These poems by a migrant worker in S’pore will help you better understand their plight

There are over 1.3 million foreign workers in Singapore, with over 375,000 of them working in the construction sector.

It is therefore incredibly important to establish a two way dialogue with these foreign workers.

A dialogue that has to be built on a foundation of empathy and a much better understanding of a group of people that are all too often shunted away from Singaporeans.

That is why Md Mukul Hossaine’s collection of poems, Me Migrant, is so important. It offers a much needed migrant perspective to our conversation.

The poet

Mukul is a migrant worker from Bangladesh who has been working in Singapore’s construction sector since 2008.

He writes poems as a way of remembering his mother back in Bangladesh.

Mukul has been composing poetry since he was 12, and his current book was edited by renowned Singapore Literature Prize-winning poet, Cyril Wang.

Here are some excerpts from his collection, Me Migrant, that will help you get a better perspective of what migrants go through when they come to, and work in, Singapore.

On what it means to be an immigrant

Deprived of a mother’s teary eyes,
the mind cries from time to time
Love immured is torture. Any life without love
is that of an immigrant, a loner

On life in Singapore

I’m not myself anymore, mother,
come see how i live

In the bottomless heat of this distant land,
life burns towards its end.
Come see where I am?

Unaccountable pain, wails by the thousands,
I weep alone mother.
Nobody looks at me.

On what the late Lee Kuan Yew meant to migrant workers

Mr Lee
Who says you went away
Who says you’re no more
You remain
In the hearts of millions of labourers
Not just in Singapore but the world
In every nook and corner
Your footstep is melded

On the dynamics between Singaporeans and migrant workers

Me migrant
Live overseas
Thousand thousand miles away

Me migrant
Live outdoors

Outside from you

On missing his mother

Tears from the corner of my eyes
whenever I think of you
but cannot reach you

Wandering the blank desert,
so tired, I can’t bear it, mother.
Call me Khoka, just once.

*Khoka means boy in Bengali

You can get a copy of Me Migrant online at ethosbooks.com.sg or wait till 7 May to get it at Kinokuniya, MPH, Times and Booktique. It is retailing for S$12 before GST.

 

Top image from Sama Sama’s Facebook page

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- Thet Nyi Nyi