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  Last Sunday, a group of Grass Day Out volunteers ventured into the untapped territories in Little India with a mission in mind: reach out to the invisible workforce in our society, migrant workers. Interacting with the volunteers, the migrant workers from India and
Bangladesh were encouraged to make art in the open.
Behind this heartwarming outreach efffort is Migrant Voices, an arts group who have existed since 2005. The organisation was created to celebrate the spirit of the arts with talented migrant workers. Initially intended to be a one-off project, the group launched a CD album in 2006 as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. From then on, the group decided to register as an arts society and continue creating projects centering on the mobility, interaction and building of the community.
Many of the volunteers who turned up on Sunday were new to both Migrant Voices and to the idea of Grass Day Out. One of them was a language teacher at Alliance Française. She could converse in Bahasa after living in Indonesia for three years. Foreign domestic workers from Indonesia, some of whom have been avid volunteers of Migrant Voices, also turned up. Their participation has always been useful, as their experiences help others understand the struggles that domestic workers face. We were also joined by Joseph who works in a shipyard. He has stayed in Singapore for a long time on a work permit. Joseph was able to help volunteers communicate with the South Indian workers.
VOLUNTEERS AND MIGRANT WORKERS: WE ARE ALL PEOPLE
The 15 volunteers broke up into five groups of three. We had two destinations to choose from: Chander Road where the South Indian workers are, or Lembu Road where Bangladeshi workers congregate.
I joined the group at Lembu Road and was struck by the openness of the volunteers. The place was crowded with Bangladeshi workers taking a break from a week-long activity involving hours of tough labour. There was music played at nearby stalls and many groups of men chatting away. We approached one group and asked if they would like to make a drawing. We were met with rejection, which made us think twice about our approach. We thought the men might think we’re selling something. Two newbie volunteers who were with me were puzzled at the resistance. They persisted and became more relaxed when finally, a young Bangladeshi man agreed to draw something. This proved to be helpful as others opened up to the idea and asked for paper to draw on.
We took about two hours to finish and came back with tons of drawings. We had images of lost love, villages, homelands and flowers from the workers. One of them described to us when we asked why his image had a girl tearing up. He was unable to express himself. Others around him said that he probably broke up with his girlfriend in Bangladesh. Another guy enthusiastically made us wait for a long time so that he could perfect his image. He wanted to make the image of a sun rising in a village with a stream running across the centre. He said that he missed this a lot during his stay here in Singapore.
During the de-briefing, many of the volunteers felt they’d touched on the private space governing many workers and enjoyed the interaction. They learnt that they got to know the workers better, and emphasised with their daily struggle to feel at home away from their homeland. SN
Find out more about Grass Day Out here. Interested participants who wish to be involved in the second run in April at Golden Mile Complex may email support[a]migrantvoices.org for more details.
PHOTOS: SHA NAJAK
Sha Najak
is a committee member of Migrant Voices and one of its founding members. She is currently working with local migrants advocacy group Transient Workers Count Too as an employee.
THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF Mar 1-7 :: The March Issue
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