BanglarKantha (Voice of Bengal) is a monthly Bengali newspaper published in Singapore. Banglar Kantha is the only Bengali LanguageNewspaper in South East Asia
Founded byMr AKM Mohsin since 2004, he seeks to provide a news platform for approximately150,000 Bangladeshis low wage migrant workers in Singapore. The newspapercovers topics from current news affairs in Bangladesh and Singapore, migrantworkers regulations, cultural and entertainment to keep the communityup-to-date about what is happening in both their home and host countries. Moreimportantly, the newspaper serves as a platform to voice the community’sopinions and showcase their literary talent. Literary contests have beenorganised by Banglar Kantha as a creative outlet for the community to celebratetheir culture and express self-identity. These events also attracted theparticipation of many local writers and facilitatedthe promotion of culturalexchange and understanding between the migrant and local communities.
Dibashram(meaning ‘day care’ in Bengali) isa physical space founded by Mr AMK Mohsin for the purpose of providingthe Bangladeshi migrant workers a place to get together and further theircultural interests such as music, poetry writing or simply a place to rest andcatch up with fellow countrymen during their free days. At times, Dibashramalso became a place for displaced migrant workers to seek shelter temporarily orseek advice while they are resolving the problems encountered.
Banglar Kantha (Voice of Bengal) is a monthly Bengali newspaper published in Singapore. Banglar Kantha is the only Bengali Language Newspaper in South East Asia Founded by Mr AKM Mohsin since 2004, he seeks to provide a news platform for approximately 150,000 Bangladeshis low wage migrant workers in Singapore. The newspaper covers topics from current news affairs in Bangladesh and Singapore, migrant workers regulations, cultural and entertainment to keep the community up-to-date about what is happening in both their home and host countries. More importantly, the newspaper serves as a platform to voice the community’s opinions and showcase their literary talent. Literary contests have been organised by Banglar Kantha as a creative outlet for the community to celebrate their culture and express self-identity. These events also attracted the participation of many local writers and facilitatedthe promotion of cultural exchange and understanding between the migrant and local communities. Dibashram (meaning ‘day care’ in Bengali) isa physical space founded by Mr AMK Mohsin for the purpose of providing the Bangladeshi migrant workers a place to get together and further their cultural interests such as music, poetry writing or simply a place to rest and catch up with fellow countrymen during their free days. At times, Dibashram also became a place for displaced migrant workers to seek shelter temporarily or seek advice while they are resolving the problems encountered.
For 14 years, AMK Mohsin has dedicated his time fully to champion therights and providing aid and advice to Bangladeshi workers who encountereddifficulties working or living in Singapore. He arrived in Singapore back in1991 to further his studies and realised that most of his countrymen came hereand focus on making a living, as such, he decided to undertake theresponsibility to be the bridge between the Bangladeshi and Singaporeancommunity and help establish the Bangladeshi identity in our multicultural andmultilingual society. Mohsin’s aim is to extend a culturalfooting to the migrant workers, and help bring this marginalized community intothe mainstream conversation through music, drama and poetry. Banglar Kantha hasbeen involved in curating several cultural programs involving poetry, theatre,dance, music, photography. One notable accomplishment includes initiating thestart of the first Migrant Worker Poetry Competition that was held in 2014 andthe second and third edition, held in 2015 & 2016.
