Celebrating Places and Memories – a photo contest by SLA

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA), the agency that oversees the management of State Land and Property in Singapore will be opening Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to the public on Labour Day, 1 May 2016. In conjunction with this, SLA will also be launching a photo contest themed “Celebrating Places and Memories”.

A celebration of space and memory at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station in its days of glory.

The contest, for which members of the public are encouraged to share their memories of State properties such as the former railway station, will run from 1 May to 12 June 2016. Intended to create greater awareness and appreciation of State buildings, many of which are rich in heritage and character, there will be two contest categories: Open and Instagram.

Light streaming through a former barrack block at the former Tanglin Barracks at Loewen Road.

The Open category will offer top 3 cash prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, with 10 merit prizes each worth $250. 10 prizes will be awarded for the Instagram of $200 each.

Windows into the past – Old Admiralty House.

Submissions may involve any State property, and participants will be directed to the Land query service on Onemap to confirm that the property belongs to the State. A caption (of 50 words or less) should accompany each submission, stating why the State land or building holds significant meaning to the participant. Bonus points will also be awarded for Open category submissions that are also uploaded on SLA’s one Historical Map app.

Command House at 17 Kheam Hock Road.

Submissions may be made from 1 May onwards. For the Open category, this should be emailed to slacontest@spoc.com.sg. For Instagram, intended entries should include the hashtag #SLAplacesandmemories. Further details on the contest will be available on the SLA contest microsite.

The last E&O Express train to depart from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, seen at Bukit Timah Railway Station in June 2011.

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Open Houses at State Property:

Note: Other than the open house at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (another will be held on Vesak Day, 21 May 2016), SLA will hold open houses at two other properties to allow would be participants of the photo contest to photograph them.

These will be at the very grand former Command House , now the UBS Business University campus at 17 Kheam Hock Road on 7 and 8 May from 10 am to 1 pm, and parts of Old Kallang Airport on 15 May from 10 am to 1 pm.  Pre-registration is required.

Do look out for the announcement and further information that will be posted on the SLA’s Facebook Page.

(For information relating to registration for the Command House open house, kindly visit this link)

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A non-exhaustive list of State Land and Buildings for which submissions are encouraged:
1	Bukit Timah Railway Station including Truss Bridge
2	Alkaff Mansion (10 Telok Blangah Green)
3	The Grandstand (200 Turf Club Road)
4	Johore Battery (27 Cosford Road)
5	Former Bukit Timah Fire Station (260 Upper Bukit Timah Road)
6	Former Admiralty House (345 Old Nelson Road)
7	Old Kallang Airport (19 Old Airport Road)
8	Red Dot Museum (28 Maxwell Road)
9	Seletar Black & White houses (inside former Seletar airbase)
10	Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road, Loewen and Minden Road)
11	Phoenix Park (within Kay Siang and Tanglin Road)
12	Raintr3 Hotel (33 Hendon Road)
13	Dragon Kilns (85 and 97L Lorong Tawas)
14	Bukit Timah Saddle Club (51 Fairways Drive)
15	Tanjong Pagar Railway Station
16	Former Central Police Station (99 Beach Road)
17	Former British Council Branch Office & Training Centre (362 Holland Road)
18	Former Watch Tower (50 Tanjong Rhu Place)
19	Former Da Qiao Primary School (10 Ang Mo Kio Street 54)
20	Community Use Site @ Junction of Tanjong Rhu View & Rhu Cross (popular community use site)
21	Community Use Site along Tuas South Ave 3 (popular community use site)
22	Viaduct @ Commonwealth Ave West (space for street art)
23	Shop houses at 14-38 Orchard Road
24	Former Station HQ of the Royal Air Force Base and Barracks Blocks for RAF (179 & 450 Piccadilly Road)
25	Ascott centre for excellence (2 Anthony Road)
26	BNP Paribus Training Centre (34 & 35 Hendon Road)
27	AXA University Asia Pacific Campus (3 Ladyhill Road)
28	UBS Business University (17 Kheam Hock Road)
29	La Salle College of Arts Campus (9 Winstedt Road)
30	Alexandra Park ( Winchester Rd & Canterbury Rd)
31	Adam Park (preferably 7, 8 & 11 Adam Park)
32	Goodwood Hill (preferably 4A, 5C/D, 15 Goodwood Hill)
33	Tudor Court (123 – 145 Tanglin Road)

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Also at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station:

‘WOMEN: New Portraits’, an exhibition by Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz, seen through the crowd of reporters and photographers in Singapore in 2014.

‘WOMEN: New Portraits’, an exhibition of newly commissioned photographs by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz feature women of outstanding achievement. Commissioned by UBS, the exhibition will be open to the public from 29 April 2016 to 22 May 2016 at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station’s Main Hall, a stop that is part of a 10-city global tour.  Admission is free. Opening hours for the exhibition, including the day of the Open House, is on Monday to Sunday from 10am – 6pm, except for Fridays when the exhibition hours is extended to 8pm. More information is available at www.ubs.com/annieleibovitz.

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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: 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.

Singapore’s northern lights

6.42 am 27 July 2013. The lightening sky at dawn is coloured by the bright lights cast from Sembawang Shipyard at which ship repair work goes on through the night. The two rows of ships and floating docks which can be seen are tied-up along a finger pier which is probably the northern most extension from Singapore. The shipyard, and previously the naval dockyard of the former British naval base which was turned over to Singapore in 1968, has been a feature in the  area since 1938. Under a Land Use Plan released early this year, the yard will be moving out to free the land it now occupies for future development, cutting one of the last links the area has with its past.

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.

Reflections on Marina Bay

For me, the story of Singapore is very a reflection of the way in which what we call Marina Bay today, has been transformed. Once the harbour at the heart of Singapore’s early success, the bay, like it or hate it, is today a magnificent sight to behold – particularly at certain times of the day, and a celebration of the tremendous strides Singapore has taken as a nation since the tumultuous events which surrounded a somewhat reluctantly achieved independence.

Marina Bay seen through the drama of the rain coloured scene at first light (photograph taken at 6.30 am on 2 June 2013).

The so-called bay itself (now a fresh water reservoir) and the developments that have taken root around it, was an afterthought made possible by massive land reclamation works which were started in the early 1970s – initially to provide land for a road which would bypass the already congested city (more information on which can be found in a previous post “The Making of Marina Bay“). While it did result in the disappearance of the old harbour – one of the things which did make Singapore, Singapore, it did provide new land for development. It is perhaps because of this, it became possible to widen the scope for conservation of Singapore’s built heritage, particularly in areas of the old city such as in the Tanjong Pagar / Chinatown area and other areas which had previously been earmarked for redevelopment .

Light after dark (Pulau Ubin)

The light after dark at 7.35 pm on 28 May 2013 on Pulau Ubin, an island off northeast Singapore.

Light after dark

An attempt to capture the beautiful light as darkness falls at 7.42 pm on 19 May 2013 at Lower Peirce Reservoir.

The light in the darkness

Once again, I found myself seeking the peace and joy of the twilight at Lower Peirce Reservoir away from the crowds on a Saturday evening, and have these two photographs taken in the semi-darkness with just enough light in the sky to permit both the sky and the surroundings to be evenly exposed. The photographs were taken at about half an hour after sundown, the first at 7.37 pm and the second at 7.43 pm.