Stories

Ihsan (إحسان) — To do good, or to do beautiful things with the sincerity and awareness that Allah is watching.

There are two ready markers for the success of a Community Engagement Project.

The first is the number of stakeholders involved. The more organisations or companies there are who are willing to partner with you, the more you know that your project means something.

The second is the extent of your reach. What was the biggest thing you did to reach out to the community? Was it a concert? Was it a talk? How many people were there?

Project Ihsan had both of these things. On top of receiving support from the Arab Association and the National Heritage Board, they had held several community dialogues sessions with an upwards attendance of seven dozen people.

But when asked about how they knew that their project had made it, neither Falisha Dina Abdul Jabbar and Emma Phyu Phyu Chain (both 24A01B) mentioned either of these things.

“For me, it was when my neighbour asked my mother about our project,” says Falisha. “She was a German, and that was when I knew that we had succeeded.”

“It’s like a ripple effect,” says Emma. “Our project is only a drop in the water and it’s the ripple that matters… If people are interested and continue spreading our message, then sure, we ought to continue it.”

The duo first got the idea for Project some four years ago, when they attended the Nanyang Research Programme in secondary school. The contributions of Arab philanthropists had been introduced to by their lecturer, and it immediately piqued their interest.

“I’m Pakistani, and Emma is Burmese,” muses Falisha wonderingly, “so maybe this is why we consider Project Ihsan a ‘passion project’, because we were also like the Arabs — members of a very small ethnic minority.”

Under the guidance of their mentor, they thus began consulting the literature and conducting research on the contributions of the Arabs — with two particular goals in mind. One was to  “quantify” their contributions in trade and education amongst many other things, and the other was to figure out the extent of public awareness about it.

Sadly, their research led to an alarming conclusion: There existed a discrepancy between the Arab’s efforts and current public awareness.

“Many people could not identify simple roads or street signs or places that pertained to Arab culture and heritage, save the Arab community members themselves,” shares Emma. “I suppose it was because, compared to the Indians and Chinese, the Arabs didn’t really leave their own architectural markers. For example, did you know that the land Tan Tock Seng Hospital sits on was donated by the Arabs?”

This revelation shifted the gist of Project Ihsan to an advocacy project, with the goal of sharing and emphasising “The Arab Story”. Engaging with community leaders, they organised various dialogue sessions at the Arab Association, where a safe space was provided for everyone to share their experience regarding being a minority in Singapore. The Wenzhou clan, a small dialect group of the Chinese community, as well as the Pakistani Association, another minority community under the “Others” category were invited as well.

For the visual learners, they also made a website for members of the public to browse, including writeups about the Arab’s efforts, and even  a virtual map that allowed users to explore the various historical monuments the Arabs were linked to, one way or another (if you are interested in trying it out, you can access it here). 

They even published a children’s storybook titled the “The Story Seekers and the Magical Map: Exploring the Arab Community in Singapore” to serve as learning material for preschoolers and the lower secondary — even getting buyers from International Schools in the country!

Emma (left) and Falisha (right) with their book in front of the Arab Association.

Overcoming Challenges

Needless to say, success does not come without hardship, and the same goes for Emma and Falisha. But as Emma says, “If you’re interested in something…it’s important that you’re not afraid to just try!”

Indeed, Falisha and Emma had to face a multitude of challenges when they chose to embark on this project. They shared that while they hoped to educate others on the Arab community, both of them started the project knowing as much about the subject as any regular teenager, and didn’t even know where to begin. Fortunately, with the guidance of extensive research and knowledgeable librarians willing to share, the pair was able to dive deep into and thoroughly understand the unspoken history of the Arab community. 

Establishing this understanding was of utmost importance to them, and they strove to be sensitive and respectful of the Arab culture, which both of them are not a part of. However, as fellow members of “a minority of a minority” themselves, they understood and empathised with the lack of understanding of minority cultures.

While striving to learn more and raise awareness, they had to ensure the factuality of the knowledge shared. “You have to be comfortable with being wrong,” Falisha recalled. “We once put a photo and captioned it with the wrong family name, and we confused Arabic script with Javanese once.” Without adopting an open mindset as they did, and being “able to change your assumptions and not think you’re always right,” the duo would not have actively sought opinions and advice to improve and achieve the quality of the project they’ve achieved today. 

Their mission to raise awareness regarding the Arab community’s involvement in Singapore’s development surely wasn’t an easy one to tackle either, and the pair faced difficulties in reaching out to the broad target audience they had set for themselves. Compared to those from older generations, especially Arabs and other minority voices, youths aged 25 and below were generally more indifferent when it came to culture and heritage.

Through the dialogues and interviews that the pair went on to facilitate, they were able to leverage on the different experiences shared by Arabic individuals themselves as well as librarians and researchers specialising in the area to further embellish the interesting historical narrative of the Arab community. Falisha shares, “There’s so many people out there who are so passionate about preserving our culture, some who even do it as their full-time jobs.” 

“We shouldn’t be afraid to go out to these people for help,” Emma adds. They have high hopes that the many mediums they have employed will send a ripple effect in spreading the message and drawing not just Arabs, not just adults, but everyone across all ages, regardless of race, language or religion.

Emma and Falisha after our interview!

Takeaways

Heritage is a difficult idea to grasp, because of its sheer amount of narratives, but even in a small and cosmopolitan country like Singapore, the two Y7s maintain that it still retains its value.

“Not to be cliche, but I fully believe that heritage is important as it provides us with lessons from the past,” says Falisha, resolutely. “We keep hearing talk about racial harmony and religious tolerance and all these other big terms — But instead of knowing that we have to maintain these relations, shouldn’t we wonder how we got there in the first place?”

Indeed… how. Somewhere along the countless social studies lessons and dreary assemblies, we may have forgotten that Singapore’s history did not, in fact, start with the British in 1819 and then suddenly switch over to Singaporean in 1965.

Before the whole notion of a “Singaporean” came about, there were immigrants; some from the coastal shores of Fujian, others from the sweltering streets of India, and then the Arabs, who hailed from the sprawling desserts of Hadhramaut. 

Then they had built the country up as citizens, establishing schools and providing healthcare and setting up businesses — and then their greatest contribution, us, these sons and daughters many generations past, enjoying the fruits of our ancestors’ labor. 

“Well, I think our heritage is a very big aspect of our identity”, says Emma. “It is our story, and by exposing ourselves to our heritage, it opens up a new way of thinking other than just kiasuism and academics we have become so accustomed to.”

Source

She then points us to ‘Tarik’, a coffee shop with a mural painted on its wall. It is a very beautiful depiction of a man making tea, and while many of us recognise the ‘Tarik’ — the pulling action the man does to give the milk tea its signature smoothness and creaminess — others may not know the story behind this ubiquitous drink. 

How the Indian-Muslims had brought it to the peninsula as Masala Chai, how the tea leaves had been changed to tea dust, how the British had added condensed milk… “It may feel very strange and uncomfortable at first, delving into the history of such seemingly normal objects,” says Emma. “But it provides us a deeper appreciation of the culture we live in, so the least we could do is try.”

The same enthusiasm was also displayed towards the future of the project. “Whether we choose to study overseas or locally, we both want to continue the project,” says Falisha confidently. “We didn’t do it for our C.V., after all.”

“Yes,” Emma concurs. “It’s more about the process, not the portfolio.” It was a statement we had all heard before, but looking into her eyes, it was clear that she meant what she said. “It’s always important to have a personal input in what you do, and to know that you’re learning something from it.”

“Not that there isn’t a practical aspect to community service,” quips Falisha. “But wouldn’t it be a waste to spend two years on something that only adds two sentences to your portfolio? Have you considered all the intangibles you might have missed out on?” 

And there, looking at the two of them and Project Ihsan and the community they had brought together, you could have felt what they were talking about just radiating from across the table. 

It was pride, plain and simple.

Pride in your own heritage, pride in your own resilience, pride in all the knowledge you’ve acquired…

Pride that you had made someone’s life better.


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