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the locals are perfectly posed

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the locals are perfectly posed

24th Feb 2020

Images by Marc Nair and Daniel Tan
Text by Marc Nair


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Call it Saturday afternoon ennui in Singapore.

Call it a collision between the commons of public space and the heavily made-up streets of Chinatown, carefully signposted and manicured for the tourist gaze.

Here, the locals are lined up like extras in a film set, a perfect foil for the busloads of tourists who are disgorged beside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and then proceed to wander around the glorious mixed-use amalgamation of architecture that defines Chinatown.

Walking around with our cameras, we are taken by how well arranged the locals are, almost as if they are a kind of living tableau.

With HDB blocks connected to the food centre and a bevy of de facto souvenir streets, Chinatown is every tourist’s humid dream.

Some gaze into the far distance while others subconsciously strike a quasi-bitter pose. Most are just doing their thing. Perhaps this is still the draw of Chinatown; its people.

And what happens when this generation slips away? Will a new generation take over the chess tables, day drink in cool corners or read newspapers outdoors on warm afternoons?