Tiong Bahru Community Centre (CC)
When I first started to embark on this jigsaw puzzle community 'thing', there were quite a few unknowns, topmost among which was "Where am I going to hold such competitions?". In order to get around this issue, I needed a lot of help and thankfully, I got it.
It started when I had lunch with Patrick, an acquaintance from my university days. I talked about my idea of setting up an interest group in jigsaw puzzle-making, and Patrick offered to introduce me to the management of Tiong Bahru CC to see if we could get something started. To cut a long story short, one thing led to another and, the management of the CC agreed to be the venue sponsor for my first event in July 2011, the subsequent one in September 2011, and the one that I'm having later today at 3pm. I've been allowed to use the hall at the CC, which is a good location for the event as it is spacious and air-conditioned. The CC has also allowed me to use the tables and chairs, and this is important as it (literally) gives the teams a good platform to fix up their puzzles. The CC itself is also centrally located, so this helps as far as convenience to the participants is concerned.
All of my coordination with the CC for my events has always been through the CC's Simon, who has been very helpful and accommodating of my requests. Simon, together with his boss Mr Tan, and of course Patrick, have all helped me to get this thing started. My thanks to the good folks at Tiong Bahru CC!
Tiong Bahru CC (picture taken from the internet)
For the activity with the clients at the Singapore Association for Mental Health YouthReach at Tiong Bahru this week, I will have to do it differently from the 'usual' competitions I organise, to take into consideration the attention level and the needs of the people taking part. Speed is definitely out, as many of the participants will likely not be regular puzzle makers. Poh Hee, my friend who heads the centre, has also advised that the entire puzzle needs to be broken down into something manageable for the participants, least they become distracted or discouraged.
With the above in mind, I have tweaked what I originally intended to do, which was to start with the entire puzzle and get everybody to do everything together (ie, sort, and make together). I have broken up the complete puzzle into several sections, so that the participants need not sort the pieces on the day and can go straight into the fixing part. Also, my number 2 suggested this which I thought was a very good suggestion, I have taken pictures of the various sections so that the participants can refer to the individual section pictures to know exactly which part of the puzzle they are fixing.
Here are some of the pictures of what I've done:
The complete puzzle
Working backwards.......
Breaking it up into smaller sections
One of the sections
Breaking up the section
First time for me doing a jigsaw activity with clients with mental health needs, so part of me is a bit anxious that it works out.
How can we get those of us in the jigsaw puzzle community to give more and share more within the community?
I have been thinking about this for a while. Had some ideas but didn't have the push to do it............UNTIL NOW. All thanks to Dorothy........
I met Dorothy at the first competition I organised in July 2011. She came without a partner to take part, and I paired her with my brother-in-law who also didn't have a partner. Turns out that this constituted team was good enough to beat the other 4 teams, and they came in first :)
I subsequently found that the Dorothy and I both worked in the same sector. Just today, again by coincidence, both of us happened to be on leave. She 'WhatsApped' me about my idea to donate puzzles to the Singapore Association for Mental Health. In the toing and froing, she also indicated that she was thinking of giving or sharing her puzzles within the community. When I understood her intention, I guess it provided me the push to try to get something new started. So here goes........
All of us have jigsaw puzzles that we like more. For these, we either frame up the completed puzzle, or we fix it up over and over again. What happens to the puzzles that we are not so fond of? For most of us, it goes into the cupboard or box, never to be seen for months or years.
Instead of keeping the puzzle and having it occupy space in the home (and we know how bulky some of the puzzle boxes can be, don't we), why don't we share it with other jigsaw puzzle lovers? Kind of like a Pay It Forward thing?
I can see several benefits to doing this:
(a) It ties in with the notion of not wasting things, of recycling and reusing stuff,
(b) It helps to create a value (and a culture) of giving and sharing,
(c) Other people may assign greater utility value to your puzzle compared to you (ie, they may like the puzzle more than you),
(d) You get to meet new people, maybe make a new friend,
(e) Someone else may offer a puzzle, which you may like and have not been able to get on your own.
So......let's try something new here. Here are some simple norms for our jigsaw puzzle community:
(A) No monetary transactions,
(B) For those of you who want to offer your jigsaw puzzle, do this
- post a picture of it
- provide your contact particulars
- indicate whether you wish to 'Lend' or 'Share'. If you want to lend, you expect the puzzle to be returned to you. If you want to share, you don't expect the puzzle to be returned.
(C) For those of you receiving the puzzle under the 'Lend' situation, return the puzzle to the giver after you are done with it.
(D) For those of you receiving the puzzle under the 'Share' situation, you can do either of 2 things
- fix it up, then pass it on to another person, or
- keep it if you want, but you should offer another comparable puzzle as 'replacement'.
(E) All transactions are between the giver and the potential receiver.
Do you think this will work? :)
