cai yinzhou migrant workers

By Mrigaa Sethi | Jun 11, 2015; We first learned of Yinzhou when we saw photos of his initiative, Backalley Barbers—folks who give free haircuts to migrant workers—on Facebook. They formed communities, built public infrastructure like schools and hospitals, kept their eyes on the possibilities for a better future. Activist Cai Yinzhou, co-founder of the Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, said nobody would have thought the isolation and stoppage of work was going to last such a long time. By September, it had delivered 1.7 million essential goods and given out about 82,000 meals to migrant workers. You have reached your limit of subscriber-only articles this month. The strength of Singapore lies in our diversity — since our inception, early migrants came with the same sense of purpose, forming mutual help groups like clans and associations that contributed actively to our early nation building. School? They were unable to return home when the pandemic threw international travel into upheaval. As a child, I wondered not about the roads we took, but why we had to avoid particular routes home. These walking tours are now incorporated in Citizen Adventures, led by Yinzhou, which also includes other social initiatives, such as Back Alley Barbers, a project offering free haircuts to migrant labourers. Image Source: Facebook / Cai Yinzhou. He learnt more about their lives in Singapore, and the families they missed back home. Besides meals, the coalition also distributed essential goods such as groceries and toiletries. Cai runs Geylang and Dakota Adventures. SINGAPORE – Being separated from his parents during the circuit breaker gave social entrepreneur Cai Yinzhou, 30, a taste of how migrant workers here felt being away from their loved ones. Migrant worker NGOs have campaigned about overcrowding in dormitories for years. Image source: Cai Yinzhou Facebook Post This initiative is part of the Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition (CMSC) formed by Citizen Adventures, Itsrainingraincoats, Migrant x Me and Singapore Migrant Friends to raise funds for our migrant friends who are affected by the circuit breaker measures. Top photo via Cai Yinzhou's Facebook and Wikimedia commons. Mothership and The Birthday Collective are in collaboration to share a selection of essays from the 2018 edition of The Birthday Book. All done! The Birthday Book (which you can buy here) is a collection of essays about Singapore by 53 authors from various walks of life. The ecosystem they’ve created, however, is a result of how the Singaporean society treats migrant workers. “As consumers of migrant workers, we should look into supply chain issues and exert our power to demand for a more ethical model for recruitment and training,” she says. You might have heard of 27-year-old Cai Yinzhou from his famous social enterprise, Geylang Adventures. Mr Cai also leads a trail around Geylang for $35 per person. But underneath the easy labels, the place of my childhood is teeming with living networks and informal relationships. Coalition member Cai Yinzhou, who is the founder of Citizen Adventures outreach group, said hundreds of volunteers are finding ways to adapt to the constantly changing picture of the outbreak. | Activist Cai Yinzhou, co-founder of the Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, said nobody would have thought the isolation and stoppage of work was going to last such a long time. The 20-year-old boy managing a small troupe of streetwalkers, who had lived without a fatherly figure and desperately wanted to help his ageing mother with her skyrocketing medical bills. Cai runs Geylang and Dakota Adventures. These aren’t obvious to everyone, unfortunately. It would be laughable, and impossible, for the government to claim ignorance of how bad things could get. However, the unintended consequences of clamping down on vice has been to relegate prostitution activities to jungle and HDB brothels, online spaces and massage parlours, creating a cat-and-mouse game for enforcement agencies. The broad policy of clamping down on crime was both rational and well-intentioned, but has caused unintended consequences by disrupting the community’s delicate equilibrium. Vote for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2020, The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2020: More inspiring stories. Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. For his efforts, he was awarded the Singapore Youth Award in 2017 and featured in the National Day Parade in 2018. These include language tutorials and lessons on photography and art. The Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC)'s FREIDA, or Forward Response, Engagement & Intel Deployment Asset, is a mobile office which helps the MWC reach out to migrant workers … With strict measures limiting movement and rooms without windows, many workers felt disoriented, said Cai Yinzhou, co-founder of the COVID-19 Migrant Support Coalition. All rights reserved. In contrast, today’s segregation of low-wage workers, by built design or unequal social mobility, will continue perpetuating divides within communities — the necessary jobs these workers do shunned by local populations, the disinterest in mixing persisting while we ignore our mutual interdependence. Volunteers from the informal coalition have been producing 15 minute to 30 minute educational videos that workers can access online. CAI YINZHOU. To be honest, it would have been challenging to "love thy neighbour” if I only had known them for their labels. Cai Yinzhou with a BDF member. When measures were imposed in early April to curb the spread of Covid-19, he co-founded the Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, mobilising volunteers across different groups such as Singapore Migrant Friends, Migrants X Me and his own social enterprise, Citizen Adventures, to assist those who not only had to endure the lockdown of their dormitories but were also far from home. Individually, each held a story. I only realised many years later that my neighbours were a mix of characters ranging from regular families, to people engaged in gambling, prostitution and drug syndicates. Advertise with us Touching on the divide, Cai noted, for instance, that migrant workers try to stay away from places where locals frequent. The total number of cases in Singapore stands at 57,915. The messiness of the streets jived naturally with the dynamics between the groups, often unfortunately easily labelled as misfits in society. He organizes something called “back alley” tours to take people through these areas and show them how migrant workers live and to change their preconceived notions. “I was playing badminton with a group of workers who lived behind my house. Geylang, like Singapore, is ultimately an ecosystem — a community of organisms with interdependent relationships. In the thirst for inspiration, beer gardens provided a safe and somehow appropriate space to synthesise and distill my thoughts— as I gazed and observed the dynamics across different groups. Low wage migrant workers form almost 1/5 of our population. When measures were imposed in early April to curb the spread of Covid-19, he co-founded the Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, mobilising volunteers across different […] Cai Yinzhou Majulah Belanja – which means "Onward, to treat" – is a volunteer-run initiative that came about to create opportunities for locals and low-wage migrant workers to … Seven other finalists include Cai Yinzhou, 30, a social activist keen to break down social barriers between Singaporeans and migrant workers, and retired cleaner Zulkifli Atnawi. Activist Cai Yinzhou, co-founder of the Covid-19 Migrant Support Coalition, said nobody would have thought the isolation and stoppage of work was going to last such a long time. Yinzhou Cai and the Back Alley Barbers are connecting Singaporeans and migrant workers through haircuts. The gift link for this subscriber-only article has expired. Mr Cai Yinzhou started the Back Alley Barbers programme in 2014, which offers free haircuts for migrant workers on the weekends. Photo: Cai Yinzhou / Facebook. his own social enterprise, Citizen Adventures. Recreation centres meet all their needs without having them congregate in social nodes like Geylang and Little India. Web design by Yu Sheng & Yu Siang. With minimal education and friends, few things could earn him quick and relatively large sums of money like pimping could. I know I am not the only one constantly inspired by their generosity, despite how little they have: seen in small kindnesses like going out of their way to hold umbrellas in the rain, returning lost wallets, and more dramatic single-handed rescues of babies while scaling heights. Volunteer barbers may refer these migrant workers to relevant non-profit organisations and the government for assistance. Citizen Adventures, a group of about 200 youth volunteers, led by Cai Yinzhou, befriends migrant workers. “The dreams of a better future do not easily include being socially accepted as a Singaporean,” Cai astutely pointed out.