Familiar Strangers

The last two months saw a busy and full load of FYPs (Final-Year Projects) from many close friends from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information as public-relation campaigns, journalism and broadcast projects kick into high gear. I'm humbled to be able to work with many of my close friends, covering their events and adding a little bit of colour to their projects with my pictures and videos.

Familiar Strangers is one of them - it is a PR campaign that aims to collect stories from the migrant worker community and help them "re-present" themselves as it is. I attended their "Share-A-Meal" event hosted at Food for Thought cafe in National Gallery Singapore.

The event happened in the adjoining private space to the cafe. Participants were evenly divided and seated around large round tables. The tabletops and wooden chairs stir up memories of an early Nanyang kopitiam - invoking a sense of community and neighbourliness.

The space facilitated sharing and conversation - many participants approached these "familiar strangers" and striked a conversation with them. The team helpfully provided conversational topics for participants to share about their own lives.

Table games quickly brought participants together as one.

The things one carries usually tell a strong story of where he/she has been through - and in the items produced for the Scavenger Hunt - one could only imagine how simple items like a lighter, a picture, a belt could inject dimensions of "richness" towards greater understanding.

An impromptu music performance brought out the best in everyone as participants got to their feet and jived with the music.

Towards the end of the event, the team had the participants write one another cards to remember the day by.

Participants exchanged contacts with one another - and one could feel that on this day, a small group of Singaporeans made a meaningful effort to better understand the people who shared the same island we called home.