Have you ever had the pleasure of seeing Jolovan, HOME’s executive director, dance the hula? I did, at HOME Family’s Labour Day picnic, and I can assure you; it was quite a sight. Amidst a dozen swaying domestic workers from our HOME Family, who elegantly mastered the curvy dance, he more than stood his ground.

The hula was not all to be done at HOME’s Labour Day celebrations at East Coast Park. There was plenty of good company and food, brought by everyone that attended, resulting in a diverse spread of delicacies from many different countries.

After food, drink and dance it was time for games. A group of students from St Joseph’s Institution entertained us with their student dorm games. First, we could see longer and longer strings of contestants waving around the park for the crazy tag game ‘bacteria.’ For my own children ‘musical statues’ was the highlight of the day, especially when my six-year-old son proved one of the winners, gobbling his prize of M&M’s proudly with his sisters. Then, people started to really lose themselves in a game of ‘grab the slipper,’ and I imagine the laughs and screams could be heard for quite some distance.

HOME’s Labour Day picnic was held on Sunday 4^th of May, 3 days after Labour Day itself. Unfortunately many domestic workers in Singapore are not given time off on National Holidays, so many of our HOME Family members had, in fact, to labour on Labour Day. HOME advocates that domestic workers should be covered by the Foreign Employment Act and be granted regular Sundays off as well as all National Holidays.

Karien van Ditzhuijzen was at HOME’s labour day celebration picnic. Photo’s by Dominica Fitri