Hello you!
We hope that you have been staying healthy, well, and happy. In the past few weeks, we talked about Singapore’s islands, but this time, in conjunction with our friends at Kontinentalist, we were able to bring these facets of information to life with a splash of colour.
Many of us got to learn Singapore’s history through textbooks at school. However, one would argue that these learnings might come from the perspective of a rose-tinted lens. Through our conversations with our Singaporean friends, some of them are not privy to the fact that our country consists of 77 islands – now over 50 – due to reclamation.
The existence of our indigenous communities and the archipelago of islands that constitute our country is often a narrative that is overlooked. Our community, the Orang Laut/Pulau, once occupied the Southern Islands, which are now depopulated, and some of them have been converted into industrial grounds. Read on in this comprehensive infographic about who the dwellers of the islands were, and learn more about what matters to our communities.
We’re grateful that throughout the past decades, historians of Singapore have carved out their time and efforts to retrace the history of our indigenous communities. Dr Hamzah Bin Muzaini, Dr Viviene Wee, and Dr Cynthia Chou are some of the notable ones we thank for documenting the traces of our past, which we should dearly hold on to. We are also glad to have been connected to these great minds and call them a friend.
Last month at The Black Sampan, we had our tummies and hearts filled at our previous Atap Assembly with our friends from the culinary world, Pamelia Chia and Azfar Maswan, as they deliberated the use of vegetables in Southeast Asian food and rounded off the discussion with a wonderful cooking demonstration of Nasi Pecel, a Javanese dish with a variety of vegetables and a peanut sauce.
Unfortunately, this was the last Atap Assembly hosted at 269C New Bridge Road. This month, with a heavy heart, we have to bid farewell to our beloved enclave, home to the past 10 editions of our humble little gathering sessions that were always filled with smiles, food for thought and food for sharing. The roof overlooking People’s Park Complex has never been bustling with so much energy before.
We are grateful for the conversations we have had, the paths we have crossed, the connections made, and certainly, for all of your support towards the communities that we’ve had the honour of collaborating with.
It is not the end of Atap Assembly – we’d have hated for it to go! Through the power of friendships, say hello to Atap Assembly x Rice Media, where we will take our conversations to a few streets across at 64 Club St. Our first event as Atap Assembly x Rice Media will be taking place shortly next Thursday, on 6 December!
Join us for the birth of this new collaboration with Rice Media, kicking off with unravelling issues underlying minority representation in the media. Our moderator, Yulianna, along with the panellists, Naren Sankar, Preetipls, and Irsyad Dawood, will be sharing how they boldly carved their paths and become a voice for the unheard, unapologetic in their identities while creating content on social media.
Tickets are almost gone! Snatch up the last few tickets with your friends, and we’ll see you there!
Your friend always,
Firdaus