The joy of light

If you are looking for something to light up the long long weekend, why not take in the sights of the last few days of the Ramadan bazaar to soak in the atmosphere of Kampung Gelam. The bazaar does end this Sunday (1 May 2022), but what you will be able to also see this weekend is a delightful light installation on the lawn of the Malay Heritage Centre, Rainbow Connection II.

Conceptualised by local artist Lee Yun Qin and co-created with members of the community, the effort is presented by the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) in collaboration with Brighton Connection, a social service agency. Featuring 500 suspended solar light modules, each made from upcycled cookie containers, uniquely and colourfully decorated, the installation has its moment of magic as it comes to life in as day turns into night just as the strains of the azan — the Muslim call to prayer — fills the air with a sense of calm and peace.

The light modules of Rainbow Connection II, are decorated in two themes: “In the Woods” and “In the Deep” and lights up the lawn from 29 April to 29 May 2022, after which it will travel to MacPherson estate and Somerset Youth Park. The MHC’s grounds will remain open (Tuesdays to Sundays) until 9 pm during the period.

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Light after dark, Lower Peirce Reservoir

7.50 pm 7 June 2014, a long exposure at twilight, taken at Lower Peirce Reservoir.

Light after dark: Twilight falls on West Hill

7.44 pm, Sunday 23 March 2014. Night falls on an area around where West Hill had once stood, at  the end of extremely hot day in Singapore.

The now forgotten West Hill was a relatively high point that rose above the swampy ground around Sungei Sembawang. It had lent its name to West Hill Village – a village that grew around the south-eastern fringes of the huge naval base that once dominated Singapore’s northern coast. The village that was in more recent times known to us as Chong Pang Village in which names of schools such as West Hill School and Si San (西山 – West Hill in Chinese)Public School served to remind us of the village’s original name. There is little that remains of this part of the area’s past and much of the area is now dominated by the public housing estate that has come up around the Sembawang area.

Light after dark: The Pier @ Peirce

Capturing the cloud painted twilight, 7.44 pm 21 December 2013, Lower Peirce Reservoir.

Light after dark (Lower Peirce on the rocks)

Twilight, 7.33 pm 21 September 2013.

Light after dark (The West End)

A view along the Straits of Johor, in the area where the Malaysian Navy had once maintained a base which served as their main base until 1979, some 15 years following the separation of Singapore from Malaysia. The view, taken at 7.41 pm on 25 August 2013, is one taken across what would have been the west end of the huge British naval base towards what would have been Rotherham Gate to the left of the picture, the Causeway in the middle and Johor Bahru in Malaysia to the right. The jetty seen in the photograph is the Shell or Woodlands Jetty which is still in use. The area is one I made a first acquaintance with back in the early 1970s, after the area had been opened up following the withdrawal of British forces in 1971. That was when the since demolished derelict Ruthenia Oiling Jetty, served as one of two places along Singapore’s northern coastline to which my father would take me to drop crab nets from. The area has since been remade and is now referred to as the Woodlands Waterfront.

Light after dark (Lower Peirce Reservoir)

Capturing the beautiful light after darkness has fallen, this time at 7.43 pm on 7 August 2013 at Lower Peirce Reservoir …

Light after Dark (The lookout point)

A view from the lookout point along one of the more scenic roads in Singapore, Mandai Road at 7.43 pm on 4 August 2013. The view is one in which the foreground is partially illuminated by the street lamps, with the rest of what’s in the picture, lit by ambient light, captured through a fairly long exposure. The lookout point, provides some picturesque views of Upper Seletar Reservoir, and is one of my favourite scenic spots in SIngapore, having first taken in the views at the end of the 1960s.

Light after dark (Upper Seletar Reservoir)

Light after dark at 7.44 and 7.50 pm on 7 July 2013 taken at Upper Seletar Reservoir.