InsideOut: Photographs by Migrant Workers in Singapore

This was an email that I received in my mailbox on the photography project that was done to feature the lives of migrant workers right here in Singapore. I found it a great way to help the locals understand them better and realise that they are after all, also a part of the human race and share this world with us.

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This project was featured in the Special Report of the Straits Times on 18th February 2006.
The official website can be found at http://www.thephotoessay.com/index.html.
Do go down to take a look if you are free, we spent quite some time preparing for the exhibition.

Introduction to the project
No child dreams of becoming a maid or a construction worker. But driven by poverty and a lack of opportunities, waves of Asians take on such work every year, often away from the support of friends and family.

In Singapore, migrant workers clean our homes and help raise our children. They build the offices we work in and the roads we use every day. But we know little of their stories and the dreams that inspire them.

InsideOut is a six-month project involving 30 workers from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. They learn the basics of photography and, guided by volunteer photographers and
photojournalists, are encouraged to take photos of their daily lives in Singapore.

Through their photographs, we hope to learn from their perspectives and experiences. The sharing of their stories may spark more interaction between host and migrant communities, strengthening links that already exist and building bridges where there are none.

Foreign workers make up about a quarter of Singapore's 2.3-million labour force. These workers, about 600,000 of them, are work-permit holders who take on low-pay jobs in the construction and service industries. About 150,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore come
from the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Construction workers in the island-state come mainly from Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China.

Many workers realize their dreams of a better life, but for others, that dream erodes when they run into problems such as the non-payment of salary and, in some cases, physical and mental abuse. The project hopes to reflect some of the challenges all of them face.

InsideOut will be exhibited as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival from Feb 22-Mar 5, 2006, at Objectifs, located at 12A Liang Seah Street, Singapore 189033