Community Engagement (CE) Day is part of CAPT's Freshmen Orientation Camp. This year, the SI Wing had the opportunity to design, plan, and conduct a series of programme for OG Columbus from the house of Dragon. Freshies participated in
'Migrant Experience', a community trail to Little India, and a visit to
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2). The day of programme was well received and the OG had lots of fun!
Migrant Experience
Columbus got to experience how the daily life of a migrant worker is like through this Migrant Experience simulation. From the moment freshies step into the room, they were not allowed to communicate with one another. They were then allocated to any job that the "employer" (facilitator) wants them to take up. After which, with minimal instructions, they have to go through various stations that aim to simulate the different phases of migrants' daily life that include work, shop and social life. The experience ended off with a discussion with all freshies as they share about their personal reflections and insights and at the same time, get to think more critically about existing stereotypes against migrant workers. With that, our freshies left with a greater sense of empathy for the migrant workers!
Little India Trail
The migrant experience was followed by a trail around the vicinity of Lembu Square. Being one of the congregational areas for Bangladeshis, the neighbourhood provided Columbus with the opportunity to have a better understanding of the current space and community that migrant workers belong in. Through the showcasing of concrete examples of stereotypes that can be observed in the social space in Lembu, the trail aims to help participants to deepen their empathy gained in the migrant experience previously, and to push them to create something different immediately.
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)
SI Wing was very honoured to have TWC2* hosting a sharing session on the migrant community and on what TWC2 does with us. In general, Columbus felt that the sharing was insightful and it definitely opened them up to the hidden migrant community in Singapore.
*TWC2 is a non-profit organisation that seeks to promote fair treatment for migrant workers and advocates for a more enlightened policy framework for migrant labour in Singapore.
To conclude, CE Day was a great day for Columbus!
Signing off,
Shi Yun
