time my heart dissolved in your tears The pocket of my shirt was wet Reaching the end of my memories I wear that shirt every night and write love poems to you Do I really write poems Or do my poems cry with me?

SHADES OF LIGHT AND DARK [Written by Rajeeb Shil Jibon - 2014 Migrant Worker Poetry Competition first runner-up]

Maybe I feel something. A soft heart or a gentle breeze, a sensation Maybe a night of wakefulness Shades of light and dark floating in the moonlight

Maybe I am waiting for someone, and someone for me. Maybe one evening, a garden of clouds would desire me, only me. In a warm magpie forest, constellations whisper.

Maybe I am losing myself in a dream Maybe a generous shade lulls me to sleep in broad daylight And the vortex of sand and water pulls me in.

Maybe I am waiting at the gates of a kingdom. Perhaps a bird, a strand of grass hides in my world The breeze from the sails of the horizon raising the rhythm through the calm nocturnal sea.

Maybe I will see a kite looking for its string A paused rain drop, a search waiting in front of me Magic has spread a mountain of illusions calling us by waving discarded feathers

Maybe I will step into the rumblings of a forest A leaf, a summer, surrounded by the golden sun on a field full of harvest A lonely elusive call losing faith and closing its fists.

Maybe I am waiting for a moment An impression, a smell or an empty house A feeling of silent tiredness Walking down the path of prose that excites my soul.

LESSONS FROM CIRCUMSTANCE [Written by N Rengarajan - 2014 Migrant Worker Poetry Competition second runner-up]

Dowry

O Firefly! Have you also engaged your daughter to be wed? Does the fear of dowry burn in your belly too as fire?

Mother

When I fell, not knowing how to walk, you would pick me up But when you fell, unable to walk I pushed you away. Regards, the modern, (un)civilized family

Money

A peculiar disease. The world’s deadliest afflictions cancer, AIDS, ebola, even love kill by their presence. Money alone kills by absence.

If I had to choose a personal favorite, it would be Lessons From Circumstance, written by N Rengarajan. 

The reason why I chose this poem over the other two is the deep meaning behind the words. The first paragraph is about dowry. It speaks about how one has his or her daughter engaged and soon to be wed. But the fear of dowry “burn in your belly too as fire”. This is sadly the truth. For many families, instead of wishing your daughter blessings for her wedding, they are more concerned about the dowry and how they can cope with paying it, this is a serious problem in India, where N Rengarajan is from. In India, dowry murders are not an uncommon hearing. Where a bride commits suicide or murders their husband soon after marriage due to their dissatisfaction of the dowry. I feel that N Rengarajan is bringing this up as how it diluted the essence of love and the joy of marriage as the dowry brings sorrow and pain to the family instead of them being able to freely give their blessings to their daughter.

The second paragraph talks about a mother, about how when as a child you fall, your mother would pick you up. But when your mother grows old and frail and falls, you push her away. This is really true in the current day and age, where we do not appreciate enough of what our parents do for us. They were the ones that taught us how to walk and nurtured us into who we are today. Often people forget about this and disregard their parents as soon as their own lives become more important to them. Showing that people in this day and age are selfish even to the ones who may have raised them. This paragraph speaks deeply to me as for someone like me who argues with my parents, I always tell myself to think about what my parents have done for me, that no matter what you should not disregard the fact that your parents are the reason that you are here today. They picked you up when you fell as a kid, not knowing how to walk. So when they are old and unable to walk, you should return the favor and not push them away.

The final paragraph is also very relevant in this day and age. It talks about money, about how money is more dangerous than AIDS or ebola. Money plays a big role in this world. Without money, you can do nothing. The way I view this paragraph is that I should value money more. Instead of spending all my money whenever I get it, I should value it more and save. Cancer, AIDS and ebola, all kill when present in humans. However, money kills due to its absence in our lives. This shows the importance of money and money should not be used unwisely and spent unwittingly.

Even though they are migrant workers, they all share the same experiences just in their own countries and we all face the same problems no matter where we are. Such an example is the paragraph about money, about how deadly money can be. That is not just a problem in India, but is a global problem. We are all people living in the same world, on the same globe, having the same problems. Just because they are migrant workers does not make them any different from us. Being a global citizen to me is also understanding that everyone is equal and we all share the same problems in our lives, such as said in the poem.

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HWAAAA???? We kinda caused the haze?!?!?!

When the word haze is mentioned, what comes to your mind? For me, it reminds me of the nationwide problem that we had in 2013. Well, as a young Primary 6 kid back then (I still am a kid though), I was jumping for joy when I heard that school classes were cancelled due to the abnormal PSI which hit a unhealthy range. However, as the years went by and I became more knowledgeable (I would like to assume. ahem.), I realized how unhealthy and detrimental is to our health. So I did some research about how haze actually came about, here’s what I found out!

How does haze come about?!

Haze is primarily due to deforestation and the burning of palm oil and paper productions. 

So palm oil is bad?

Not exactly, palm oil has one of the most efficient yield per hectare as well as requires the least pesticide as compared to other alternative sources. Palm oil usage in the EU alone added up to 7.7 million tons in 2017, this number itself is already super hard to be replaced by any other source. 66 million tons of palm oil is used annually and palm oil is the most commonly produced vegetable oil. 

The impacts!

Not only does deforestation cause global warming, it also causes the dangerous haze! For kids like the young me, we don’t see the affects of haze and we still go out and play even when the PSI are at unhealthy levels. Not that many people understand the dangers of haze, haze can cause major respiratory problems in people young and old alike. Farther more, it also ruins the beautiful scenery of the sky! Most of the haze that you see in Singapore comes from Indonesia, the worlds largest palm oil producer. Although we can’t stop them from producing more palm oil, we can always do our part to help, cause every little bit of effort put in from every individual can make a big difference!

The solution to helping!

Alternative food and products. There are always labels on food products and you can do your part by reading the labels before making your purchase at your local supermarket. Avoid products which indicate the use of palm oil. Not only is palm-oil present in your food items, they are also present in your everyday household items(oh noes!). Products such as lipstick, shampoo, detergent and soap can also contain palm oil, so be sure to stay vigilant and check the labels for any palm oil related substances inside!

Another thing you could do to reduce palm oil consumption, is to avoid using personal transport vehicles such as cars or motorcycles. Remember friends, instead of driving your Mercedes, you can always use your BMW(Bus, MRT, Walk). Singapore has an extremely good public transport system which gives you no excuse to be having to use your own personal transport vehicle. 

All in all, this task has really opened my eyes up to the effects of palm oil and about haze. From that little kid who just jumped for joy whenever I saw the PSI increase in 2013, I now understand why it is important to maintain a healthy PSI in Singapore and to reduce the usage of palm oil as to save our environment. No matter how small the effort, if everyone puts in just a little bit of effort, a big difference can be made!

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Made In Singapore

Did you know that Singapore is actually a hot spot for many new ideas in terms of tech creations and such? Singapore inventors have created and came up with many innovative ideas that along the years have Singaporeans can be proud of. Many of the innovative creations that Singaporeans have came up with are Paktor (A dating website with over 100 million profile ratings and 500,000 matches [as of June 2013]), the Creative Sound Blaster Sound Card (a worldwide revolutionary audio expansion card) and Carousell (Singapore’s biggest online market where users can buy and sell their pre-loved goods or their products without the need of making their own website). However, one invention that I did not know that was created in Singapore was the thumb drive. Thumb drives are essentially the enhanced versions of floppy disks.

A thumbdrive created by TREK 2000, a local company which was the first to create the thumbdrive

A thumbdrive is known as a thumb drive as it is a thumb-sized universal serial bus (USB) data storage device. It is alsoA much more effective than a floppy disk due to its incredibly compact size and the massive amounts of data it can store in such a small body. Developed by the Singaporean company, the Trek 2000 International. In the year 2000, they released the thumbdrive.

Image of a floppy disk, something that you rarely see in this day and age.

A floppy disk can really be a hassle due to its large size and its fragility. It does the same thing as a thumbdrive, but is a lot more inconvenient. To be able to access the data in a floppy disk, one is required to have a CD Rom or a CD Drive linked to their computers, which is already an inconvenience in itself. Whereas the data in a thumbdrive can be accessed easily as long as your computer or laptop has a USB drive, which almost all laptops and computers have. The use of floppy disks have become scarce ever since the invention of the thumbdrive. This can be seen by the unavailability of floppy disks in local hardware stores nowadays, whereas you can find a thumbdrive easily at any hardware or tech store.

A little bit of history of Trek 2000′s global release of the thumbdrive.

As with any other ingenious invention, there will be people trying to claim it as their own original idea. Similar companies across the globe have also created thumbdrives and have claimed to have been the first ones to come up with the idea. However, Trek 2000 applied for a patent and it was approved in 2002. Trek 2000 then proceeded to commence legal action against four other companies that infringed on its patent in Singapore. To nobody’s surprise, the High Court of Singapore ruled in favor of Trek 2000 in 2005. They then began to spread their worldwide reign by protecting their intellectual property rights for the thumbdrive outside of Singapore. Trek 2000 progressively obtained patent protections in other countries as if you did not know, a patent is only valid and enforceable within the granting country. 

Trek 2000 really is an inspiration for all the young minds of Singapore as they show that even as Singapore may be a small country with a small population, we can still come up with world renowned inventions. If I were to invent something that could make Singaporeans proud, I would probably make a phone app that could help people out in their everyday lives. Something not to extreme, yet something that will still help Singaporeans out in their everyday lives.

Coming up with my own innovative idea!

Upon further brainstorming, I had found something that in my everyday life that I had an issue with. Every morning on my way to school, I would be extremely tired and I would tend to sleep on the bus and on the train to school, sometimes even missing my stop. If only I could do something about that. Well, if i were to design an app that could help Singaporeans with the same problem as I have, it would be an app to track where your bus is or where your train is. All you have to do is turn on your location, set your destination, and you can sleep on any public transport that you want and the app will automatically set an alarm to tell you when you are nearing your destination. Now all I got to do is figure out how to make that app a reality and I’ll probably stop being late for classes. :P

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Game Time!

For the Game Time activity, my friends and I from JP02/01 went down to the library beside T7 to take a look at some of the games available in the library. The games can be found on the first floor of the library just beside the entrance/exit. (next to the spiral staircase) Amidst the vast variety of games, what caught my attention was one of my childhood favorite games, Scrabble. Like a little kid, I quickly grabbed the scrabble game and went to the library counter to borrow it to play. We moved over to the glass building section of the library where noise can be made to play the games that we took. We had a total of 5 games, Scrabble, Monopoly Singapore Edition, CSI, Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game and DC Comics Deck-Building Game. However, the games were too complicated to understand and the Monopoly Singapore Edition set in the library had many missing pieces, which made the game unplayable. 

Playing Scrabble in the school library together with 3 of my classmates

Scrabble is a game which I feel like I can safely say that almost everyone has played at least once when they were a child. The aim of the game is to create words on the playing board with the tiles that are randomly given to you. Every letter contains a certain number of points and every space on the board has different attributes to them. Some of the examples of such are double letter points, which doubles the points of the letters that you place onto the tile, or the double word points, which doubles the points of the entire word that you place. The aim of the game is to have the highest points at the end of the game. I used to play  

Scrabble is a game that can be played among any age range, from young to old. I used to play Scrabble as a kid with my cousins who are much older than me, some even one or two decades older than me. No matter how old you are, you still can enjoy playing this board game together with friends or family. Scrabble is also a world renowned game as there is such a thing as the Scrabble Championships in North America. 

I believe that the word citizenry comes from the word citizen, which means “an inhabitant of a particular town or city”. Citizenry is just regarding citizens collectively. Scrabble being a game that everyone can play, is one that can help bond citizens and find common ground between children, youths and even the older generations. Such a game is definitely worth trying out (If you have never played Scrabble before you are really missing out). You could grab a few old buddies or maybe even play with your older relatives. To your surprise, you may even discover some new words that you have never seen before and widen your vocabulary! It is always fun to bond over games and the best part about games is that there always is the opportunity to learn. And for me, I feel that the best way to learn is through enjoying yourself, be it through games or through other means. A game where you can bond with others and at the same time increase your vocabulary, is definitely a game worth playing. So what are you waiting for? Head down to the SP Main Library, grab a few friends, and get ready to test you and your friends vocabularies! 

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Unusual Occupations

Unusual occupations in this day and age are much more common than they were in the past decade. In the past, when people say the word “occupation”, what comes to mind is usually the typical 9-5 jobs where you are stuck in an office cubicle for majority of the time, from Monday to Saturday. However, in the 21′st century, there is a rise of these “odd jobs” that people around the world actually do to support their families and their lives. One example can be that with the social media industry at an all time high in 2018, it isn’t surprising that there are many odd jobs that have came out of it. From being an Instagram model to being a YouTube content creator, there are many things that one may find a career in. 

One unusual occupation that I found online that piqued my interest was the occupation of “Pet Sitter”. At first glance of the words pet sitter, it was pretty self-explanatory. That all you had to do, was to babysit, but with a pet instead!

A picture of my dog sleeping, who was terribly bored at home when my family had gone out.

Being a dog owner, sometimes I do feel bad when I have to leave my dog alone for prolonged periods of time with nobody at home to keep him company. However, I have never thought of hiring a pet sitter to take care of my dog. Usually when my family goes overseas and we have to leave our dog at home for about a week or two, we call one of our friends to take care of our dogs. Sometimes it may be hard to find someone who is willing to take care of your dog for such a long period of time. Then I understood that being a pet sitter actually makes sense. For families who are unable to find people to take care of their animals during their long vacations or them just being unable to find time to take care of their pets at home, a pet sitter can actually be very helpful for them.

Platinum Dogs Club, an online website that offers Pet Sitting - www.platinumdogsclub.com

Upon further research, I actually found that there are many pet sitting websites and organisations that offer pet sitting. One such website is www.platinumdogs.com , which offers overnight dog boarding, dog daycare, and pet transport (Which I assume is something like taxi services for animals?) 

Some who may be interested in this occupation may ask about the pay. The pet sitting business indubitably NOT a lucrative business, however, if you are passionate about animals and if you don’t mind enjoying a simple lifestyle whilst doing what you love, this may just be the occupation you are looking for! As quoted from the Instagram user, @comfortsfromhome, who is a full time professional pet-sitter. “If you’re thinking of being a professional pet-sitter, you must be prepared to work really hard, pull in long hours, and burn weekends and public holidays.” She earns about $3,000 to $4,000 SGD a month and her workdays typically span 12 to 14 hours with little to no off days. Being a professional pet-sitter really is a hard job which is only for those with truly a passion for animals.

Being someone who has had taken care of animals for almost his entire life, I feel that this job isn’t too far-fetched from being my future occupation. I feel that if I am able to live and maintain a simple lifestyle whilst doing something that I can enjoy daily, I will be satisfied. I don’t need big houses or a fancy car, as long as I enjoy what I do on a day to day basis. Apart from being a full time pet-sitter, it is still possible to be innovative and come up with creative and original ideas that may bring in some extra income for me. After researching about pet-sitters, I am actually keen on becoming one in the near future.

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Little India Heritage Trail!

 Being someone that isn’t the most interested in heritage trails, I wasn’t looking forward to the heritage trail. However, after going on this short adventure to Indian Heritage Center, I found that heritage trails can actually be relatively fun as well as educational. I chose Little India as the location for my heritage trail as it is somewhere that I am somewhat familiar with. I used to frequent Little India on my way home from my Secondary School and occasionally eat at the Tekka Market, which is just a stone’s throw away from the Little India MRT station. Before visiting the trail, I had never expected Little India to have such a rich culture and history. However, I have learnt a lot about the Indian community in Singapore from the trip to the Indian Heritage Center. 

Some may ask, how does one get to the Indian Heritage Center? Well, that my friend, is a good question. Take Exit C from Little India MRT station and you will be greeted by this sign, follow the path beside the sign and you will reach a junction.

After following the path, you will reach a junction and you will see this majestic looking elephant from across the street, from there you will know that the Indian Heritage Trail is about a 3-5 minute walk away. Crossing the road past the elephant, you will enter a market-like area, continue forward and you should reach your destination with ease.

And if you follow the instructions correctly, you should be greeted by this fine looking building which has the giant “Indian Heritage Center” sign sticking out of it. (or google maps works too)

The exterior of the Indian Heritage Center has this modern vibes about it with its sleek design and the use of glass panels (It’s pretty hard to miss due to its enormous size compared to the buildings around it)

Upon starting the trail, I was greeted by the vibrant colors of the wall of the entrance, giving me high hopes and expectations for the rest of  the trail.

A brief introduction of the trail and of the Indian Community, together with pictures from the past

The trail started off with a brief introduction of Singapore’s Indian community, together with pictures from the past. FUN FACT :The first Indians to arrive in Singapore were a “lashkar” (“army unit”) of Indian Soldiers of the Bengal Infantry who accompanied Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. 

A theater which replayed a 10-minute long video about the history of the Indian community in Singapore

Next up in the trail was the theater room, where a 10-minute film would be played which taught us about the Indian community before, during and after the World War II. The film was mostly in black and white, which added this “historic feel” to the film.

A display of Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppets) and a Qibla Indicator

The trail showed me the strong religious beliefs that the Indian community had. These are called Wayang Kulit, also known as Shadow Puppets. They are leather puppets which were made to tell stories of the Hindu Gods. What was interesting to me was the fact that they were made in Indonesia and not in India.

A doorway which can be found commonly in India.

What followed shortly after the display of the Wayan Kulit was the beautiful Chettinad doorway. It was believed to be made by the Chettiars in the 19th century using Mahua wood. What intrigues me was that there are 5000 carvings of Hindu Gods on the Chettinad doorway, yes, 5000. Those little small markings and symbols on that doorway are actually carvings of Hindu Gods. The amount of detail there is to this doorway really makes it such a beautiful piece of work. It is said that the Hindu Gods carved onto the doorway are meant to protect the people living in the house. (I see you staring at the mannequins behind, yes, calm down, its up next) 

Mannequins dressed in Saris 

Beyond the majestic doorway lead to a display of the traditional Indian Sari. Nothing much to say about it, its just traditional Indian clothing.

MORE TRADITIONAL CLOTHES!!!

And here we have the traditional Indian headdress, also known as the turban, I would have had tried it on for a picture if not for the tourists who constantly stared at me and judged me for everything I did inside the Indian Heritage Center :(

Religious artefacts omoomo

These artefacts displayed are associated with south Asian religions that are practiced in Singapore such as, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Baha’i 

MATA MATAAAAAA 

Quick fact : in 1881, a Sikh Police Contingent (SPC) was established in SIngapore, where the first contingent arrived from Punjab on March 26 1881. On display in the picture above are some of the things carried around by the officers of the SPC, such as their parang and sword.

Up close and personal with the Police and Civil Servant uniformed mannequin.

The great Mahatma Ghandi together with 3 hardworking SP PFP students :)

Mahatma Ghandi was an important Indian leader who promoted peace and wanted people to be respectful to each other. He is truly a man deserving of a bust in the heritage center. The bust was even made out of bronze as it was a gift from the government of India. I wish I had my own bust for the world to see.

Here we have Ansen posing in the picture booth with its beautiful framed background

As to be expected of a heritage trail and a tourist attraction, there was a picture booth! Although I did not take pictures in the booth, I did manage to get a picture of my friend in the booth doing the classic “ah beng cover face” pose.

GROUP PHOTO!!!!

To end it all off, we had a group picture which was taken by the security guard who kept staring at me, its a little bit slanted but at least he helped us take the picture. :) These are my friends who had came along with me on this learning experience, to my right is Zen, followed by Ansen and Gwen. I think that it is safe to say that we all had learnt at least one or two things about the Indian community. It is always good to learn about the different cultures and histories of other races in Singapore. Living in such a close proximity with all the different races in Singapore, I feel that it is good to learn about their history and their cultures as they were once maybe neighbors with our grandparents or our great-grandparents. Being culturally aware of different races and knowing about the history of other races can also help us to understand the meaning behind some of the things that the Indians in Singapore may do. Such as the interesting Chettinad doorway, my neighbor has a chettinad doorway and until after the trip to the Indian Heritage center, I always thought it was just for aesthetics. All in all, learning about the Indian culture was a fun and educating experience and I would say that it definitely was not a wasted trip. I may even be interested in going for more heritage trails. :>

SOURCE : The Ethan of the Kohs