The Writer’s Fortnight at UWC is an opportunity for students, like myself, to be exposed to narratives not only from speakers around the globe, but also the very people around us. After all, what is a better way of demonstrating your mastery of telling and crafting stories than to actually tell the real stories of real people that have significance to our lives? The great irony I found in today’s sessions were the speakers’ lamentations on the repercussions that misguided media portrayal may have on society, while we are essentially the “media” of Writer’s Fortnight. Perhaps this makes the issue more pressing- How will the articles we write and the stories we construct, influence those around us?

---

Christian Perrin: Murderers, Rapists, and Violent Criminals

It might be quite shocking or uncomfortable to some people at the merest mention of these three words, as it was for me when I had first read the description of the speaker. It may instil fear, disgust, or even hatred in others. These people, who society marginalize and exclude, are the subject of criminal psychologist Christian Perrin’s life work. His fascinating accounts into a sampling of some of the criminals he had worked with and studied revealed just how one dimensional the media portrayal of this members of society are (Crime Scene Investigation comes to mind). He had routinely emphasized how many of the criminals commit their actions because of “just the unusual circumstances they had found themselves in” and their expression of remorse and guilt at what they had done. This is probably the most eye-opening talk about a subject that is considered taboo in my family, from which I had gained a new, unusual but certainly important, perspective.

As the focus of the research and interactions he conducts are ultimately in order to explore the potential benefits to criminals and society that comes with rehabilitation instead of simply incarceration, this had stood out to me as starkly contrasting the policies of the Singaporean government. In particular, this had reminded me of a talk given by a woman last semester at UWCSEA of her work with a Singaporean NGO who aims to support families whose members may have been sentenced capital punishment. This country is unusual in its position of enforcing a stricter penal code than most other democratic nations, so I wonder (with some regret of not articulating my question as clearly as I would have liked during the interview session) what had compelled Perrin to be based here?*

While UWCSEA prides itself on acceptance and diversity, how would the students and faculty react to these people- would they still attempt to understand and maybe even empathize with at least some of their wrongdoings, or would they accept the status quo of society and treat them without the nuance that comes with perspective?

*from Christian Perrin’s LinkedIn Profile: “I am currently seconded to the Singapore campus of the University of Liverpool, working as a Criminology Lecturer.”

Jan 16th, 2019

---

Joy Haugen: From Refugee to UN Worker to UWCSEA

Probably one of the most valuable revelations I had during Writer’s Fortnight is the sheer diversity of the community around us. I was indeed quite surprised to learn that Joy Haugen, head of East GC Service, was a refugee from Sudan during the civil war, as before, I had only seen them through the lens of statistics and factual information. To hear her recount, with a honest frankness, her journey from her home in North Sudan, to Uganda, and then to a refugee camp, revealed a reality very different from the one I am accustomed to. Put in the words of an expedition leader of the trip I was on, “You are living in a bubble, the bubble of Singapore.” Here was a chance to talk very personally with someone who has been through a multitude of life altering experiences, and offer us her own insight into a world that most members of “affluent” nations would have never seen.

Her stories about UNICEF and the IOM (International Organization for Migration) were an uplifting testament to the importance of these organizations who work for the entirety of the human race, something maybe overlooked in this climate of political turmoil. She found inspiration and appreciation at the people who had helped her, eventually culminating in her decision to work with the UN after graduating from college.

However, even as Ms. Haugen had endured these difficulty and hardships, she was always surrounded by people who were of the similar unfortunate circumstances  as herself and her family. Nothing had compared to her family’s immigration to the United States, in a Minnesotan community composed entirely of white people. Her exclusion in the school came in form of being known as “the Refugee girl” and constantly bullied for her skin color may seem distant in our school which is composed of such a diverse community, but still very real nonetheless. However, as I believe many of us sitting there have realized, refugees need support integrating into their new communities, communities who may not be as willing as we like to accept people like her.

Her message to us when prompted with the question on how could we help refugees were, “Look around you, there are people who have been refugees and have real stories to tell, not just the media who may be misleading about who we are.”

Jan 16th, 2019