Events @ the National Gallery Auditorium
16 Dec (Sunday)
9.00 – 10.00 AM Keynote Speech & Panel on Migration - The Big Picture
Keynote: Introduction to the context of the festival
Featuring: Windu Lestari
Panel: This panel will bring together experts on migration and field workers dealing with migration to discuss among other topics: What are the big global trends on migrations (source, destination, types, reasons). What are the key issues for both host and destinations? What are policy implications? How can the civil society respond?
Featuring: Dr Paddy McLisky (Doctors4Refugees), Mia Fitriani (IOM), Dr Anju Mary Paul (Yale-NUS)
Moderator: Debbie Fordyce
10.00 - 10.50 AM Scenes from a Refugee Camp
In this session, photojournalist Mohd Samsul (whose work ‘Life inside the Refugee Camp’ won the acclaimed 2018 Sony World Photography Awards in Current Affairs & News category) will share some of the photographs and discuss his experience of working in the camps. This will be followed by a panel to discuss the situation with Rohingyas.
Featuring: Mohd Samsul, Caroline Brassard (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy)
Moderator: Christine Parimala Pelly
11.00 - 11.50 AM Voices of Chinese Domestic Migrants
Join award-winning Chinese poet and domestic migrant worker Zheng Xiaoqiong for an hour where she will share some of her most insightful works from over 10 of her poetry collections that have been translated into seven languages across the world, and catch her wide-ranging interview where she will discuss her experiences as a domestic migrant in China and how that informed her writing.
Featuring: Zheng Xiaoqiong (China)
Moderator: Yolanda Miaomiao Yu
12.00 - 12.50 PM Voices from a Refugee Camp
This session will show videos of shortlisted poems submitted by refugees from the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, the largest in the world. Their poems will be judged by poets Eric Valles and Tammie Ho Lai Ming and the results will be announced on the spot.
Featuring: Poets of Kakuma refugee camp, FilmAid, Shivaji Das (MC)
1.00 - 1.50 PM Performance – The Migrant Cultural Show
The Migrant Cultural Show is a platform in Singapore to showcase the various talents of migrants with performances and cultural activities to raise levels of consciousness in understanding, awareness and tolerance of inter cultural differences. The variety show also promotes cultural bonding among migrant workers of different nations and different countries.
Featuring: The Migrant Cultural Show, a group of Migrant Workers in Singapore
2.00 - 2.50 PM Migrant Voices – Poetry Readings, Songs, Stories
Join us for an hour of spoken word and music performances showcasing the voices of migrant worker poets in five countries, and take the moment to immerse in the depth and breadth of experiences that bring the shared aspirations of talented artists from across the continent together.
Featuring: Carnival of Poetry Group (Singapore), Lintas Panjang Sore (Indonesia- HK), Cheng Chang (Taiwan), Mwaffaq Al Hazar (Syria, Malaysia)
Moderator: Theophilus Kwek
3.00 - 3.50 PM Theatre Performance - The Birds
Join the Birds, a ground-up theatre troupe comprising migrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines that bring to the stage a unique cross-cultural performance like you’ve never seen before. The play begins with a group of children, innocent, playing. A happy family, a community. Because of circumstances beyond their control, the people leave their home for a new land. They hope to find new opportunities, new beginning, a bright future for the children. The journey is treacherous. There is hunger, illness, A storm. Not everyone survives. What will they encounter when they reach the new land?
Featuring: The Birds, Haresh Sharma
4.00 - 6.00 PM Finals of Migrant Worker Poetry Competition, Singapore
In its fifth edition this year, the Migrant Worker Poetry Competition is an annual competition that recognizes outstanding poetry written by construction workers, domestic helpers and other migrant workers in Singapore either in English or their native language. The top three poets receive $500, $300 and $200 respectively. Meet the winners of the Competition this year, selected by a judging panel comprising playwrights and poets.
9.00am - 7.00pm Events @ National Gallery Foyer
Display of handicrafts made by refugees (The Good Shop, Malaysia)
Sale of books written by Migrant Workers by Various
Mobile Library set up by the Migrant Library
Events @ The Arts House, Play Den
16 Dec (Sunday)
10.00 - 11.00 AM Panel – The Cultural works of Migrants: Experiences from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia
This panel will bring together prolific authors and literary organizers based around different parts of the region who will be sharing on their past and present involvements with showcasing the works of migrant workers in their respective countries. Amongst the panellists are pioneers in the arts community who have founded publications, bookstores, libraries, festivals, and competitions to recognize and promote the diverse cultures in their respective societies.
Featuring: Alvin Pang (Singapore), Cheng Chang (Taiwan), Shivaji Das (Singapore-Malaysia), Lintas Panjang Sore (Hong Kong)
Moderator: Theophilus Kwek
11.00 AM - 12.00 PM Poetry Readings and Discussion – My Life and My Work #1
Held across three sessions, join poets and writers Topaz Winters and Azira Azman as they bring together a dynamic line-up of award-winning migrant worker photographers and poets who will be sharing some of their favourite pieces and discussing the motivations behind their work, in particular how their lived experiences have informed their work.
Featuring: MD Sharif (Bangladesh) and Lintas Panjang Sore (Indonesia)
Moderator: Topaz Winters
12.00 - 1.00 PM Poetry Readings and Discussion – My Life and My Work #2
Held across three sessions, join poets and writers Topaz Winters and Azira Azman as they bring together a dynamic line-up of award-winning migrant worker photographers and poets who will be sharing some of their favourite pieces and discussing the motivations behind their work, in particular how their lived experiences have informed their work.
Featuring: Mwaffa Al Hazar (Syria, Malaysia), Ziaur Rahman (Myanmar, Singapore)
Moderator: Topaz Winters
1.00 - 2.00 PM Poetry Readings and Discussion – My Life and My Work #3
Held across three sessions, join poets and writers Topaz Winters and Azira Azman as they bring together a dynamic line-up of award-winning migrant worker photographers and poets who will be sharing some of their favourite pieces and discussing the motivations behind their work, in particular how their lived experiences have informed their work.
Featuring: Joan Santillan Amurao (The Philippines, Malasia), Shara Syamshi (Indonesia, Singapore)
Moderator: Azira Azman
2.00 - 3.00 PM Musical Performance - The Migrant Band
The Migrant Band is a band founded and run by migrant workers from Bangladesh seeking to entertain fellow migrant workers. They will play some of their favourite Bengali songs.
3.00 - 4.00 PM Panel Discussion – Health and Migration
In this panel, hear from community health organizations with extensive experience working with and connecting healthcare professionals with migrant workers, refugees, and asylum seekers to meet the unique health needs of migrant communities that emerge from moving away from high-risk environments in their home countries and working in a foreign country exposing them to illnesses and injuries for which seeking treatment and recovery can be unfamiliar.
Featuring: Dr. Paddy (Doctors4Refugees), Dr. Raj (Healthserve), Mia Fitriani (IOM- Indonesia)
Moderator: Christine Parimala Pelly
7.00 - 9.00 PM "On the Migrant Trail" - Various Outdoor Locations
Walk organized to showcase places associated with Migrants in Singapore
Target: General Audience
Guide: Debbie Fordyce, The Hidden Tours
Events @ Singapore Book Council, Training Room
16 Dec (Sunday)
10.00 - 10.50 AM Workshop on Health for Migrant Workers
HealthServe is a non-governmental organization running community clinics in Geylang, Jurong, Mandai, Little India, and Tai Seng which offer medical and dental consultations for migrant workers and handling emergency cases, and welcomes migrant workers to join in their workshop where they will offer their expertise drawn upon their track record providing migrant workers with affordable healthcare, social and legal assistance and skills training programmes.
Audience: Migrant Workers
Moderator: HealthServe
11.00 AM - 12.30 PM Workshop on Story Writing for Migrant Workers
With a highly diverse range of rich experiences that migrant workers possess, how can they put these stories into written form on paper and reach a wider audience? Sing Lit Station welcomes migrant workers with a passion for writing to join co-founder and short story author Jon Gresham who will be drawing upon his experience to conduct a workshop and bring these voices to the forefront.
Audience: Migrant Workers
Moderator: Jon Gresham, Sing Lit Station
1.00 - 2.30 PM Workshop on Storytelling for Migrant Workers
Stories can be told not just on paper, but through the spoken word as well. How can migrant workers share their stories from their experiences to an audience? Former radio and talk-show host Petrina Kow will bring her experience as a voice and presentation coach closer to migrant workers with a passion for oral storytelling in a workshop where participants will share and learn how they can convey their powerful narratives to listeners.
Audience: Migrant Workers
Moderator: Petrina Kow