Tag: Pearl Bank Apartments

On meaning

“Why everything also need meaning?” asked a friend the other day.

Somehow my insistence on creations with meaning does not go down very well with a lot of people, and a very big reasons is it stifles the creative process. That aside, I think even if you don’t set out to create something with a meaning in mind (after all it is meaning not how it is derived that I am stressing here), being able to explain your creation and its relevance beyond your own world is something I deeply admire in works. Moreover, being able to show your creation came through a thoughtful process really shows how critical and meticulous you are.

The fate of Pearl Bank Apartments?

This was one photo that I took and actually planned for it. It is a multiple-exposure made up of cranes from the construction of new buildings near Outram and in opposition, is Pearl Bank Apartments. The latter was at one time Singapore’s tallest residential building when it was completed in 1976 and today oddly stands alone opposite Outram MRT station. Late last year, the site that the locally-design horse-shoe shape building sits on was put up for en-bloc sale and it meant the building would likely be demolished too. I’m not sure what is the latest update on its status, but like all things in Singapore, I’m not optimistic it will outlast my time. There are various architecture and heritage merits to why this building should be preserved and you can find out about them just by googling. Perhaps more importantly, Pearl Bank Apartments represents a lag in preservation policy as most things that are preserved currently do not go beyond the date of Singapore’s independence.

It seems our history after independence is still very much up in the air, awaiting the dust to settle.

On another note about photos, here is a shameless plug for a friend’s photo site, some nice potraits there. Also, I’m keen in submitting my photos for the 2nd Singapore young Photographer Award 2008. If I’m not wrong, when I was first introduced to film photography with a bag of film as a birthday present, I was also given a form for the inaugural competition, but I felt I was too new. This time around, I think I actually have some photos that I’ll like to share. I will give it some thought.