‘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

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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

Published: 7:45pm, 23 Nov 2020Updated: 8:44am, 24 Nov 2020

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.

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.