Beneath Pearls Hill
I am interested in documenting the lives of both local Singaporeans and foreigners inhabiting within Pearl Center; Their interactions within the space of Pearl Center and their jobs that contribute to the operation of the privately owned shopping center. The small community of workers live in the side-rooms and storerooms between the 9th and 12th floor of the building’s empty car park. I am particularly drawn towards this community of people because they are locals and legally permitted foreigners living in alternate housing situations. In the context of Singapore today, this is one of the last pockets of alternate living spaces that defy modern living.
Pearls Center situated at 100 Eu Tong Sen street is an old shopping mall with an assortment of stores selling things from second hand cell phones to Buddhist relics. On the 4th floor is the Yangtze theatre infamous for screening R21 films. The mall is mainly visited by older Singaporean men and foreign workers.
The multi-story car park takes up the 5th-11th floors of the building. The 9th-11th floors are always left empty and offer uninterrupted views to the East and West.
Ah Heng works in the basement. He spends his day outside the toilet folding toilet paper and collecting toilet fees. After work he comes up to the 9th floor car park and lays his mattress in the disused lift lobby to rest. He has a flat in Cantonment but prefers to save the trouble of walking home.
Ah Heng setup this altar in the 9th floor car park. Every night, he lights the joss sticks and prays to the laughing Buddha.
Martin first came to Singapore from Malaysia in 1985. During his time in Singapore he has been a security guard and a car park warden; he has worked at the Keppel shipyard doing maintenance and now works as a cleaner in Pearls Center. He lives in a room on the 9th floor which opens up to the car park that is all at once his living room and his balcony.
Kadir serves coffee at the coffee shop on the first floor. He shares the same room with Martin. There is no space to walk around when they layout their mattresses to sleep but they are happy with their situation because lodging and daily expenses are covered by the employer.
Martin is 44 this year. He enjoys working out on alternate days after his job. His normal routine is to push against the metal rack 50 repetitions per set for 3 sets.
Kadir came to Singapore 2 years ago. He flies back to Saba to visit his family once in awhile. When he misses them, he comes up to the 12th floor to siphon wireless internet connection from the residences above to write back to his family.
Sun Qingguo came to Singapore 2 months ago. He cooks at the Chinese restaurant on the first floor along with 6 other Chinese nationals. 4 of them stay in the room next to Martin and Kadir. After work he likes to stand on the billboard extending out from the car park and watch the traffic below.
