Migrant workers and Singaporeans spotted celebrating SG50 together!
21 August 2015
Singaporeans across
the island celebrated the Republic’s 50th birthday over the long
Golden Jubilee weekend. While many headed down to Padang and the Marina Bay area to catch the various activities, our
migrant workers too celebrated the occasion enthusiastically in their own way.
Celebration begins…
In the northern
part of Singapore, the celebration at Woodlands Recreation Centre, held on
Friday, 7 August, drew a large crowd. Migrant workers from neighbouring
dormitories were treated to many performances at the recreation centre from as
early as 5 p.m. when the centre was transformed into a music arena providing
entertainment for the workers. By 7 p.m., the venue was filled with thousands
of workers who were entertained with dance performances, a magic show and
songs.
Bangladeshi worker
Mijee Mohammed Rubel, 25, was spotted wearing an “I Love SG” tee-shirt and dancing
with his friends to a Bangladeshi song. He said, “I have been working in
Singapore for seven months and this is the first time I got to watch a variety
show that plays Bangladeshi music.”
In Singapore, the
best way to bond is to lepak or chill with friends and makan (eat) together. On National Day,
many of our foreign workers were able to do just that.
At Kaki Bukit
Recreation Centre, workers were given a National Day fun pack, filled with
snacks, and a packet of chicken briyani
each.
Over at Penjuru
Recreation Centre in the West, hundreds of migrant workers were spotted queuing
for seats to a National Day concert. They were surprised with door gifts of an
earphone and a lucky draw ticket. The workers were entertained with songs and
dances from the different ethnic groups and a live band.
The SCAL
Recreation Centre at Soon Lee Road, saw a crowd of 4,000 workers celebrate our
National Day despite the wet weather.
Apart from an ongoing cricket match and a movie screening, there was
also a concert to entertain the workers.
Bangladeshi
worker, Al-Amin Abdur Rob Prodhan, could not resist the lure of Marina Bay to
catch a glimpse of National Day celebrations. But he returned to SCAL
Recreation Centre in the evening with his friends. The 32-year-old marine
trades worker said, “This is my ninth year in Singapore and I am happy to be
part of this SG50 celebration”.
The spirit of togetherness…
On the morning of
8th and 10th August, dormitory operator D Wall Pte Ltd
and Geylang Adventures co-organised a cooking event for our foreign workers and
Singaporeans at Woodlands Lodge 2 and North Coast dormitories, respectively.
The event “Majulah
Belanja” aimed to raise awareness and understanding of our migrant workers and
their culture through food. It was an interesting and educational event, which brought
Singaporeans and workers together. From what we saw, this ground-up project was
a success.
Daniel Tan,
Managing Director of D Wall Pte Ltd said, “It is good to see them interacting
with one another. This event is also our gesture of appreciation to the migrant
workers for helping to build Singapore all these years.”
The youngest
participant at the event was an 8-year-old Singaporean boy, Lee Weng Ern, who came
with his parents and 11-year-old sister. Weng Ern shyly commented that he
enjoyed interacting with his new friends and cooking the food together. “Actually,
my role is to peel the garlic. I hope to join future events like this.” said
Weng Ern.
Construction
worker Kamarul Hasan, 24, who has been working in Singapore for the past four
years, had this to say about Singapore: “Singaporeans are actually very good. Singapore
is a peaceful country with no fights, politics and I enjoyed interacting with
my Singaporean friends Jasper and Giselle.”
Alexander Wu,
dormitory manager of D Wall Pte Ltd said, “Migrant workers are appreciative of
this event because through this, they are able to integrate into society. We
hope to do more of such events in future.”
Regardless of race, language or religion…
The Golden Jubilee
weekend might be over, but for the workers, the memories of the fun weekend
will stay in their minds for awhile.
Happy 50th
birthday, Singapore! And to all migrant workers here in Singapore, we are glad
you all had a great long weekend too.
“I would like to
thank the migrant workers for helping to build Singapore. This is definitely a
different exposure for me and I hope the workers can feel our appreciation
towards them.”
Mdm Low Siew Noi, 58
Singaporean Participant
“Some people
distance themselves away from migrant workers. This is the first time we are
participating in such an event where we need to interact with workers, sit at
the same table and eat their food. This is definitely inspiring for both of us
and we enjoyed it.”
Jasper Wong, 25 and Giselle Sim,
25
Singaporean Participants
