A FRIEND TO THE INVISIBLE PEOPLE
Isabel Phua, 25, shares her struggles during the infancy of her social enterprise, Migrant x Me, which helps migrant workers integrate into society.
By Melissa Deborah Low
When you think of a 21st birthday celebration, you would imagine an array of expensive food, gifts and party-goers dressed up to the nines.
However, on Isabel Phua's 21st birthday, she wore a purple sari to an Indian restaurant, accompanied by migrant workers and close friends. She wanted to remove the stigma that migrant workers could not be our friends. That was four years ago. Today, she is the founder of the social enterprise, Migrant x Me.
Isabel was always interested in the Indian and Bangladeshi cultures because of their strong sense of community, but never dared to volunteer in the migrant worker scene. She recounted how her friends and family warned her not to be too friendly to the migrant workers, for they might ‘come and catch her’, a colloquial phrase parents use to scare their children into behaving.
She became interested in the migrant workers' scene in 2012, after a first-hand experience interacting with the migrant workers at her void deck. She brought food and water for them and struck up a conversation. Even though only niceties were exchanged, she felt a sense of kinship with them.
Although Isabel has been asked countless times how she was inspired to start the enterprise, her face still lights up when talking about it. A workshop at GoForth National Missions Conference was the turning point for her. Her heartstrings were tugged when she learnt about the prejudice faced by migrant workers.
Isabel set out to impact the migrant workers' scene, in particular, the construction industry. However, this did not come without hardships. She was looked down upon by people in the construction industry. They did not believe that a young, petite lady like her had enough knowledge to make an impact on the migrant workers' situation.
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People don't take me seriously… They think that I'm just some little girl that doesn't really know what I'm doing. I do get some comments from the uncles saying that 'you don't know anything, you just anyhow.'
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The period leading up to the official launch of Migrant x Me found Isabel in a depressive state. After coming home from a hard day of work, she would be in her room crying. Without an academic background in business start-ups, it was difficult. Isabel "kept telling [herself] that this is all part of the process" and that she "just [needed] to be resilient and have perseverance." She gives credit to her faith for being the motivation to push through the adversities.
When Isabel is not planning for learning journeys or school programmes, she helps to write the fashion column for Kallos, a magazine for girls. Photo Credits: Melissa Deborah Low
Migrant x Me officially launched in March 2019, but its learning journeys began September 2018. These learning journeys aim to raise public awareness about the hardships that migrant workers go through daily.
Joanne Ong, who has known Isabel since they were teenagers, describes her as straightforward. "She's not afraid to say [what is on her mind]," she said.
Her frank personality made it easy to draw physical boundaries with the migrant workers she met. "There were some workers who tried to be very close to me," she said. "I just need to shout at them 'Don't touch me! You sit there!' and they'll get it."
Her goal for Migrant x Me in the future is to "impact more people" by "having a constant partnership with schools". As youths are the next leaders of society, educating them about migrant workers will help to remove the stigma surrounding them earlier. Through interactive workshops between the public and migrant workers, she hopes that people can relate to them better and get rid of their xenophobia.
Her journey with Migrant x Me has just started, but she has a lot of wisdom on choosing one's passion. "You must really be wise. You must think about what are the consequences of your decision, and how you are going to mitigate it. Have a goal in mind."
If not for Migrant x Me, Isabel would not have been working in the social entrepreneurship scene.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MELISSA DEBORAH LOW
Melissa is a bundle of creative energy commonly heard before she is seen. She believes in the triune power of good conversation, brilliant writing and bold ideas. She also likes anything glittery.