WUJ Kampong Clean-Up Apr '19
Hi all,
This is an overdue post for WUJ's 4th Kampong Clean-Up which took place over 2 months ago on April 27th, 2019. I've also decided that naming the cleanups after the month it took place seems to be much more efficient so this will also be called WUJ Kampong Clean-Up Apr 19 and so on for the other months to follow.
This clean-up was quite an awesome one as we did more than the usual pruning, and we also saw quite the number of participants, too! We saw over 30 of them and a huge majority of them came from Ngee Ann Polytechnic School of Design and Environment who were pursuing a degree in the architectural field.
Coincidentally the students were already active on the island that month as part of their community participatory design module which helps them to learn on how to design living spaces based on engaging and involving the community, and that is a very noble cause to do!
The day started off with quite the downpour at Changi and we were quite worried that the rain was going to persist long into our clean-up hours and would hinder us from efficiently helping to clean the kampong. The reason why we were particularly more worried was that our resident, Cik Bujang and wife, Cik Habsah wanted some help in repainting their home. But praise be to God, the weather cleared by the time our group reached the kampong.
As there was quite the size of people, we split up the workload on that day into 3 groups - first to help out with the usual pruning and raking, while the second to help with the removal of trash and litter and the third to do the painting.
And in case you're wondering, yes they were repainting the house in time for Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Ramadan so that we won't be fatigued if we did it during the fasting month. In the past, the house was a beautiful teal-blue with white stripes, but for this day we helped to put on their base coating.
We were very fortunate that Pak Ahmad still had painting materials left over from the painting project done about a year ago and he gave us whatever could be savaged such as a few brushes, rollers and paint tray; so now more people could do more work, too.
So, while the painters went on to do their job, the small group of strong men and women went on to help to clear the trash and litter. The biggest hurdle that day was Cik Bujang's water tank that he needed to dispose of because he found a hole in it, which caused the water to constantly leak. So, the volunteers who were from the army, by the way, went on to handle the slightly more laborious task.
The other groups that deserved some special mention are the pruners and rakers, which were mostly made up of the old friends of the former residents, together with the residents themselves. At first, we were quite surprised by how much Cik Habsah wanted the plants to be trimmed outside, but now looking at it, it really brought a whole new look and environment for the house.
After about 2 hours, we finally ended the day with a nice warm wholesome meal specially prepared by Cik Habsah and also from the friends of the former residents themselves, too! The volunteers managed to indulge in some nice curry puffs and Mee Goreng. Oh, and I also cooked sausage rolls for them, too! That's right this group really got pampered with all sorts of food that day, hehe.
It was a very meaningful day for the students and they had lots of fun serving the community through this clean-up project. They mingled a lot with Cik Habsah and learnt a lot about kampong life from her. Their hard work and labour proved to be extremely fruitful as at least for them, should they come across the house again in their future trips to Ubin, they can be proud to know that they played a part in beautifying one of the houses here in Kampong Sungei Durian.
Special thanks to all the following people who made WUJ's Kampong Clean-Up Apr 19 a successful and meaningful one:
✵✵✵
Mr Raja Mohammad Fairuz
Ms Trecia
Anna Wee
Chloe Gee
Jilane Khoo
Julia Yin
Kaung Myat Zaw
Loh Min Ru
Natalie Tzai
Navik Low
Nur Liyana Athirah Norman
Nurdianti Osman
Phyo Kyawt Khine Tun
Pu Wen Wen
Ryan Kurniawan
Sean Lau
Verceluz Mary Rheanne
Vilayil Radhakrishnan Ramya K
Xia Wenyan
Yan Zinuo
Yu Kai Wen
Zuraihana Johari
Barry
EJ
Jeremy
JX
Val
Cik Aida Hamid
Cik Bujang
Cik Habsah
Cik Johari
Cik Jupri Mohsin
Cik Maya
Pak Ahmad
Sulaiman
✵✵✵
Also a special thank you to Awesome Foundation Singapore for their generous grant of S$1,000 which has been used to cover for the transportation and food for our participants this month and for the subsequent ones. Find out more about their support to WUJ Kampong Clean-Up here on their official website!
Photos from this month's clean-up are on WUJ's Facebook photo album here!
Read up on our previous Kampong Clean-Up here!
May Pulau Ubin thrive again, with its people in its heart.
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Have any enquiries? Send an email to wansubinjournal@gmail.com
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Come join me on Ubin as a volunteer to clean up our kampongs!
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