It’s a weekday evening at Boon Lay. People are rushing home from a long day at work or are heading out to meet friends. Many walk past the ground-floor shop units of a certain HDB block, often without a second thought. But behind those doors, a world of activity is unfolding.
In one unit, the art studio, children are gearing up for an outdoor theatre performance slated to take place at the playground outside. In another unit nearby, kids who may not get regular meals at home are busy in the community kitchen preparing sandwiches for their dinner. A few steps away, some kids are tending to a community garden, caring for curry leaves, long beans and papayas.
These areas are all part of Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC), a project under 3Pumpkins, a non-profit arts organisation. The club offers a nurturing space for kids from tough family backgrounds to play and grow holistically, regardless of their circumstances, through various developmental programmes.
Shiyun Lin, the 42-year-old founder of 3Pumpkins, can be seen in the art studio, helping the kids pick out their costumes and paint the props needed for their upcoming performance.
“This is the kids’ space,” Lin told me. “A community where kids come together, learn crucial values, grow together with other children, and then transmit these values to younger kids.”
Lin has always been passionate about children. The Singaporean has an arts background and was an arts producer for 14 years, working on theatre and performance arts for youths.
The playground near Tak Takut Kids Club in Boon Lay. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
“The kids were always on my mind,” she said. “I worked on projects with children in the indigenous communities of the Riau Islands. I made sure that they got to see their traditional arts being performed for them, and with them. This way, they could develop a stronger sense of self and identity.”
In 2016, a few years after she stopped being an arts producer, Lin felt moved to find out how she could help underprivileged children in Singapore.
“I felt a calling,” Lin said. “I wanted to find out more about children living in the rental flats near where I lived and in the neighbourhoods I was familiar with. So for weeks, I just observed and interacted with them at the playgrounds near the HDB blocks.”
For three years, Lin tagged along with single mothers in Boon Lay, Toa Payoh and Lengkok Bahru, getting to know the families there. She would bring along her own son, who was three years old when she started.
Children playing with paint in Toa Payoh Lorong 1 in 2016. (Photo: Shiyun Lin)
In that period, Lin observed that there were three groups of children who needed a safe indoor environment: Children from rental flats; children with absent caregivers, whether because of incarceration, busyness, or drugs; and children with mental health challenges such as digital addiction, or social isolation and anxiety.
“These were kids who were too afraid to stay home for fear of being beaten up, but also scared to go to school because teachers would just scold them for not doing their work,” Lin said. “So where do they go to feel secure and find belonging? To the streets.
“And if there are no ‘good gangs’ in the streets, the kids will end up with older youth who share the same background, and the hostile cycle repeats.”
Lin wanted to change that – so she started a “good gang” of her own.
Lin facilitating an interactive game with string, for children in Lengkok Bahru, in 2019. (Photo: Shiyun Lin)
With a few like-minded friends, Lin initiated ground-up activities with the kids she saw in the three neighbourhoods.
She would lead them in role-playing activities, structured team games, and puppet and theatre performances – all done at the playground near their homes.
“Kids would already gather there, not wanting to be at home or school, so I just played with whoever was present,” she said.
These ad-hoc activities went on for about a year before Lin saw some positive effects.
“Everything was done at the playground and soon, kids started coming back,” she said. “Instead of skipping school for no reason and hanging out in unsafe areas with older kids, they found a community in the playground where they could play or bring their school work to study, and get other kids to join them, too.”
In 2019, Lin wanted to go bigger. She recognised the importance of having a dedicated space and that she would need an organisation to do more.
Inspired by a Chinese animated short film from the late 70s about three monks who learn to work together, and her son’s “obsession with pumpkins” – Lin named the organisation 3Pumpkins.
3Pumpkins’ first space that year was half a fruit shop in Lengkok Bahru, which Lin rented for two months to continue to engage the children she had already befriended there.
The kids play games right outside TTKC’s art studio and if they need a screen, they put up a makeshift projector outside. (Photo: 3Pumpkins)
There, Lin noticed that not only the ‘regulars’ came, their families and other interested residents did too.
“I learned that a dedicated physical space for children can always pull other people, whether the elderly or other adults, towards it,” she said.
“Kids have a magnetic force about them and when you give them the space to explore their potential, you also build a friendly community that cares for them.”
After the lease ended, Lin and her friends went back to meet the kids at their usual playground every other week. At the same time, she rented half the space from a laundromat in Boon Lay, near where she lived. She called it the Tak Takut Kids Club.
TTKC’s art studio is where a lot of creative and colourful work happens. (Photo: 3Pumpkins)
“‘Tak takut’ means not afraid or no fear in Malay, and that’s exactly it – I want the kids to be brave, to be fearless,” she said.
With her background, Lin introduced theatre, puppetry, getai (live performances usually held during the Hungry Ghost Festival) and other performing arts to the children.
“I didn’t want the arts to only be for kids from a higher class. I didn’t want kids to have to travel to town to experience theatre,” she said. “The arts can and should be accessible to all children.”
The pandemic hit a few months later, and many of the at-risk children Lin got to know were forced to stay away.
“Though it was the pandemic, I got more face time with the government, like MCCY (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth) and MSF (Ministry of Social and Family Development),” she said.
“I convinced them that a physical space was crucial for kids' development, so I got two units in Boon Lay, and they were all for TTKC – and we could continue our programmes safely.”
TTKC Journal is a monthly newsletter where the kids hone their writing and journalism skills. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Since then, with the help of donations, project fundraisers and supporting funds from the government, TTKC has hosted a wide range of activities for over 200 children in its art studio, community kitchen, and community garden.
“This is their space,” she said. “They’re the ones taking care of it and coming up with the ideas – the adults are only here to support them, to make sure they feel seen, heard, and safe.”
3Pumpkins now has 12 full-time staff, including Lin, and has the help of dozens of volunteers. TTKC is open from 4pm to 8pm on weekdays, and between 2pm and 6pm on weekends, but Lin said some children need the space beyond those hours, and some staff stay on for them. Case workers are also present to help kids with more complex needs.
Lin said that in the future, she plans to expand the space to Lengkok Bahru and Toa Payoh as well, where most of it all started.
Lin said TTKC allows vulnerable kids to do meaningful activities that instil in them responsibility, routine, and groundedness, all done within a thriving community ecosystem.
“TTKC doesn’t work alone. We work with other organisations and bring everyone together to create an ecosystem that’s safe for kids,” Lin said.
She used this analogy to illustrate her vision: “In the sea, there may be baby creatures who have lost their parents or caregivers – these are the children we aim to help.
“In the same sea, there will be bigger creatures who will adopt or take care of the babies – these are existing programmes like Family Service Centres or social workers, all of whom are doing great jobs.
“But between the babies and the bigger creatures is a vast ocean – some babies don’t end up meeting any of the bigger creatures and they will get lost.
“TTKC aims to fill that gap – we want to be the creatures the babies can find, trust, and play with,” she said. “And if they need more help for their complex needs, we can refer them to the bigger creatures that can take care of them and get them the treatment they need.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...
In one unit, the art studio, children are gearing up for an outdoor theatre performance slated to take place at the playground outside. In another unit nearby, kids who may not get regular meals at home are busy in the community kitchen preparing sandwiches for their dinner. A few steps away, some kids are tending to a community garden, caring for curry leaves, long beans and papayas.
These areas are all part of Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC), a project under 3Pumpkins, a non-profit arts organisation. The club offers a nurturing space for kids from tough family backgrounds to play and grow holistically, regardless of their circumstances, through various developmental programmes.
Shiyun Lin, the 42-year-old founder of 3Pumpkins, can be seen in the art studio, helping the kids pick out their costumes and paint the props needed for their upcoming performance.
“This is the kids’ space,” Lin told me. “A community where kids come together, learn crucial values, grow together with other children, and then transmit these values to younger kids.”
NURTURING CHILDREN WHO FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS
Lin has always been passionate about children. The Singaporean has an arts background and was an arts producer for 14 years, working on theatre and performance arts for youths.
The playground near Tak Takut Kids Club in Boon Lay. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
“The kids were always on my mind,” she said. “I worked on projects with children in the indigenous communities of the Riau Islands. I made sure that they got to see their traditional arts being performed for them, and with them. This way, they could develop a stronger sense of self and identity.”
In 2016, a few years after she stopped being an arts producer, Lin felt moved to find out how she could help underprivileged children in Singapore.
“I felt a calling,” Lin said. “I wanted to find out more about children living in the rental flats near where I lived and in the neighbourhoods I was familiar with. So for weeks, I just observed and interacted with them at the playgrounds near the HDB blocks.”
For three years, Lin tagged along with single mothers in Boon Lay, Toa Payoh and Lengkok Bahru, getting to know the families there. She would bring along her own son, who was three years old when she started.
Children playing with paint in Toa Payoh Lorong 1 in 2016. (Photo: Shiyun Lin)
In that period, Lin observed that there were three groups of children who needed a safe indoor environment: Children from rental flats; children with absent caregivers, whether because of incarceration, busyness, or drugs; and children with mental health challenges such as digital addiction, or social isolation and anxiety.
“These were kids who were too afraid to stay home for fear of being beaten up, but also scared to go to school because teachers would just scold them for not doing their work,” Lin said. “So where do they go to feel secure and find belonging? To the streets.
“And if there are no ‘good gangs’ in the streets, the kids will end up with older youth who share the same background, and the hostile cycle repeats.”
Lin wanted to change that – so she started a “good gang” of her own.
Lin facilitating an interactive game with string, for children in Lengkok Bahru, in 2019. (Photo: Shiyun Lin)
With a few like-minded friends, Lin initiated ground-up activities with the kids she saw in the three neighbourhoods.
She would lead them in role-playing activities, structured team games, and puppet and theatre performances – all done at the playground near their homes.
“Kids would already gather there, not wanting to be at home or school, so I just played with whoever was present,” she said.
These ad-hoc activities went on for about a year before Lin saw some positive effects.
“Everything was done at the playground and soon, kids started coming back,” she said. “Instead of skipping school for no reason and hanging out in unsafe areas with older kids, they found a community in the playground where they could play or bring their school work to study, and get other kids to join them, too.”
In 2019, Lin wanted to go bigger. She recognised the importance of having a dedicated space and that she would need an organisation to do more.
Inspired by a Chinese animated short film from the late 70s about three monks who learn to work together, and her son’s “obsession with pumpkins” – Lin named the organisation 3Pumpkins.
TAK TAKUT KIDS CLUB: A CHILD-CENTRIC SPACE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
3Pumpkins’ first space that year was half a fruit shop in Lengkok Bahru, which Lin rented for two months to continue to engage the children she had already befriended there.
The kids play games right outside TTKC’s art studio and if they need a screen, they put up a makeshift projector outside. (Photo: 3Pumpkins)
There, Lin noticed that not only the ‘regulars’ came, their families and other interested residents did too.
“I learned that a dedicated physical space for children can always pull other people, whether the elderly or other adults, towards it,” she said.
“Kids have a magnetic force about them and when you give them the space to explore their potential, you also build a friendly community that cares for them.”
After the lease ended, Lin and her friends went back to meet the kids at their usual playground every other week. At the same time, she rented half the space from a laundromat in Boon Lay, near where she lived. She called it the Tak Takut Kids Club.
TTKC’s art studio is where a lot of creative and colourful work happens. (Photo: 3Pumpkins)
“‘Tak takut’ means not afraid or no fear in Malay, and that’s exactly it – I want the kids to be brave, to be fearless,” she said.
With her background, Lin introduced theatre, puppetry, getai (live performances usually held during the Hungry Ghost Festival) and other performing arts to the children.
“I didn’t want the arts to only be for kids from a higher class. I didn’t want kids to have to travel to town to experience theatre,” she said. “The arts can and should be accessible to all children.”
The pandemic hit a few months later, and many of the at-risk children Lin got to know were forced to stay away.
“Though it was the pandemic, I got more face time with the government, like MCCY (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth) and MSF (Ministry of Social and Family Development),” she said.
“I convinced them that a physical space was crucial for kids' development, so I got two units in Boon Lay, and they were all for TTKC – and we could continue our programmes safely.”
TTKC Journal is a monthly newsletter where the kids hone their writing and journalism skills. (Photo: CNA/Izza Haziqah)
Since then, with the help of donations, project fundraisers and supporting funds from the government, TTKC has hosted a wide range of activities for over 200 children in its art studio, community kitchen, and community garden.
“This is their space,” she said. “They’re the ones taking care of it and coming up with the ideas – the adults are only here to support them, to make sure they feel seen, heard, and safe.”
3Pumpkins now has 12 full-time staff, including Lin, and has the help of dozens of volunteers. TTKC is open from 4pm to 8pm on weekdays, and between 2pm and 6pm on weekends, but Lin said some children need the space beyond those hours, and some staff stay on for them. Case workers are also present to help kids with more complex needs.
Lin said that in the future, she plans to expand the space to Lengkok Bahru and Toa Payoh as well, where most of it all started.
Lin said TTKC allows vulnerable kids to do meaningful activities that instil in them responsibility, routine, and groundedness, all done within a thriving community ecosystem.
“TTKC doesn’t work alone. We work with other organisations and bring everyone together to create an ecosystem that’s safe for kids,” Lin said.
She used this analogy to illustrate her vision: “In the sea, there may be baby creatures who have lost their parents or caregivers – these are the children we aim to help.
“In the same sea, there will be bigger creatures who will adopt or take care of the babies – these are existing programmes like Family Service Centres or social workers, all of whom are doing great jobs.
“But between the babies and the bigger creatures is a vast ocean – some babies don’t end up meeting any of the bigger creatures and they will get lost.
“TTKC aims to fill that gap – we want to be the creatures the babies can find, trust, and play with,” she said. “And if they need more help for their complex needs, we can refer them to the bigger creatures that can take care of them and get them the treatment they need.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...