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Vulnerable youths get own exhibition to showcase their artworks

SINGAPORE — The void deck of a HDB flat in Yishun will turn into an art gallery on Saturday (June 24), showcasing the works of 18 youths from low-income families.

Photos taken by youths who participated in the Hello Heartlands! project were left on a wall  at the void deck of Block 269A Yishun St 22 after the conclusion of the exhibition on June 24, 2017. Photo: Hello Heartlands!

Photos taken by youths who participated in the Hello Heartlands! project were left on a wall at the void deck of Block 269A Yishun St 22 after the conclusion of the exhibition on June 24, 2017. Photo: Hello Heartlands!

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SINGAPORE — The void deck of a HDB flat in Yishun will turn into an art gallery on Saturday (June 24), showcasing the works of 18 youths from low-income families.

The exhibition is the culmination of a Hello Heartlands! project initiated by photographer Bernice Wong, together with her husband and two of their friends.

Wong, who has been documenting the journey of a single parent family as part of a personal project on urban poverty, had formed a strong bond with them over about four years. When the family moved from Ang Mo Kio to a two-room rental flat in Yishun St 22 over a year ago, she noticed that the children felt alienated in their new neighbourhood.

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“I spend a lot of time with (the single mother’s) kids. So when they moved over, they would say, ‘Oh, Yishun is very boring, Ang Mo Kio is more fun, more friends.’ I felt like we could do something about the detachment and alienation they felt,” said Wong, 29, who is particularly close to the family’s youngest child, Amrun Nesa, 13.

It was Nesa — who said everyone she knows calls Wong her “Chinese mother” — who inspired Wong to start the Hello Heartlands! community photography and arts project, which began through word-of-mouth among kids in the estate, as well as with Wong and Nesa going door-to-door asking if young residents would be interested, and took place over the June holidays. Eighteen participants aged from eight to 14 living in the Yishun estate took part.

The first “formal” session saw the young participants toting disposable cameras — donated by the team's friends — and walking around the estate photographing everyday life in Yishun. Other activities the group participated in included drawing their own portraits and excursions to the Gallery Children’s Biennale.

Apart from encouraging the kids to befriend others, and for others to “see the neighbourhood from their perspective”, Wong also felt the project will give meaning to their school holiday, especially when they return to school.

“They can talk to their friends about (the experience), because otherwise some of them will be staying here during the entire holiday and will not be going out at all,” she said.

Participants Muhd Lutfil Hadi, 12, a Marsiling Primary School student, and Nina Farazila Mohd Nizam, 12, a Yishun Primary School student, agreed that the experience gave them both something meaningful to do during the holiday period.

Nina Farazila was approached while she was at home cleaning the house, while Hadi said he was approached to join the activities while he was running an errand for his father. “I agreed because it’s something to do instead of doing nothing,” said Hadi, who has since made more friends and sharpened his photography skills during the experience.

Engaging the youths however, did not always go smoothly.

“Our first few sessions were held at 10 in the morning, and some of these kids would hang out in the void deck till 2 or 3am. So waking up was a problem. At 9-930am, we will go around knocking door-to-door,” added Wong.

While the initiative was not centred around the technical aspects of photography, Wong was surprised at how “beautiful” some of the photographs turned out to be.

“There are some photos which I feel that adult photographers cannot get. These kids are so brave and fearless, sometimes they will just go up and just snap and walk away... There’s this boy who photographed a man in boxers paying at the supermarket,” added Wong.

About 40 photographs will be displayed across eight walls of the void deck of Block 269A and some of the children have also volunteered to sing and dance during the exhibition. The location was chosen as Wong wanted the exhibition to be accessible for the participants and their neighbours.

The Hello Heartlands! exhibition will be held on Saturday (June 24) at Block 269A Yishun St 22, from 12pm to 4pm.

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