BBH Barn: For two weeks an intern lives the life of a migrant construction worker in Singapore

A 22-year-old intern has been living and working as a migrant construction worker for the past two weeks in Singapore as part of an internship project Made by Migrants.

Made by Migrants is a project created by an international group of interns from BBH Asia Pacific, who were bought together by the agency to ‘do something good, famously’ as part of a 10 week internship program, the BBH Barn. Inspired by the Singapore cityscape and the migrant workforce around them, they embarked on this project together. The team includes Victoria Phantharangsi from Sydney, AU, Mark Choo from Singapore and Ian Napier from Manchester, UK.

Over the two weeks, these interns have sent team member, Ian Napier, to stay in dorms, travel to and from sites and perform the tasks expected of him alongside migrant construction workers. His experience has been documented via video blogs, diary entries and photography which are uploaded daily at the website www.madebymigrants.com.

Made by Migrants hopes draw out a sense of pride and collegiality between migrant workers and the rest of Singapore.

“What we aim to achieve over the next couple of weeks is to give an insight into the life of a migrant construction worker. These men literally build our cities and we want to explore their identities as more than just a collective workforce.” -Victoria Phantharangsi, intern, BBH Asia Pacific.

With 50 percent of the population at any given time being foreigners, the group felt it would be amiss not to contemplate the role that Singapore plays in the global economy.

For migrant workers, the chance to come and work in Singapore despite the sacrifices that they make, essentially breaks the poverty cycle that they and their families would otherwise be trapped in.

The use of social media allows for an intimate glimpse into the voyeuristic quality of this project, where viewers will be able to interact with the characters that emerge via twitter @madebymigrants. This will ultimately culminate in a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the people who contribute to our society, uniting people across the world with the recognition that we all work to better ourselves and our life situations.

The project will end in time for Migrants Day on the 18th of December.

Ian Napier, Victoria Phantharangsi and Mark Choo are pictured below.