I was 170cm tall in primary school, quite crazy right haha…So I naturally felt it was my duty to ‘protect’ others, I would stand up for my friends and make tough decisions. In secondary school, I volunteered with MINDS, an NGO that cares for the intellectually disabled. Over there, I learnt so much beyond the classroom. I was given leadership roles to handle events, money, and large groups of people. I had a mentor that developed my mindset and skillset, and taught me to be an independent thinker. Fast forward to after my ‘A’ levels, people closest to me felt that I should further my studies. However, I decided that I shouldn’t follow societal norms blindly. I could eventually go if I wanted, but at that moment, I felt it would be of greater value to start working, to utilize and expand my skill sets, and support the family. I was old enough to make a hard & heart decision.
I loved art in primary school. I got accepted into SOTA but turned it down because my family felt pursuing art had no future. So I didn’t touch it for 4 years. But in JC, my heart told me to take H2 art, and I started from ground zero. When I started work after JC, I taught in an art studio as an assistant. I also explored design, film and video creation from scratch, though youtube tutorials and figuring things out, till I eventually got freelance projects.
Recently, I’ve started a media marketing company and decided to go back to school – to pursue Art & Design in NTU. My experience gives me an advantage in school, and I like how learning theories help me understand and improve my work.
I just love art, because it’s a very pure form of expression. It links to my vision: to inspire creative thinking. Creative fulfilment is different for everyone, it could producing videos for me but raising animals for someone else. We are all born artists, with the ability to express and create, but we sometimes inject others’ or societal expectations into ourselves. As long as we do, we’ll feel suppressed and frustrated. However, when we find our own voice, we can truly create great masterpieces.
The Rohingya People are a stateless ethnic group from Myanmar. For decades they have been subjected to prejudice and violence, because the law does not recognize them as an ‘accepted’ race. In 2016, the military carried out ‘ethnic cleansing’ – crimes like mass killing, arson and sexual violence, leading to almost 650,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar. As they flee to foreign countries, the refugees continue to face harsh conditions – lack of basic needs like food and shelter, lack of money and opportunities, and perhaps most heart-breaking – the lack of care and support.
I came to know about the Rohingya Refugees’ plight through my best partner Raeesah. I met her at a fundraising gala years back during the Singapore Refugee week. She has the biggest and kindest heart in the world and I have so much respect for her because of her dedication to serve the people. When I met her, she was running a project called Kakak Dan Aik, which raises funds and provides education and training for the Rohingya community.
Despite hitting milestones in my work, there have been times when I felt helpless. This left a strong void in me for the longest time, of wanting to empower people who felt helpless as well. So when the opportunity came, I took the chance to join Raeesah in her work. As we worked in KL, we noticed that the situation could not be solved by a year-long project. For real change to take place, we needed to do more.
That was when Reyna Movement was founded. We focused our efforts on creating long term sustainable programmes that the Rohingya community can benefit from. Our vision is: Empower a woman, nuture a generation. We believe women have the ability to nurture people innately. We also stand by the strengths of femininity and the power women hold. If we can empower one woman, she will go on to nurture generations to come. Since Reyna was founded, I’ve been to KL many times, and forged close bonds with the women and families there. They're like family to me. Knowing that we’re helping them get a second chance at life, a chance they fully deserve, has been the most heartwarming and fulfilling for me.
Last October, Reyna Movement launched a special cookbook entitled ‘Recipes of Resilience’. This was Raeesahs’ vision years before I met her. Each time she visited the homes of the Rohingya women, they would cook for her, teach her how to cook, and eat with her. The warmth & love she felt was indescribable. When I started visiting them as well, I could understand why she felt that way.
Home cooked food has always been a significant, sacred part of culture. Across any race or creed, food is a way to preserve culture & tradition, a time for nourishment and bonding. In Raeesah’s words, “it’s an incredible sight to witness, the resilience of a community so harshly persecuted, fighting to retain their dignity, faith and culture”
So that’s how the title of the book was born - Recipes of Resilience. Each recipe is accompanied by photos and a write up of the women's stories - of their harsh struggles & their firm resilience. We hope that this book can raise awareness and help others understand and care the Rohingya community better. Also, proceeds from the book will go to the woman who contributed their recipes, and also help to fund our education programmes.
I hope the Rohingya woman’s courage have inspired you in some way too! Many of you reading this are young haha. When I decided to pursue art after JC, I never knew it would lead to all this. So just take courage and have faith, pursue your passions, and the dots will connect eventually. And you’ll form your own recipes of resilience & creativity.
