Migrant Voices will not be able to put together a performance piece for SeptFest. Instead we will stick to having performances by bands.

See u then.

Septfest Rehearsal, 20th August 2006 @ Spell #7, Little India (supposed 8th session)

The past 2 weeks have seen cancellations of workshops for our Sunday rehearsals at Spell 7. Instead, we utilised the space for meetings and discussions on SeptFest - the upcoming and 2nd major project on our plates. Needless to say, we were jittery over the execution of our planned performance piece.

And that's why 20th August was uplifting for us all. The Indonesian women were having their annual Independence Day celebrations at the embassy in the day and came to our rehearsals halfway. Jegan, missing the presence of Richard, was solo but was joined by a friend, John later on for doodling.

The women and Jegan were let in on our SeptFest plans. Nina, Migrant Voices Artistic Facilitator, opened a discussion on how they felt using 3 settings:

- Before Arrival to Singapore

- After Arrival

- Months after Arrival

Jegan brought up his scenarios of a tearful goodbye to his family and of how he was dissapointed of Singapore spending days in cramped containers with other workers. He also spoke of the difficulty of contacting home as the first few months were a blurry start and he had no easy access to cash to purchase a SIM card and call home. This happens as workers are typically faced with heavy levy payments and in some cases, not paid for a few months to clear it off before they do get some salary later.

The Indonesian women had varied stories. They spoke of Indonesian agencies (before arriving) that trained them to pick up skills on managing typical household appliances seen in Singapore. And of how Singapore is seen through pictures. They spoke of various rules like cutting hair as they were told, Singaporean employers dont like it. This is saddening for the women especially since hair is a feminine aspect of beauty for them and looking like a man is culturally unacceptable.

One of the women spoke of her fear when landing in Singapore as she was told her employer is fierce but soon found out he wasn't. She also spoke of her immense loneliness to the point of being excited over the sound of airplanes as she wondered if the direction of the plane is heading towards Jakarta, her home. Her employer, seeing her state one day brought a pen, paper, envelope and a stamp to her encouraging her to write home. Indonesian women coming to Singapore for work, at times are under the impression of a better life and job but this may not be the case for some. As such, their family when sending them away bid farewell with hope and pride seeing their daughter 'succeeding'. Yet, for some this can be the other way around as some would reveal the reality to their family back home.

Next week, our rehearsal is cancelled. We will commence the week after.

From left: Tari (Indonesia), Suwarni (Indonesia) and Josie (Philippines)

The 3rd session of our drama workshop bore fruitful and insightful details on the potential of each migrant worker involved. The group wrote and acted out scenes from home and tragedies that have happened in their lives whether on a personal basis or at work. We had new faces from the Philippines and curious outsiders itching to know what this is all about. Josie is a housewife and PR here. She came to the workshop, curious to know more and brought her daughter along too. Part of the team at Migrant Voices are foreign expats themselves eager to reach out to their own community to contribute. Denny Iskandar is an active volunteer of Migrant Voices since the beginning. He works closely with the Darul Arqam singers who went on to record on the Migrant Voices CD album.

Click here to find out where you can purchase a CD
http://migrantvoices.blogspot.com/2006/03/where-to-buy-cd.html

Subsequently, check on our events listing where the CDs will be available for purchase as well.

18 June 2006, 2pm

Spell 7, Little India

by Jacqueline Tan Publicist, Committee Member

Migrant Voices Drama coach Nina Siew, who is also a Committee Member for Migrant Voices kicked off her first drama workshop with a small group of migrant workers in Little India on Sunday, 18/6. The session was held on the premises of Spell 7 and it revolved around the theme of childhood. Although it was just a small group of six (including Sha Najak and TWC2's Amy Fatah), it was a fun and fruitful workshop that saw the participants coming together to improvise plays in super-quick time. Shipyard worker Richard and construction worker Jeganath showed great acting prowess and moved one of the Indonesian domestic workers to tears with their realistic portrayals of life in a poor rural Indian village. It was Sun TV come alive! Amy Fatah and her group also put up a short powerful playlet about mother-daughter relationships. Amy, who played the daughter, got under the skin of her character so well that she actually broke into tears when her 'mother' was scolding her.The participants were also encouraged to share and give their feedback on the plays they put up. After a short 15-minute break, they gathered for a time of doodling. Most of them depicted scenes of their villages with crayons and colour pencils, with the exception of Jeganath who drew a classical Indian flute -- an instrument he plays with great passion and conviction.A big "thank you" to Nina who conducted the workshop with much aplomb. She kept the energy level up despite the small group and the participants said they'll be back for the next workshop this Sunday, 25/6 at 2pm.We're hoping to get more participants for this workshop, so do help spread the word around! And feel free to drop by at Spell 7 for a look-see or better still, join in the fun!

Where: HOME Serangoon Gardens, a shelter for destitute migrant workers

What: Drama workshops

Who: Mayura, trainer

Greetings friends. I am Sha, currently helping out in Migrant Voices. I have been joining the theatre workshops with HOME for the past couple weeks and I wish to share with you my observations. The 1st lesson was more of a warm-up session so there were some ladies who were hesitant to join in the fun. Soon we were laughing and active enough to whet the curiosity of the rest. By the 2nd meeting, minor yet interesting observations could be derived.

One exercise put forth by the trainer was a pairing of 3s in one group. As a Singaporean, I was paired with 2 others - 1 indonesian and 1 filipina. We were told to find a common issue we all share and translated that into a specific action. Whilst figuring out what we have in common, the other groups easily pointed out issues they share like the need for home/family or loneliness. My 2 partners pointed out the same, but I don't share common grounds in those issues. In the end, we finally shared one issue together - money. My partners (while in conversation) find it hard to believe a Singaporean would be 'poor'. I found this oservation of theirs interesting as a 2nd point of view from foreigners coming from less developed countries than Singapore. Workers from the Philippines and Indonesia trudge to Singapore to find a better life much like a Singaporean is trying to do too. This only makes us comrades/partners side by side towards survival.

On another occassion, I was paired with 3 others and this time my pal Shaun a Singaporean too joined us. This was a re-enactment game and Mayura the trainer would give us scenarious to act out. Her plan was to steer far away from the negative issues of abuse etc but for my group, she decided to give us the scenario of an employer's home. Perhaps, it was a tactic of hers to curiously find out what the foreign workers would re-enact. One immediately thrust her chin up and sat on the floor with legs crossed and arms crossed much like an arrogant employer would do. And me being the dramatic fool, dropped down on the floor and touched her feet in an attempt to enact an obedient domestic worker. What came after was surprising to me, she (the one who acted as the employer) kept apologising because I had touched her feet. It became apparent to me, my presence is as much a curiosity to them as their presence is to me.

My observations tell me, foreign workers are hungry for interaction with Singaporeans not as employer/employee but on a friendly basis instead. Communication barriers aside, foreign workers young and old are very much like us and make no mistake, they want to know about us too but may not find such an opportunity or find us intimidating perhaps?