ILLUMI

NATIONI L LUM I–NAT IONSTORIES OF PEOPLE WHO KEEP THIS NAT ION I L LUMINATED 24/7

abou t t h e campa ign

Strangers of the Night was conceptualised by four students - Ng Yuin Yi, Charissa Kow, Cheryl Teng and Dipshikha Ghosh from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University as part of their public awareness and informational campaign.

In collaboration with the Singapore Kindness Movement, National Youth Council and The Hidden Good, the campaign seeks to champion the appreciation of night shift workers, and to inject graciousness into Singapore’s society.

The team heads out to night shift spots such as food establishments and hospitals regularly to document the other side of Singapore that is normally forgotten by the public. They have collected more than 20 photo and video stories that provide insights into the nature of working in the night shift. These stories are published in their Facebook Community Group, which have amassed more than 1,200 followers. From wet market aunties to Night Rider bus drivers, the stories aim to raise awareness of this group of Singaporeans who silently toil through the night.

t h e pho tog raphe r

I started experimenting in street photography about 3 years ago. Even then, I have never actually approached the people that I shoot. But being part of Strangers of the Night allowed me to take the extra step. It gave me a opportunity to interact with these night shift workers who have been keeping Singapore illuminated, while we are sleeping.

When you take an interest in someone's lives, you will be surprised to see how much they are willing to share. Many of these night shift workers' stories have impacted me in different ways — stories about their families, their lifestyles, their work, and themselves. It's never easy to start a conversation with a stranger, but you never know, you might end up with a new friend.

Che r y l Teng

Dig i t a l Con t en t P roduce r a t S t r ange r s o f t h e N igh t

@che r y lm ia on I n s t ag ram

s pe c i a l t hank sStrangers of the Night would like to thank the following partners for making this photo exhibition possible:

– Desiree, Lincoln and team at Ministry of Health Holdings– Jun Xiang from National University Hospital– Jimmy, Ming Cheng, Irfan and Andy from Singapore Police Force– Lydia, Yan Ting, Daphne, Jean and Kirstie from SMRT– Francis and Ah Chong from Swee Choon– Dr William Wan, Michelle and Rachel from Singapore Kindness Movement– Jiezhen, Zul, Frank and team from The Hidden Good

After my six hour shift here, I'm going home to rest before my morning shift at a coffee shop at Bendemeer. I'm a workaholic so I work two shifts every day.So long already, of course I'm used to it. So not tiring.

Good thing about working two part time jobs is that I have time to go on holiday and get enough rest. Also, the variety of work keeps me interested and happy.

But it also means I don't have much time for anything else la. I have kids. But I don't really spend time with them, they live with their godmother. It's okay, they are good and one of them in university already.

Breakfast ah? Don't have la. I just eat whenever I can. I'm used to it already.

– Yen Fong, Swee Choon Service Crew

t h e s e r ve r sMy mother has been working at the wet market for more than 30 years. Other than the first day of Chinese New Year, her store is always open for business. She normally starts work at 3am and only gets off work ranging from 8pm to 1.30am.

Our interactions at home are rather limited, it's mostly about our general well-being. When I talk to her while helping out at the store, the feeling is just different and I help out because I want to know her better.

There's no end to this business but this job has to be done, there's a need for someone to do it.

– Zheng Yang, son of Mdm Cheng, Wet Market Beancurd Seller

t h e gua rd ian s

I enjoy the night shift because it allows me to see a very different Singapore from what the general public sees in the day. Criminals mostly strike at night. It gives us a sense of satisfaction knowing our presence helps the residents to sleep soundly and not worry about their family members staying out late at night.

A usual night routine would involve drawing of policing equipment, attending a briefing before hitting the streets in our patrol car. We would then conduct high visibility patrols in our sector. High visibility patrols are integral as they deter criminals from acting.

After my night shift, I enjoy taking the MRT home looking at ordinary citizens starting their day. Knowing that these people were safe because we are at work, I can proudly smile and say "I did my part”.

– Sgt Al-Ba’ith, Ground Response Force

The most common perception about policemen is that they are fierce, unfriendly and hostile. That's not true at all. We want to build stronger bonds with the community so that they would not hesitate to approach us should the need arises. Ultimately, gaining the support and confidence from the public would assist us greatly in our operations.

I get the greatest sense of satisfaction when members of public appreciate our efforts and hard work. There was once I was on my night shift when someone came up to me and thank me for staying up to keep the streets safe – such a simple gesture actually means a lot to me.

– W/Sgt Kiki Yuen, Ground Response Force

"I have worked as a security guard at Mustafa in the night shift for 3 years.Night shift is very hard because even if you sleep for six hours a day also not enough. The hours are ‘tombalek’ so it’s different. In the day, you sleep then wake up then sleep again, it’s not very good. Maybe cause very noisy and in the day the weather very hot. That’s why I feel tired, normal la.

But night shift also good la. After 2 – 3 am, it’s not very crowded here and time passes quite quickly. Now I work night shift, I got time to run my household errands, pay my bills and go to the supermarket in the morning. No queue, very good. If I work in the day, no time to do all these."

– Mdm Salinah Maris, 47, Security Guard

We patrol the streets, conduct vertical policing at HDB blocks - do physical checks on units that are prone to loan shark harassments and conduct road blocks. As night falls, it becomes quiet and there will be opportunities to take advantage of the quietness to commit crime. As such, it will be a Police officer’s top priority to deter these crimes from happening. Policing is a career which I’ve dreamt of since I was in Primary School. Coupled with the encouragement from my late father, I decided to pursue my dream.I love spending my day off with my wife. We cycle around Marina Barrage, watch movies and do simple things like relaxing together or cooking at home.

– SGT Rahmat, Community Policing Unit

I joined SPF in 2003 after my A Levels. I have been in the force for 13 years. Currently, I am with the Community Policing Unit at Rochor NPC. Since young, I enjoyed learning about law and that inspired me to be a policewoman. I like helping others. It gives me a sense of satisfaction when I have helped someone. In this profession, I get to help a lot of people from different walks of life.

I am a new mother. My husband does shift work as well, so sometimes our schedules will clash. But we try to work it out so that we can still have some family time with each other and our child.

– W/SSGT Rajina, Community Policing Unit

I have been working in Singapore for eight years now. Now I do construction at roadside. I also work in tunnels and tracks. We usually start around midnight and have to wrap up by 5am before the sun comes up. It's not easy. My wife and parents are back in Bangladesh. I have not seen them in a long time. But I had never dreamt that I can be part of such big projects. We don't have anything like this back home. I feel proud. Feels like I'm part of something bigger.

– Mr Shaiful Obee, 30, Construction Worker

t h e bu i l de r s

My job is to collect data of the roads every night. I stay outside most of the time. I also work in the day, but I prefer working in night time. Cooler weather, no hot sun. Very good. At night also can do more work because not as many people and cars. The job is easier to do.

–- Mr Selvaraj, 36, Land Survey Technician

t h e move r s

During my first year here in Singapore, I was still single. One year later, I got married. So things changed. Being alone was not a problem because nobody depended on me. Now, I have a wife, and a son born on 26 December last year.

I think most wives expect their husbands to be with them at night, right? I really appreciate my wife. For the past two years, she never grumbled and complained about my job, she understands my situation.

If I work the morning shift in Singapore, I would have to leave home at 3.30am in the morning and will only be back at 9pm. I will spend almost 4 hours on the road. I still cannot spend time with her. At least when I work the night shift, I end work at 6am, and within one hour I can reach home. My wife will be awake by then and we will eat breakfast together and she will share with me about our baby boy and what happened when I was away.

– Mr Arasu, 30, Night Garage Supervisor

I am a Malaysian, and my family lives in Kuala Lumpur. I stay alone in Johor Bahru so I can be on time for work at SMRT. I used to be a bus captain who worked in the day - but now I’m a depot assistant working at night.

The first month after I started work was very difficult. My job involves scheduling bus operations for the next day. It is not easy to work with more than 600 drivers with different kinds of work experience.

I have four children. One is currently studying Accounting, and the other, Civil Engineering. The two younger ones always ask their mother when I will be back. Working the night shift is a sacrifice. I work hard to be a good example for my kids and family.

– Mr Anbarasan, 50, Depot Assistant

A starter’s job has three shifts- morning, afternoon and night. 3 years ago, I applied to work the night shift in order to take care of my mom in the day. She isn’t sick, but she’s ageing with reduced mobility. She normally wakes up around 7am and since my shift is from 10.30pm to 6am, I will reach home at 7.30am with breakfast for her. I will ensure that she’s doing okay before I head back home to sleep. If she has medical check-ups, I will bring her to the doctor. My sister helps to take care of my mom as well and after her morning shift, she will come back around noon to settle her lunch.

My job is definitely important because there needs to be someone who completes the work during the night shift so that the person-in-charge for the morning shift would be able to continue seamlessly without any problems. Everything here is team-based and all of us are important because everyone has their own share of work to be completed such as scheduling, reports etc.

– Mr Toh, 39, Starter

As a senior pump attendant, my responsibility is to ensure that we have enough pump attendants every night. We will make sure that all buses have refilled their tanks before the next day’s operations. Every pumping station has an attendant.

Sometimes, the work can be tiring. I’m glad that I have great colleagues, supervisors and managers whom I can work with happily and comfortably. We have a very strong bond between all our team members.

– Mr Mustafah, 50, Senior Pump Attendant

"I’m a vampire, I only come out at night. The night shift is easier to drive, less traffic so when we cruise along the roads, the consumption is less. I drive night shift can make more also, at least $30 – $50 more a day. I work from 5pm-6am and what do i do in the day? Vampire what, sleep lah! Mealtimes are also a matter of adjusting la. Hungry, just eat lor.

Family time? What to do? These are sacrifices for livelihood lor. Every job has their pros and cons, if have to worry about family time, then all the taxi men have to stay single already. For me, I'm 55 already, but my kids still very young. My daughter's 13, son 10. So obligations lor.

Sometimes morning long distance rides, I will try to create conversations with passengers lor, then not so bored also. In our line, we get to meet all sorts of people. I got customers that make me drive around then refuse to pay. But what to do? You get the good, the bad, the ugly."

– Mr Yeo, 55, Taxi Driver

a nd shake r s

My family has been in the newspaper business for around 11 years. I work 365 days a year, from 2am to 7am. Together with my husband and mother-in-law, we sort through and deliver an average of 900 sets of newspapers to neighborhood shops and households in Bedok.

We start our day by inserting the supplements into the main paper after Singapore Press Holdings deliver the newspapers to us. After that, my husband goes off to deliver the papers while I head home and send my children to school. I will sleep till it's time for me to pick the children up from school. The night schedule works for me and my family. It's been 11 years already, it's okay.

– Mdm Selvi, 37, Newspaper Vendor

I’ve worked in the night shift for two years already. I work 13 hours a day, from 9pm to 10am. True lah, the lack of sleep is difficult, especially at our age. I’m 69. I can feel the tiredness and sleepiness. Sometimes so tired, I will fall asleep on the train and miss my stop. The youngsters are different. They are energetic and very active; it’s very hard for me to catch up with them.

But it’s my livelihood and I’m happy that I can still work and never get sick. Actually, funny story, last time I work in the office, every month MC two, three times, but now I work at night very seldom fall sick!

There are so many passengers, so many characters. It’s interesting to work at night because the type of people is different from day time.

– Mr. Haron, 69, Airport Porter

g ue s t pho tog raphe r

Ong Jun X iang

The idea to photograph nurses started in 2010 when I took portraits of my classmates in their uniforms. Back then, we were young student nurses, enthusiastic and eager to step into the workforce. I intended to take their portraits after three years of working experience to chronicle their stories. So, in 2014, I took out my camera and tracked them down. As we were all working in different hospitals across a variety of disciplines, this proved to be a challenge. Besides, as we all work shift hours, finding the time to meet one another was not easy! I believe every nurse has a story to tell and I want to help them do that with my pictures. I want to put a name and face to nurses, these strangers of the night who care for you while the rest of Singapore sleeps. These champions of care, many of whom you pass by on the street and in the MRT on your way home or to a party on the weekend. Their day begins just as your day ends. This series of portraits are of my fellow nurse colleagues who continue to inspire me with their dedication to provide the best care to their patients. As I met up with them one by one over the years, taking their pictures and listening to their stories…I found myself being drawn to speak with more nurses and to gather their stories. The nursing profession has a long history which goes back 130 years in Singapore and I am grateful to be part of a collective of immensely skilled professionals who work tirelessly and selflessly to care for a nation. Every nurse I photographed shared his/her perspective and challenges of being a nurse, the heartbreak of losing a patient and the joy of seeing our patients get well and go home to their families. And how two simple words make all the difference in our long workdays…and nights: Thank you.

S ta f f Nu r se , Paed ia t r i c I n t en s i v e Ca re Un i t , Na t i ona l Un i ve r s i t y Hosp i t a l

Pho tog raphe r, @bea rbea r z on I n s t ag ram

Check out our Facebook Group for the full series! (facebook.com/groups/strangersofthenightsg)

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