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Sharing with Raffles Girls School (Secondary)

Writer's picture: Syazwan MajidSyazwan Majid

Hi all,


Before I write about the topic at hand, I'm going a little off tangent to just share about something I've observed about my writing style over the years. Back when WUJ was still a blog on the old Blogger platform, I couldn't help but noticed that my writing just seemed so much lively—filled with passion and just being my old quirky self. Fast forward till today however, it seemed to be almost void of that (like as though something happened in between that stripped that joy away)—either that or being a university undergraduate made you very wary about the way you present yourself. Anyway, from here on out, I'm trying to rekindle (revive, even) my old reflective and creative self, God Willing. Now back to the main programme:

Behold the power of 0.5 in capturing every one of us in attendance. Photo by RGS staff.
Behold the power of 0.5 in capturing every one of us in attendance. Photo by RGS staff.

I spent Tuesday afternoon (4 Feb 2025) at the Raffles Girls School (Secondary) delivering a talk about the Ubin Malay community with the students as part of the school's Mother Tongue Fortnight programme. I wasn't presenting alone though as I was also joined by Firdaus from Orang Laut SG as well. The both of us took turns sharing with the students about our respective Orang Pulau identities, with Firdaus going first for fifteen minutes, and myself for the next fifteen minutes.


I was happy to see Firdaus sharing about the Orang Laut/Pulau of the Southern Islands, and similarly like the two student emcees for the event, I was genuinely surprised to learn that Singapore initially consisted of 77 islands (even though I know we did have a lot to begin with). Today, we only have 64 islands simply because most of these islands have been reclaimed into larger ones (most notably Jurong Island and Pulau Tekong). He shared gracefully about the culture of his ancestral home of Pulau Semakau, along with lovely photos of his relatives and the remarkable advocacy work that he has done through his initiative, Orang Laut SG. I'm glad to see that the students (and the many Malay staff in attendance) get to view Pulau Semakau as a special place, and not just the landfill we've been taught about over and over again.

Making a "point". Photo by Hannah
Making a "point". Photo by Hannah

Next it was my turn, and I was honestly very nervous (which for some of you who have seen me in my element before might argue otherwise, but hey I'm still introverted). Keep in mind, it's quite an age range in the audience, both students and teachers, and so I was thoroughly thinking of ways to make it understandable while engaging for both groups. Alhamdulillah, I'd like to believe that I did quite well in both as I managed to drop some jokes here and there to keep the atmosphere light. It's always encouraging when I hear people laughing and smiling, and there's no crowd tougher to please than our Gen Alphas (what more with their skibidis and rizz). I guess to some extent it does serve as a throw back to my first ever sharing, also with the Gen Alphas back in Mar 2024 as part of the EMAS symposium—where in that one I also dropped some jokes to keep over 150 kids entertained, albeit behind a screen (and it also went viral on TikTok one time too, yikes). I also later learned from the teacher that some of these kids actually knew me from this TikTok too so God have mercy on us all.

Gotta keep yourself hydrated mmmmm. Photo by Hannah
Gotta keep yourself hydrated mmmmm. Photo by Hannah

The sharing session concluded with a Q&A and the questions asked were definitely thought provoking. One of the students asked what were some of the differences between the routines of the Orang Laut and Orang Pulau, and honestly it was hard for me to think of any given how similar our communities tend to be. Of course, with the exception that the Southern Islanders could have more Riau and Orang Suku Laut influences, compared to us Northeastern Islanders which seemed to have more Peninsular Malaya, Bugis, Bawean and Javanese influences among our Orang Pulau community. We both fish. We both forage. Life revolves around the island and seas.


On a final note, I'd like to once again thank the Malay Language Department of RGS for inviting us both and I hope that the sharing has been beneficial to both the students and staff. I also gave the teachers a head's up about Ambin Ubin and look forward to collaborating again in future, God Willing!


Tinggi menjalar si daun sirih,

Jangan dipetik sehingga beres;

Saya mengucap terima kasih,

Kepada semua di RGS.


Thank you for your time in reading my post! Till the next wan.

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