‘What Happened to Us?’ in the pandemic years of 2020-2022 and what do we need to restart well in the Next Normal?
How the Citizen Circles started: Why convene citizens together?
In Singapore’s pandemic years, we believe that there have been many small and large losses that we might have barely begin to process. As we rush to embrace the endemic Next Normal, we may soon forget what we saw and learnt in that crisis season. Through Common Ground’s mission of creating whole communities, we believe that there is a need to create space for public conversations and support our citizens in processing and making sense of what happened to us before 2022 ends with pandemic restrictions lifting.
Through what we named as "citizen circles" - a circle of people in Singapore that we convened, we wanted to:
capture individual rich insights into what was lost, what are the emerging challenges and what are the new things that must be done,
make sense of the emerging patterns from each of the demographic groups, and
identify common patterns and experiences to help shift public conversation & perception.
OUR PARTNERS FOR THE CITIZEN CIRCLES
BRAVE FEATS STUDENT CARE
PLAYEUM
NEURAL CONNECTIONS
THE BIRTHDAY COLLECTIVE
WHISPERING HOPE
PIVOTAL YOUTH
Following up on that desire to hold space to process what happened to us, Common Ground's Executive Director Shiao-Yin Kuik first reached out to Common Ground’s resident partner, Whispering Hope, a grief consultancy to explore what processing our gains and losses under the pandemic together could look like.
Together, we kicked off the first two ‘What Happened To Us’ Citizen Circles in June and July 2022 for religious leaders and HR professionals respectively. In the spirit of collaboration, this then led on to six other Citizen Circles in partnership with resident partners Playeum, Pivotal Youth, Brave Feats Student Care, as well as a community partner, Neural Connections up till November 2022.
Click on the logo to find out more about each organisation.
Who were the communities we convened?
As a ground-up initiative, the below communities were simply citizen groups that our Common Ground community is currently interested in, in relation to the respective target audiences we serve. They include: children ages 7 to 18; youth; educators; parents; and caregivers of loved ones with special needs.
Religious Leaders
“(Individuals) grew more mentally resilient, joyful, harmonious, trusting.”
On the gains the religious leaders saw in the communities they support.
Working Professionals
"I have friends who are doctors who are so exhausted, they fell asleep at the wheel & passed away after getting into an accident. Sometimes they do a shift of 36 hours…”
On the losses the working professionals saw in the communities they support.
Caregivers of Loved Ones with Special Needs
"I found myself mentally & physically breaking down… It is so hard to look after the children when I need the care myself... If my cup is empty, there is no way I can give. How can I give when my cup is empty?"
On the losses the caregivers of loved ones with special needs saw.
Youths
“I grew emotionally & found myself in situations I’d never have expected for myself.”
On the gains the university students saw.
Children Aged 6-9
"I can hide my identity."
“I can wear mask and I look better."
On the gains the children saw.
Parents
“I gained a parenting partner. My husband now says: “Now I know why you are so tired.” In that 2 years - it was eye-opening for him.”
On the gains the parents of young children saw.
Educators
“For some students, school = safer space than home.”
On the losses the educators of young children saw.
The ‘What Happened to Us?’ Unconference
COMMON GROUND x THE BIRTHDAY COLLECTIVE
From the series of citizen circles, we unpacked the data and then shared our insights, with the intention of exploring possible next steps together at our ‘What Happened To Us’ Unconference in December 2022. This is in partnership with The Birthday Collective and our objectives were to allow people to:
Connect with each other as we see & hear insights from the “What Happened To Us” circles, including key themes and patterns.
Coordinate with each other's emerging ideas and efforts towards What Must Happen Next..
RESTART is the theme of The Birthday Book 2022, a collection of 57 essays from people sharing what they seek to restart at home, in their community, and for Singapore itself. Shiao-Yin authored the final essay that closes the book. Both Common Ground and The Birthday Collective share the hope that more of us can feel more connected and less alone as we create new ways forward together from pandemic to endemic.
We hope these voices in this ground-up research project can help more people in Singapore make sense of what happened to them since Covid-19, and process that they are not alone in their experiences.
