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Chen Nianxi, who started writing about how Chinese people were learning to live with the virus in rural areas, is one of the participants in the biannual Global Migrant Festival. Photo: Handout

‘I have seen many bad things’: migrant workers of world get chance to share their stories at online festival that began in Singapore

  • A Chinese demolition labourer turned poet is one of 200 migrant workers sharing experiences in the virtual arts and culture festival
  • Migrant workers from India to Malaysia and Singapore have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic

Chinese demolition labourer Chen Nianxi started writing poetry some three decades ago because he felt his life was “tough and monotonous” and he needed an outlet to express himself.

Chen, now 50, later progressed to non-fiction stories and prose as they more accurately depicted the complex experiences that millions of working-class people like him face in and around China’s bustling cities.
Earlier this year, the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across mainland China and beyond quickly became the subject of his writing, particularly how people were learning to live with the virus in rural areas.

“Writing is important in this sense as my experiences and observations are on people in the marginal parts of the more prosperous areas in China. These are stories that need to be told,” he said.

China’s migrant workers see ‘no hope’ in virus-stricken rural hometowns

Chen’s work is being showcased virtually as part of this year’s Global Migrant Festival, a biennial arts festival that kicked off on Saturday, November 21. It was first held in Singapore in 2018. About 200 people, including poets, musicians, photographers and filmmakers, are being featured in the nine-day event.

The festival’s founder and director, Shivaji Das, said the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected migrants, ranging from the rampant spread of the virus in crowded shelters to a loss of income and a lack of access to health care.

“Many in host communities have also taken this opportunity to renew their attacks on migrants who are often disenfranchised and without any agency,” he said. “We believe that the Global Migrant Festival is especially relevant this year in giving them a platform to directly voice out their situation through arts and culture.”

Images of stranded workers in India being hosed with disinfectants quickly spread online when the country imposed its strict lockdown in March. Many of these workers flocked to their home villages from the country’s big cities as employers cut their pay.

Malaysia’s treatment of its millions of migrant workers also came under close scrutiny, with watchdogs saying they were more at risk of contracting the virus because of their cramped living conditions and poor workplace practices. And just across the border, low-income migrant workers made up about 94 per cent of Singapore’s over 58,000 cases.

Duleshwar Tandi, known as Rapper Dule Rocker, became a YouTube sensation for his videos about Indian migrant workers and government corruption. Photo: Handout

Indian migrant worker turned rapper Duleshwar Tandi is one of the participants in this year’s festival. Known as Rapper Dule Rocker, he took the world by storm with his music about the impact the pandemic was having on India’s migrant community, as well as highlighting other issues such as corruption within the government.

“I have seen many bad things during the pandemic [like] migrant workers forced to beg on the streets. I couldn’t stay quiet,” he said. “I had to rap because someone has to be held accountable for this.”

Cecil Clases, a Filipino domestic worker in Hong Kong, is also a poet and writer. Photo: Handout

Other participants also found solace in their creative outlet during the pandemic. Cecil Clases, a Hong Kong domestic worker who is from the Philippines and is also a poet and writer, said she continued producing work as “words do not fear any situation”. She also used poetry to send messages of hope and inspiration to others in the community.

“In these trying times when planes cannot fly and ships cannot sail, words of encouragement can be delivered through social media and other platforms. Spoken words know no quarantine,” she said.

Indonesian Eli Nur Fadilah, who works as a domestic helper in Singapore and is a finalist in the festival’s poetry competition this year, said she became closer to her art. Her writing has given her something else to dwell on while the world was focusing on the bad news from the pandemic, and the process helped her “release worry”, she said.

Indonesian Eli Nur Fadilah, a domestic worker in Singapore, is taking part in this year's virtual Global Migrant Festival. Photo: Handout

Chen, the former demolition worker, said he hoped his work could be read by more people around the world, and that more attention would be paid to the livelihood of workers at the “bottom of the societal ladder”.

“I also hope that migrant workers from all over the world can exchange information, and unite, love, and fight, for their freedoms and rights,” he added.

The festival, which runs till November 29, will be streamed live on Facebook.

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