'Breakfast With A Soul' - 09 October 2010

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More details about the speakers

Speaker 1

Juliah Bee

Ms Juliah Bee is no stranger to the NGO sector. She venture started her foray in 2004 when she joined the Singapore International Foundation as an Executive managing the YEP programme, particularly for teams embarking to Malaysia, Indonesia and Timor-Leste. It was from there that she realised that her interest was in field work and when the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami occurred, it came as a blessing in a way. The subsequent 5 years had her stationed in West Aceh for post-tsunami reconstruction work, contributing her skills and expertise

with 3 different NGOs – with Mercy Relief, she was overseeing medical relief mission deployments to refugee camps; then it was monitoring housing reconstruction with Habitat for Humanity and finally, with World Toilet Organization, she carried out a public health program with mothers and teachers in the rural areas of Meulaboh, Aceh. She returned to Singapore last year and continued her service in this region as the International Program Manager for Mercy Relief where she handled disaster relief missions and development projects for Indonesia and Vietnam. Currently, Ms Juliah Bee heads Role 2 Play, a newly-formed NGO which focuses on developing youths with a deeper understanding and appreciation of our regional countries.

Abstract of Presentation

Being Asian and living in a country where we are not only situated so close to other Asian nations but also surrounded by foreigners and migrant workers from other parts of Asia, here in our own country, one would have thought that Singaporeans would be very sensitive and respectful to the culture and practices of our neighbouring countries. Despite learning about ASEAN in our history subjects, I was shocked on how volunteers and visitors from Singapore typically react and behave while being in a foreign land such as Indonesia. After hosting and facilitating countless volunteer teams, both young and old, from all walks of life to West Aceh, it has been interesting and sometimes amusing to observe how they interact with the rural communities, and the kind of questions that they come up with.

Speaker 2

Pak Soon

Pak Soon and Mui Hoon were living in Cambodia from 1999 to 2004, working with a Christian NGO. While there they ran a Group Home for Abandoned Children with Disabilities. Before they left Cambodia, the children were either adopted by others or put into a Foster Parents System. They are now back in Singapore. Pak Soon is serving with a local church while Mui Hoon is working as a Social Worker in a Special School.

Abstract of Presentation

There was a story floating around about how a rural woman hired somebody to run over her baby girl with a motorbike because the baby had a harelip. Why? Because the Cambodian society stigmatize people with disability, and the disabled or deformed person is considered bad luck. Through a volunteer in a government orphanage, Pak Soon and Mui Hoon came face to face with the reality of this belief and had the privilege of sharing the struggles and despairs of five abandoned children with disabilities.