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Moved by his own experiences and news headlines of migrant workers having meals and breaks on the ground, one student from Temasek Polytechnic (TP) designed a 2-in-1 bag specially for migrant workers so they can rest better.

The bag contains not just a carrier compartment, but also modular components that can be re-assembled to become a personal sleeping pad.

Seeing it for himself

The bag, nicknamed "Buddy", is the brainchild and product of labour of Justin Goh, 19, who recently graduated from the Product and Industrial Design course at TP.

The bag was created as part of his final-year project — Project Sanctuary.

It all started in May 2022, when Goh saw migrant workers having their meals in a car park as he was on his way to work during an internship.

"Some of them were standing up, some of them were squatting down. And I think it rained the day before, so the floor was wet," Goh recalled.

"I was thinking that, 'Hey, this is not an ideal situation for them'", Goh said.

When he was leaving his workplace, Goh encountered a similar scene.

This moved him.

"As fellow humans, right, we wouldn't want to be in that position. It's very miserable. And so I decided ‘Okay, I will take this and perhaps do something for them'," Goh reflected.

Visits to a work site

The young designer began researching the issue, coming across one news article from 2016, among others, in the process.

Concluding that such experiences were more common than first thought, Goh visited a work site near his home to try to figure out how he could best help the workers through design.

There, Goh noticed several issues that would affect the quality of rest migrant workers could get during their break time.

For example, he noted that the lighting in the car park was "harsh" and kept turning on and off.

Another issue he noted was that the migrant workers were using a drop cloth as a makeshift ground cover to rest on.

With all that he gathered, Goh formulated his design statement — to give migrant workers a better choice over their break conditions at work — and got cracking.

Coming up with the design

Besides functionality, Goh wanted to integrate user wellness into the product he was creating.

"What I wanted to do was to improve their posture when they are sleeping, or at least when they are carrying their equipment," the designer shared.

When ideating, Goh played with different design directions, including tables and chairs.

However, the young designer later realised that the workers were often seen carrying a work bag. This led him to dive deep into innovating a bag-related product.

Three distinct bag concepts, each with different functions, were explored.

Each time a new prototype was put together, Goh returned to visit the workers to get their input.

Commenting on his interactions with the workers, Goh shared that they were "very happy that somebody is trying to design something" that they can use.

Some of them were "very involved" in the project, and would actively share their likes and dislikes about each prototype with Goh.

"Buddy"

Based on the workers' input, the concept went through numerous upgrades and tweaks until finally, "Buddy" was born.

"I called it 'Buddy' because it's supposed to be like a companion helping the migrant workers, staying with them throughout their work routine, taking care of their needs," Goh explained.

"Buddy" is made up of two compartments.

The front compartment is the larger of the two and contains internal dividers to organise personal items.

The back compartment, which in Goh's words, "takes care of [the worker's] physiological needs", houses a pull-out mat that can be deployed when needed.

Here's how:

One of the back paddings is attached via velcro, making it removable. After detachment, it can be used as a headrest.

When fully assembled, "Buddy" becomes a personal sleeping pad.

Aspirations and potential

Goh's project was showcased during TP's Design Show 2023 earlier in March alongside other student's projects.

Then, the final-year student was granted an audience with directors from the Ministry of Manpower after he reached out with a pitch.

According to Goh's supervisor, Ameer-Alrasyeed Ramdan, 30, Lecturer at TP, the officials recognised the potential of "Buddy".

Besides being a source of comfort for migrant workers, Ameer shared that bag could have other use cases.

For example, it could feature in aid packages for humanitarian relief, the lecturer pointed out.

However, "Buddy" is far from being a ready product.

"To be honest, this design is not the end. It can be improved more," Goh admitted.

Goh himself has since graduated from TP, and is waiting to enlist for national service.

For now, he is taking a break.

Still, he hopes to connect with organisations to see if they are interested in supporting the idea and help take "Buddy" further.

Through the project, he also hopes to inspire others to care.

"If it's not going to be me, I hope there are others who will pick it up now. They don't necessarily have to make a bag-related thing, but at least more people are aware that there are things we can address for the migrant workers. These guys also deserve good design."

All image via Gawain Pek, unless stated otherwise. Top image via Justin Goh, Gawain Pek.