Border/Less

Abstract

The Border/less photo essay is a collective work that scrutinises the daily routine of the marginalised foreign workforce in Malaysia. It investigates the foreign workers from various neighbouring countries who seek to greener pastures. From domestic helpers to construction site workers, these workers form the third-largest community in Malaysia. People are people, they are just ordinary folks that work diligently in laboured work, fuelled by dreams of a better life back home in their countries. However, the plight of life never leaves them, they are not only had to endure the life without their loved ones, but also seem so out of place in the eyes of the locals. The term "foreign worker" always connotes to negative and derogatory sense. Through the interactions with these “best known strangers”, we hope to ease the invisible border between “us” and “them” and if possible, breakdown the stereotype that deeply rooted in our mind.