One Sneak Peek Into An Exhibition of Failures

Our newspapers, school brochures, textbooks and social media often cover the stories of success.

But what about the people who toiled, sweat and bled, but still failed?

Where are the stories of those who cried in silence after closing down their business or after receiving a “F” on their report card?

I have always found it fascinating that our society values and highlights success way more than failure, when without the latter, the former can never be achieved. It appears to me that Ms Fari, the founder of Merlion Project seems to think so too.

Merlion Project is a human library that focuses on the stories of those who have failed. It aims to encourage conversation about how to deal with setbacks in life, and also delves into topics like sustainability, mental health and entrepreneurship.

I met Fari on occasion, at a volunteers’ meeting for one of the social organisations that I am a part of.

Being a connoisseur of stories of failure and less-than-ideal outcomes, I wondered if she had some stories of “failures” that she could share with us, as well as how she overcame them.

“Initially, it was very hard to invite guests for our human library. We previously partnered with National Youth Council, who also sponsored some venues for us, including The Red Box and SCAPE. Although, I always had the notion to keep going, and the support from others this year helped a lot.”

Ms Fari has invited many interesting guests to her events. She recalled her most memorable one being Kent from Invade, who initially felt very nervous as he did not think people would be interested in his story. However, he soon realised how powerful such sharing sessions could be for his listeners, and how open and non-judgmental his audience were.

Currently, the Merlion Project is publicised mainly through word-of-mouth to people that she or her team knows. Her team consists of 4 members, and are mostly comprised of individuals or friends that she knew prior to starting the initiative.

When asked what is her unique definition of success, Fari answers honestly, “I still don’t know, but we do aspire towards creating a podcast eventually. We hope to inspire more Singaporeans down the road, and would appreciate help from volunteers who know a thing or two about recording podcasts.”

If you would like to help Fari out, here is her linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fariwu/

Her next event will be a sharing done by Mdm Sng Mui Hong, a 72-year-old lady who has spent most of her life living in the last Kampong (village) in Singapore.

It will be held on 15 June, and more details can be found here:

https://linktr.ee/merlionproject

And that is it for today’s One Sneak Peek Into.

Stay tuned for more insights from our interview series as we continue to explore the stories of trailblazers breaking barriers and redefining success.