top of page
ONE DAY (2012)
One Day is the FYP I embarked on during the last year in university. The work focuses on the state of society then, where people were becoming more affluent yet increasingly colder especially towards the individuals who couldn't 'catch up' with the pace of society. One day aims to make the reader question the individual decisions that each of us make everyday when we chose to ignore the plight of these individuals in our haste to live our lives to the fullest.
The Research
Due to the time that have lapse between the project and now, the research below are similar to what I have looked at previously but they are a newer information than the one that I had access to when I was working on this.
I first started the research of people who were homeless in Singapore, under all the shine of the society that hides its grittiness. Eventually, the research expanded to people who were living below the poverty line and couldn't make ends meet. This included people who lived in one room flats that was rented out to them from S$50 - $150 per month. Many of these individuals were who lived in these flats were the elderly who had been abandoned by their families or had no families left. Many also suffered from serious medical conditions or mental conditions that made them reluctant to leave their houses.
Some of the brilliant things I saw through this research is how much the neighborhood stalls helped these individuals. Many convenience stalls actually contributed their near expiry items to these households on a monthly basis, while these items are not enough to help these individuals get through the entire month, it helps alleviate potential starvation in a country that has so much excess.
Credits to: https://www.apexbt.org/
Conceptualizing the project
I think one of the main things that came up during the research phase of the project was how there were many groups of people in need and for most part, beyond aid that they receive, what was really needed was some care and concern by the average guy on the street. While there were many organizations already part of these movement to help people out but most of the empathy and understanding was limited to these organizations and volunteers who were part of these organizations. But it doesn't solve the cause of the problem of how society is generally cold towards these individuals or the issue that many of the volunteers who were part of these organizations were people who had retired, there was very few young people involved in these organizations which presented a danger that once the older generation is no longer around, these organizations would be unable to continue their good work due to the lack of volunteers.
Hence One Day was created, not to tell people to volunteer but to let people cross examine certain decisions they take on a day to day basis in the midst of running our lives. Instead of just volunteering, can we change certain decisions we make, especially how we treat people. Would that make our society an easier place for everyone to live in.
ONE DAY (2012)
Graphic Novel, FYP Art Exhibition 2012.
One Day is an adventure book where readers go through a day of a working person in Singapore, unlike most stories, this book is created as an adventure decision making book, where the reader helps the main character make decisions from the moment the character wakes up. The book aims to create an experience for the reader in order to increase the awareness of how small actions that we choose to take on the daily basis can have big impacts on the people who are at the receiving end of these actions.
For example:
If the character chooses to buy tissue from the handicap uncle who is selling tissue at the hawker centre, he will observe that his actions has actually influence the actions of people nearby to purchase a tissue packet from the elderly as well.
Similarly if he rejects the tissue paper, he also observe that other people coldly rejects the old uncle when he moves on to other tables.
Art Projects
bottom of page