Eight photographers helped raise S$32,600 in donations which will be passed on to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that aim to address the issues that migrant workers face in Singapore.
Fundraising effort supported by eight photographers in S'pore
According to a Facebook post by Objectifs, an independent visual arts space that supports film and photography in Singapore, 90 people bought prints of photographs taken by the following photographers: Darren Soh, AikBeng Chia, Nicky Loh, Gareth Phua, James Tan, Jimmy Sng, Mindy Tan and Kokleong Tham.
The prints were sponsored by AVS Printing Pte Ltd in support of the efforts by the community.
133 prints of photographs were sold through the Migrant Worker Beneficiary Print Sale, and including some direct contributions, S$32,600 was raised through this initiative.
Donations will be passed to NGOs by the end of this week
According to the post, the first round of donations will go to the following NGOs by the end of this week:
- Covid Migrant Support Coalition (a group of four NGOs)
- Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME)
The Covid Migrant Support Coalition has teamed up to deliver food to migrant workers every day, as well as provide mental health and online learning resources for workers who are currently under lockdown.
As for HOME, it provides support to migrant workers who face termination of employment, unpaid wages, or have inadequate access to healthcare.
Support migrant workers and local art
If you are interested, the sale of photographs is still ongoing and you can support by ordering prints here.
Prints will only be available for pick up at Objectifs from May 19 onwards, due to circuit breaker measures.
One of the photographs shows the colourful facade of the most affected dormitory, S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which currently has 797 cases identified.
Soh, who took the photo in 2014, wrote a plea on April 5 to urge more people to help the migrant workers during this trying period.
"This image of the S11 @ Punggol Dormitory for Migrant Workers here in Singapore was made in 2014, in much happier times. It was part of my project - In The Still Of The Night - While You Were Sleeping and six years ago, nobody could have expected that the dormitory would be thrust into the limelight as it was these past two days.
[...]
At this difficult time for everyone, the migrant workers here in Singapore are most in need of whatever help they can get from us. I can only imagine the anxiety and fear going through many of them right now. An appeal has come out for aid in the form of masks, hand sanitisers, disinfectants - Please consider helping in whatever way you can.
Remember, these are the men who are literally building our country for us and doing much of the work that many Singaporeans would not consider doing.
They need all the help they can get."
Here's a preview of all photographs on sale:
Screenshot from Objectifs website.
Screenshot from Objectifs website.
Screenshot from Objectifs website.
You can read the full post by Objectifs here.
Screenshot via Objectifs/Facebook
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Top photo via Objectifs' Facebook and supplied by MOM