WUJ Kampong Clean-Up Jul '19
Hi All,
In my previous clean-up post, I mentioned how WUJ and Majulah Community are probably looking for a collaborative effort one fine day and so on July 27th, 2019 - that possibility became a reality!
Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Over 18 volunteers joined Majulah Community as part of the Youth Corps Learning Festival organised by Youth Corps Singapore; where the objective of the festival was to allow our youths to develop into volunteers with the heart and skills, and be catalysts of positive social impact and agents of change. Majulah Community held a learning journey on Pulau Ubin as part of their support for the Youth Corp Learning Festival and have approached me to facilitate with them.
The day began with Majulah Community leading their own bonding activities at Changi Point Ferry Terminal at around 8 a.m. before they headed onto the bumboats to make their way down to Ubin about 45 minutes later. Once on Ubin, they gathered at the Assembly Area and had a very hearty breakfast - Nasi Lemak from Changi Village, of course!
Hi, my name is Syazwan, not Syaz-two. Get it? Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
I joined the team only later on and did a quick intro about myself; just to make everyone know who I am. Public speaking had never been something that I fancied doing, but I realised over the many engagements and recent talks that I have done because of my passion towards Ubin, I seem to slowly get the hang of talking in front of people, hehe.
Instead of taking a van for this month, we decided to head down to the Malay kampong on foot. Reason because Majulah Community decided that it was the best opportunity for me to share with the volunteers a whole lot about Ubin's heritage and stories which I have collected from the residents and even my mom, too. It warmed my heart to see everyone being so attentive and so curious to learn so much more about Ubin's heritage and it also in the end motivated me to share much more stories with them, too.
Talking about the history of Pulau Ubin's Chinese School, Bin Kiang School. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
The former headman's house is also a significant historical landmark filled with stories, too! Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
And of course, every house in the Malay kampong also has its own stories. Here I share with the group about the stories of the late Atan Kassim. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the Malay kampong and gathered at Pak Ahmad's Drink Stall where the respective facilitators went ahead to do their own briefing and planning. The group eventually split into two, each heading over to help a resident who have previously requested our assistance; them being Pak Ahmad and Cik Sutinah Saraton.
Pak Ahmad requested help with the weeding, pruning and watering of the plants; while Cik Sutinah had a pretty much more heavier workload as it involved weeding and the removal of decades-worth of items that were no longer of use that were stored in the house. I joined the team for Cik Sutinah's house given how much work is needed there.
Of course when it comes to our clean-ups, it is not complete without an engagement with our residents and so Cik Sutinah, who was also joined by her sister-in-law, Cik Habsah, also shared with our volunteers about the kampong way of life and more about the story behind her house and family.
Cik Sutinah (left) and Cik Habsah (right) introducing themselves to the team. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
It is always fun to learn and listen to our residents because you won't know what awesome stories they have to share! Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Did you know that weeding is a very therapeutic thing to do? Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
And boy, were there a lot of weeds at Cik Sutinah's house. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Formerly a raised stage used to teach kids how to perform Malay arts, it had since been demolished and left into a pile of debris. Perhaps one day we will see the stage rise once more? Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Meanwhile inside the house, our volunteers work hard in removing very old stuffs that were no longer needed nor cherished. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Decluttering a home off decades worth of items is tiring, but our men are up for the job. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Over at Pak Ahmad's house, the team helped to prune off dead plants. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
And raking is actually another therapeutic thing to do, too! Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
The residents also decided to show their gratitude for the volunteers by giving them a huge amount of rambutans which they have harvested in their backyard. Rambutan season was in full swing and if we didn't have that many durian trees in the kampong, it was quite probable that Kampong Sungei Durian would have been called Kampong Sungei Rambutan! But little did the residents know that apart from the clean-up where we have all laboured together and shed a lot of sweat for, the people at Majulah Community had gifts for them too!
Rambutans, fresh coconuts and even some durian - all specially harvested by the residents and shared together with all the volunteers. If that is not kampong spirit, I don't know what is. Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
In the spirit of celebrating Singapore's 54th birthday, Majulah Community had prepared national flags for the residents to proudly display in their houses. So now, instead of just the Main Village being decorated with red-and-white, the Malay kampong and its residents also finally get to fly our national flags high, too. Because in the end of the day, everyone on Pulau Ubin are Singaporeans and our kampong houses are still a unique residential area in our nation.
Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Photo courtesy of Majulah Community
Before the team headed back to mainland Singapore, everyone shared their reflections and highlights of the day with one another and I was very happy to see everyone sharing how much fun it was and how they have a new sense of rekindled and authentic kampong spirit within themselves after the clean-up and I hoped that they will continue to enact this kampong spirit everywhere else they go in future.
I also gave a quick thank you to them, and reminded them on how their contributions mattered a lot for the residents and for myself. It is in our youths where we have the powers and abilities to bring about a positive change and that the clean-up that they have done and the engagements that they had with the residents, were testament on how much of a difference they could make even in just a span of 2-3 hours.
My deepest and heartfelt appreciation to the following people for making WUJ Kampong Clean-Up Jul '19 a meaningful and fruitful one:
✵✵✵
Abdul Adzhim bin Abdul Khalid
Adam Tang
Benedict Chen
Bryan Tan
Denice Wong
Estee Lee
Grace Ng
Muhammad Firdaus bin Rosmin
Muhammad Sadzli bin Mohd Haini
Muhammad Syazwan bin Md Sani
Muhammad Zulhilmi bin Abdullah
Nabilah binte Azhar
Nur Hazirah binte Ridzwan
Nurul Nasyitah binte Katerman
Sin Hui
Sylvia Gan
Wanqing Faye Tan
Yashaswini Rao
Majulah Community
Youth Corps Singapore
National Youth Council
✵✵✵
Our next kampong clean-up will be on August 31st, 2019. Join us by signing up here!
See more photos from this month's clean-up on WUJ's Facebook photo album here!
Read up on the previous clean-up here!
May Pulau Ubin thrive again, with its people in its heart.
--
Like WUJ on Facebook!
Follow WUJ on Instagram!
Follow WUJ on Twitter!
Have any enquiries? Send an email to wansubinjournal@gmail.com
--
Come join me on Ubin as a volunteer to clean up our kampongs!
Find out more about WUJ Kampong Clean-Up!
Sign up immediately here!
Comments
Post a Comment