Advocacy
Since graduating JC, I have been involved in multiple community projects and initiatives that have informed my outlook on life. Here is an overview of my involvement.
I worked closely with SG Exams, a student-run organisation that aims to foster a supportive inter-school community, where the social, emotional and educational needs of students are fulfilled. As a ventures coordinator, I spearheaded the “Our Student Dialogues” project that focused on bringing together parents, students and teachers to discuss mental health challenges and build a support system for all to benefit from.
Phase one focused on collecting students’ opinions, both negative and positive, on various aspects of their schooling experience. The anonymous nature of SGExams empowered students to express genuine opinions on issues they face without judgement from adults or peers. This was later compiled into an e-book and submitted to MOE.
After which we conducted series of dialogue sessions that aimed to bring together various stakeholders: students, teachers, parents, educational professionals, companies and nonprofits to discuss policy-based and ground-up solutions. Our belief was that, with greater involvement in educational discussions, students can play a greater role in shaping their own educational journey. Meanwhile, legislators and educational stakeholders will gain insights into the sincere thoughts and opinions of students to help design a more student-centric educational experience.
E-book:
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Mutual Aid
Initiating and coordinating mutual aid efforts in both Singapore and India has been an incredibly eye-opening and fruitful journey for me. As defined by Dean Spade, “mutual aid projects are a form of political participation in which people take responsibility for caring for one another and changing political conditions”. In the mutual aid work that I did, I assisted members of the community by means of financial support through fundraising as well as offering my emotional support. I learnt to go beyond the charity model that often views the distribution of aid from a hierarchical perspective and instead adopted mutual aid practices as means of solidarity. I was able to imagine what creating alternative futures under existing systems of oppression looks like.
I have been invited to speak about my experiences as a community organiser in a couple of events which can be found below.
General Election 2020 Toolkit
Along with a couple of friends, I created a live document with a list of election related events (rallies, debates, discussions and forums etc.) to encourage electoral participation and more informed and responsible voting during the 2020 General Election. It served as a one stop document to stay up to date on all the General Election events happening throughout the week and we also enabled live calendar updates for subscribers.
