“Yes? What is the matter?” she asked.

We went through the usual drill of introducing the Singapore Snaps Project to her and explained our intentions of collecting old photographs from the public to provide them with free digital copies. At that time, I was with a student volunteer going door-to-door on a photo-collection drive in Toa Payoh, the first neighbourhood to kick-off our art and community program.

“You’ll get all your photographs back with a DVD of its digital copies within 1 week at your doorstep,” my student partner chirped.

The lady warmed up to our presence and emerged more confidently from behind her door.

“But I don’t have any old photographs. My parents didn’t take any for me. They never cared,” she said with a straightforward tone. But in her eyes was a tinge of sadness.

Both of us were suddenly thrown off-guard by a gush of empathy. For a short while we did not know what to say. We learned that her name is “Serene” and we explained to her that if she is visiting the neighbourhood library where our booth was based, it would be nice to be able to chat again.

Serene thanked us courteously before she closed her door.

Days later, Serene paid a surprise visit to us at our booth. She brought with her an envelope which she held endearingly close to her chest. Sitting together with her on our seventies-fashioned sofa, she revealed three black-and-white photographs and three large colour photographs from the envelope. The black-and-white photographs were of her as a child with her mother, looking very blissful. The large colour photographs were taken in a studio, of Serene in her convocation gown clutching a certificate and looking accomplished.

Photo credit: Jasmine Chan

“These are the only photographs, I have (of myself) when I was young… I worked very hard to study and get to where I am now, so that I can live independently and prove myself,” she told us.

Even though we set a minimum of twenty photographs for a contribution (any lesser will be a toil on the logistics), we accepted her photographs with appreciation. Serene’s sincerity in supporting our project has certainly moved us. Her situation also made us think about the individuals who never had the luxury of photographs to document their personal histories.

As we met more residents, it turned out that Serene’s story was not a remote one. Another resident had explained to us how he never had any photographs because his family could not afford a camera. There was also an individual, who told us how he had lost his entire life of photographs because an ex-fiance had burnt all of them in a fit of anger. Having those photographs of their lives documented, would mean everything to these people.

Yet, an absence is a presence of meaning – that absence of photographs is also a reflection of one’s personal history.

Photo credit: Pearl Pang

On the other side of the coin, we met many generous contributors with cupboards full of photographs waiting to be digitised. We recalled a contributor handing us a huge luggage worth of her family’s old photographs. We explained to her upfront that there was a limit to what we could accept, but she insisted that we take everything. I still can recall sitting alone in the cold activity room in the top floor of a library, browsing through multiple stacks of photographs from that particular family. Their personal memories whizzed through my head visually. For three hours I went through their photographs, album by album, selecting images that would be valuable to them and the project. While I am certain that these memories are precious to the family, there was also an underlying sense of insignificance of these printed photographs – like clutter to be cleared.

Whilst some residents whom we met at their homes, readily lent us their photographs for the project, there were others who found their personal memories too precious to be placed in the hands of a stranger. Both ways, we understand and respect their choices. After all, photographs mean different things and have different values to everyone.

Written by Samantha Tio
Edited by Tan Wei Keong

For this blog entry, we recollect one of the best days with a group of 12 volunteers joining us at Redhill. The participating volunteers were the staff of the Halogen Foundation, teamed together with students from CHIJ St Theresa’s Convent and Hwa Chong Institution. It was daunting, thinking how to coordinate 6 pairs of volunteers scattered in the neighbourhood, but we knew one thing for sure – that each of their participation will be unique with every resident they meet.

The volunteer experience at Singapore Snaps means a lot to us. We believe, for an individual who shares our vision and comes forward to work with us, every precious minute of their time counts. The best returns of volunteering will always be the learning and interaction in a social sphere where the public gathers to do good. Because of that, before we head out to the neighbourhoods to interact with the local residents, a warming-up briefing session with our volunteer team would be the key to a rewarding volunteer experience.

Each volunteer gets to introduce himself or herself in the quirkiest of ways – by recounting his or her first memory; the first thing you remember consciously. This is SG Snaps’ unique way in getting to know everyone better. This part of the session is always filled with comical moments that even the shyest volunteer would join the conversation and have a good laugh.

Simply because SG Snaps is one project which is interested in excavating memories, being acquainted with our volunteers means learning their memories too. First memories are significant to us, because it is intimate and it signifies the beginning of our consciousness as an individual. We also had the honour of some volunteers bringing their own photo albums to share with the group. Looking through old photographs is one definite way of knowing a person better.

Most certainly, the most important aspect of our briefing session is appreciating and handling the old photographs. We prepare our volunteers to receive the photographs in an array of formats – from the ones pasted into adhesive albums, to the ones inserted in sleeves or even piled up in loose sheets. SG Snaps team member and photographer Samantha Tio, shared with the student volunteers the technicalities of handling photographic prints. She also shared her views on why images created during the era of analog cameras are important and relevant to us even today.

The students started out with great energies, and with positive attitudes they had managed to encounter some amazing finds. During this particular door-to-door collection drive in Redhill, we found our first hand-coloured photographs. For many of the young participants, it was the first time seeing anything like that. Read more about studio portrait trends from the 1950s-80s in our previous post.

What was also remarkable about that photograph was the handwritten message on the back in Chinese characters in calligraphic style, dating and addressing the portrait to a beloved. The photograph was taken and developed in 1967, and was addressed to the sender’s aunt. We later noticed more photographs with such personal messages. It was a trend then, to give a copy of the photo with accompanying text to relatives and friends, just like a postcard.

One of our youngest volunteer, Edison recounts how he was so delighted when an elderly resident had invited his group into his house. He described the house to be filled with incredible antiques and the series of portraits that he had kindly contributed for the project seemed to be dated to the early 20th century.

Unfortunately not all the students managed to interest a resident to participate and contribute old photographs. Rejection is part of this learning process and it pushes us beyond of our comfort zones, humbling and motivating us continuously. We truly hope our volunteering students had learned beyond the textbooks, and benefited from their unconventional afternoon with Singapore Snaps.

Written by Samantha Tio

Edited by Tan Wei Keong

Photographs by Khee Shi Hui

An image of the attap huts at Redhill, where a fire broke out in 1963. Photo: National Archives of Singapore

Old legend aside, Redhill today continues to prove itself as “legendary” in our Singapore Snaps collection drive. Here are four reasons why:

1. The oldest flats in Redhill are the last of the “chek lau” (or seven storey flats in hokkien) owned by the Housing Development Board.

A child at a playground with the “chek lau” flats in the background. Photo: Lim Poh Kwan

Built in 1955, these low-rise flats give Redhill a nostalgic serenity that you can only find in the old estates. The flats are well-spaced and you can see beautiful sunlight streaming in the daytime.

Whilst visiting the residents there, we found out that the flats along Redhill Close are due for the Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme by 2017. In the face of demolition, a few of the apartments there are now empty. Even the Taoist temple Chin Lin Keng (Zhen Ren Gong in Mandarin) in the vicinity is due for redevelopment.

A view from inside an apartment on the top floor of a “chek lau” flat in Redhill. In this photo, you can see the old Housing Development Board Headquarters Building, which used to be located at Bukit Merah Central. Photo: Cher Su Hoon

Recently, there had been a call for conservation following the flats of the Singapore Improvement Trust in Tiong Bahru. But with the soaring value of the government housing in neighborhoods like Redhill that are closest to the city areas, you cannot fault anybody for being skeptical. In a country that puts pragmatism in the forefront of any decision-making, nostalgic poetics of the past is a luxury that we cannot afford.

2. The Redhill Hawker Centre is famed for its rich hawker heritage (and other things).

Teochew satay beehoon, hainanese curry rice, fried carrot cake and chicken rice are amongst the famed must-try-dishes at Redhill Hawker Centre. Even the fried chicken wings had our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong standing in line for half an hour.

“Qing Tian” dessert stall when it first opened at Redhill Hawker Centre in the 1960s. Photo: Lim Poh Kwan

If you remember the social media furor on that episode, PM Lee had posted an image of a lucky cat from one of the dessert stalls. As it turned out two weeks later, we had stumbled upon and met Mdm Lim who is the owner of the dessert stall. She contributed some of her old photographs that same stall since it first opened in the 1970s. We will share more on her story in a later entry. Keep a lookout for it!

3. Gangsters!

There are barely any written records, but Redhill is infamous for being the den for the triads.

We had met an elderly Eurasian man, Michael, in his 90s who recalled serving as a policeman in the late 1940s. “I had to catch all the gangsters over there,” said Michael, pointing in the direction of Bukit Merah Central from his flat along Redhill Close. “They were all very fierce, but we had to catch all of them,” he said.

Some residents recalled finding drug users shooting up in the stairwells, while others talked about the fights that happened at the void decks. Imagine the level of danger there was with gangsters in those days. But if you were to visit Redhill on Friday evenings, you would find remnants of the neighbourhood’s gangster past. The neighbourhood police still makes its rounds regularly, whilst groups of merry-makers toast boisterous and drunken cheers over bottles of tiger beer and “tzi char” (local hawker stalls selling restaurant-style Chinese dishes) delicacies.

4. Home to many elderly.

Samsui women having their meal and resting from their back-breaking jobs at the construction site in the 1950s. Photo: National Archives of Singapore

Redhill is home to a growing population of elderly. Some of the elderly living here, used to be the Samsui women whose work in Singapore’s early building industry remains one of the most iconic in the country’s history.

In the early 70s, the government had built several flats catered for the elderly and the poor. These single-room flats are located at Bukit Merah View, along Henderson Road. Located at the void decks are several social service organisations which cater to the community.

We chatted with the many elderly residents who live alone, while in the neighbourhood. Some of them would frequent the centers at the void deck for craft sessions and Wii (a wireless game console) games, whilst others would just keep to themselves. At times, we met a household of entire families living in the cramped quarters. Witnessing life in these single room rental flats prods us to think about how an SG50 project celebrates the progress that Singapore has achieved, and recognise the people that may have been left behind.

Written by Samantha Tio
Edited by Tan Wei Keong