About Cai Yinzhou

Yinzhou started Backalley Barbers in 2014 when he found out his migrant worker friend could not afford a basic haircut. To date, he and his team have given thousands of haircuts and the initiative has really grown to be much more than a simple haircutting service. It is now really about building an inclusive community and creating opportunities for the stories of migrant workers and other marginalized communities in Geylang to be shared with other Singaporeans. In this tour, Yinzhou will take us through Geylang’s lorongs after hours and these communities will relay their lived experiences in Geylang. He hopes the tour will bring about a more nuanced understanding of Geylang and help participants realise that there is much more than meets the eye to this fabled red-light district.

About Citizen Adventures

Citizen Adventures was started by social activist Cai Yinzhou with the aim of challenging the stereotypes and narratives often associated with the red-light district he was raised in. Over the years Yinzhou befriended migrant workers as part of his everyday routine. Learning about some of their needs, he started initiatives such as Back Alley Barbers which gives free haircuts to migrant workers.

Citizen Adventures describes itself as an organisation which designs experiences to help Singaporeans understand neighbourhoods as ecosystems formed through the interactions between people, memories, infrastructure, policy and discourse. The organisation currently offers tours of Geylang and Dakota Crescent that unpack the social issues neighbourhoods face.