ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples' Forum 2018
Empowering Peoples’ Solidarity Against All Forms of Discrimination
Arts and Culture
Cultural and fun activities await participants at ACSC/APF 2018. These aim to showcase the talent, artistry, enterprise and passion of the "peoples' voice", featuring:
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Syncroony Vocal Group
Syncroony is a name of a meet up group of like-minded friends interested in singing together. As their tagline goes “One Voice for Harmony”, they strive to blend their voices together in harmony and hope that, through their singing, they are able to reach out, give back and promote unity and harmony in the community.
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They see the benefits of group singing to the well-being of their personal lives and, as a group, to the betterment of society through meaningful community engagement. Recently, they organized an event to celebrate the International Day of Peace. The dialogue through the arts event was entitled, Peace: Bye Piece. They also contributed an arts exhibition project among the ground-up initiatives during the SG50. Last year, they have collaborated with a charity organization (Campus Impact) to raise funds for their educational programmes. They also organized and supported ground-up projects such as the UP (Unity and Peace) Singapore and the UPlifters project which was involved in Singapore Kindness Movement's kindness month opening celebration.
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Singing is what binds them together. The members of the group come from different ethnic/social backgrounds and various vocations or profession.
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Poetry recitals by:
1. Mary Thomas
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Mary has been teaching for a while now both at the schools, polytechnic and university levels. She has been involved with the SIF (Singapore International Foundation) Specialist volunteer programme, specifically in a specialist Teacher Education training initiative under the auspices of the Myanmar Ministry of Education to train teachers in the English Language. She is also involved in the MFA programme conducted by TP (Temasek Polytechnic). She is currently teaching communication for specific purposes.
She has been and still is an avid poly forum facilitator. She has also trained students for the pre-U seminar. She is currently teaching communication at the School of Business, Temasek Polytechnic and has been involved in curriculum design, assessment design as well as industry training. She has also been actively involved in National Education (NE) matters pertaining to organising forums for both staff and students. Currently she is Chairing the Environment Committee in TP. Her interest is in writing for personal fulfillment. This is a personal interest and she shares some of her writings with the staff in the Business School.
2. Ow Yong Wai Kit and Muzakkir Samat
Ow Yeong Wai Kit and Muzakkir Samat are editors of _From Walden to Woodlands_ (2015), an interfaith anthology of nature poems, published by Ethos Books. Active in the Singapore interfaith scene, they have performed their poems at spoken word events like those at the Singapore Writers Festival as well as platforms like the Abdul Aleem Siddhique Memorial Lecture by MUIS (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore). Their poems provide a glimpse of the imaginative richness, penetrating insights, and haunting beauty that can be found in nature and spirituality.
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3. Zakir Hossain Khokon
Zakir Hossain Khokon is a writer, poet, freelance journalist and photographer. Born in Dhaka and a graduate of the National University of Bangladesh, he moved to Singapore in 2003 to work here. Presently he is a quality control project coordinator in the construction sector. His poetry collection, “Most beloved Heat” and “The river reaches the town", a non-fiction book entitled "Singapore riots and a love story", and a song album named “Emigrant Life” have been published in Bangladesh and Singapore. He was also known for his journalism and poetry in Bangladesh. Recently, he served as an editor of “Migrant Tales”, an anthology of poems by migrant Bengali poets in Singapore. “Call and Response” a migrant / local anthology going to launch 11 November, Sunday, 2:30-3:30pm Singapore Writers Festival 2018. He is a co-editor of this anthology.
Zakir’s poems are extremely well- received in Singapore, having won the first prize for two consecutive years at the Migrant Workers Poetry Competition in both 2014 and 2015.Since then, he has been a prominent figure representing the migrant worker community in Singapore. His poems, articles and interviews have appeared in journals and anthologies in Singapore, Bangladesh, UK, Belgium, Taiwan and throughout the international media. In 2015, he spoke at TEDx Singapore, and gave the audience a glimpse of the migrant worker’s life through the lens of his poetry, photography, books, and other literary activities. He is currently working to encourage migrant workers to read more books, as well as using literature and the arts to establish a bond between migrant and Singaporean writers.
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Yoga Sessions by Yoga Master Bala*
Balakrishnan Matchap is a 300 hours yoga teacher trained by the world-renowned Jivamukti Yoga School (NYC), he is back in Singapore after a 4 year learning and teaching stint in Europe. With over 20 years of experience in the Health and Fitness industry, he has worked with the Singapore Sports Council, Ministries, Schools, Clubs, NGOs and has been featured in the local media.
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His yoga journey began after incurring a debilitating injury while being a competitive runner at national level. Founder of YEAH! (Yogis for the Environment, Animals and Humanity!), Bala has special interest in community work, animal advocacy and nature preservation. His fun and uplifting sessions incorporate sound (with didgeridoo & singing bowls), spoken word, poetic affirmations and storytelling
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*There will be two yoga sessions held. The 30-minute session on 2 November from 11 to 1130am will be an energy-cleansing session. Participants who are keen to attend the 1-hour session on 3 November (Saturday) from 5 to 6pm "Yoga Self-care for Activists", please bring along your yoga mat.
Please note that spaces for both sessions are available to a maximum of 15 people each and will be reserved on a first come,first served basis. Please reserve your space at the session(s) by emailing Farid at faridhamid@me.com.