| There are some places in sunny Singapore that are pretty damn important in a historical context, but as we all know, the slow decay of time takes its toll on the modern relevance of any overhyped, well-advertised locale. It’s quite a lot like photographic equipment really. The Nikon D1, when it came out, was such a monumental achievement, signifying the start of Nikon’s development in DSLRs, without having to drag the coffin of Kodak along with the ride. But would you buy a D1 now? Or a D1X for that matter, what with their once-triumphant 5.3-megapixel sensor and the huge boost to your fragile ego when you held one? This brings me back to the topic. A location, like say Little India, would be a hell of a good place to visit if you lived twenty years ago, back when Mustafa Centre drew in the crowds and Ngee Ann City was still a burial ground. Obsolescence of cultural icons is a bit like that of digital technology. Yes, there’s still the timelessness of that swelling nostalgia and fading reminiscence in old stuff, but for everything else, there’s a better alternative. When I was still a boy, my parents drove me through Little India and I would see the immediate qualities of the place. Besides the funny scent in the air, there’s that very unique scene of masses of people thronging the narrow streets, unable to differentiate a road from a pedestrian walkway. People would simply lie down on wide empty fields of grass in the sun or under the moon, or wander about with seemingly no purpose at all. That was distinctive of Little India back then.
Nowadays though, things have changed. If you go there right now, at this very instant, I don’t think you’ll see the same scene anymore. Roads have been widened to allow more cars to pass through. That means that people wouldn't stand on the middle of the road so as to avoid getting mowed down by BMWs and Audis. People no longer lie down on the soft grass, because there isn’t any to speak of. Hotels are being built and construction equipment ply the roadsides. Even the very nostalgic Tekka Market is being renovated for modernisation. The biggest change is that there’re less people about. Most of the time it’s just tourists tricked by the Tourism Board to “come and experience the authentic Indian culture in Little India.” It’s atrocious. If I go there, it’s because I want to buy something cheap and/or unique, or that I want to look at the hordes of people massing the streets every night. Eight years ago I bought my now-obsolete Sony F717 from Mustafa Centre, because they had a very attractive price and a very friendly customer service. Now, I’d rather go to Peninsula Plaza or Funan Mall for instant equipment gratification. My point is this. Either draw in the crowds with proper renovation and modernisation campaigns, like what has been done to Chinatown, or leave it alone and let it progress without the meddling hand-of-god government. It’s not relevant anymore, and we have the LTA and STB to thank for that. Just look at the poll I set on the right. You’d rather pay about a zillion dollars to photograph the International Space Station than take an MRT and visit our own heritage backyard for 55 cents. If you think about it, there really are only three reasons why anyone would want to go to Little India. For everything else, there’s Orchard Road. One, you’re a foreigner, eager to discover the uniqueness of Little India, and you leave believing that you did. Two, you want good food. Xing Quan and I have walked the place to death, and we both agree they serve pretty good (and cheap) Teh Tarik. And I know Chee Howe had a jolly great time with his dosai the last time he went there. Food is always the exception, because it can be anywhere. Three, you’re a photographer. Which includes all of us, really. Every Singaporean who’s a photographer makes it a point to either visit Chinatown or Little India or both for a little bit of street shooting. It’s like a rite-of-passage, the journey-of-discovery, the photographique de rigueur, whatever you may want to call it. And this leads me nicely to last Saturday, the 14th of March, when I went to Little India with some J1s and some J2s for the purposes of the third reason. Cultural icons like Little India aren’t Nikon D1s. They are not there to be bettered by upgrades and renovation, because they will become obsolete. To make a location with such a rich heritage really pop, it must be treated as if it is a good ol’ film camera, back in the days of titanium shutters and film advance levers.
Like the Nikon FM2n for instance. Everybody recognizes that it is obsolete when you place it in the technological rat race, but the FM2n isn’t meant to be some technological marvel which can hold its own against the D300s or the D3Xes, because it is irrelevant in that regard. It remains one of the most popular cameras ever made, and people still do buy them, even now. It is an ageless classic, a timeless romance, a definitive camera with a place in history.
It simply stood the test of time.
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