Alexandra Moa

Life is something to be treasured.

We Are Majulah' has been a vehicle for my team and I to explore the concept of identity not just on a social and national level, but as individuals. It has been one of the most important undertakings for any of and it has certainly taught us the most about our environment and how best to contribute to it. All in all, we hope this sense of belonging and purpose translates to the community. We don't really have an ultimate landing point or defined goal because it's not a KPI driven project. Rather, we have a perpetual purpose to continuously add positivity and reinforce communities through our storytelling and on ground initiatives. I guess you could say we are achieving what we set out to do every single day.

When we look back from where we have come, it seems like we've done a lot. So far we have released over 70 episodes of the good word project, grown about 13 thousand on our Facebook page, interacted with thousands of Singaporeans with our Eraser Cup game. A substantial amount of that impact was generated this year because it took time to gather a momentum and capitalize on the opportunities available.

Identity is a complex thing and it involves many components. Being a heterogenous society only adds to that complexity so while the identity is there, it's just more difficult to label it definitively. This is also why we are suggesting something holistic and positive to represent our complex identity.

The Eraser Cup are just one of our efforts in We Are Majulah. We really want to continue testing and developing it until it becomes as large as a game like "Are you smarter than a fifth grader" so we are spending most of time now on the ground.
I always thought school was an utter pain and until today, even at the stage of going to university, the thought of having to meet new people still scares me enough to give me constant nightmares for months.

Ever since I went to kindergarten I had always felt like I didn't fit in due to not being able to speak my mother tongue and due to the fear of being ridiculed I remained shy and quiet as the years passed. Even as I entered secondary school I had problems mixing in and when I was in the middle of form two I couldn't take the idea of being pushed away by others and being alone until I tried to take my own life, even though that wasn't the first time I had tried it. My parents sent me to a private school and even though I was slightly happier there, the problems resurfaced when I entered college.

There I felt pressured by the top students around me and even though it was a common thing to feel pressure and be surrounded by top students, I particularly felt so depressed and those two years turned out to be the most miserable and hardest time of my life. I struggled to meet good grades and to mix around but luckily there were a few classmates that came to my aid and we became close friends and are still in contact even though we have walked out separate paths.

In these years as a student there have been so many times I wished I could just disappear from this world and just go somewhere where I wouldn't feel so alone and heartbroken. But with the grace of God and the help of family and friends, who I know will be very sad and disappointed if I were ever to leave this world before my time came, I managed to pull through it all and now I'm waiting for the greenlight to head to the UK to further my education. For this I thank those who have been supporting me through these hard times.

If you ever feel sad or you just can't take the idea of living anymore in a horrible world, just take a step back, make a cup of tea, or coffee if you desire and read a book. Or you can do what I learnt to do and watch tons of anime, somI learned at a young age that life is something to be treasured; something precious, an individual experience yet something that has definite finish line. Something I hold true to is to make the time for people, anyone who comes my way because the minutes I take out of my time may matter to the person in question. It may be a good deed, something nice to say, or just to stop to listen to an answer to "How are you?" I have gained and lost many people in my life, and if it's something worthwhile, it's the impact I leave on their world to thank them for the footprints they've left behind in my memories.ething I didn't come to love until a good friend introduced me to it in college. Life may seem to be a drag at times, but the dark times will always pass. Night can't remain forever and the day will surely come.
When I think about it, I think my family is my primary motivation. In my mind, contributing to my nation in the capacity I can eventually leads to a better Singapore for them and people I care about.
Alexandra Moa