You might walk past a field today, only to
discover barricades around it tomorrow and that the land will be built into a
new condominium in the next year or so. Sometimes older buildings will be
demolished to make way for the new, especially if the commercial value of that
land trumps its heritage and cultural value. The sounds of bulldozers and
cranes have become the backing track to areas close to the heartlands,
alongside the bird calls and cars trying to park downstairs a HDB block.
Or sometimes, the KPIs that dictate almost all
our economic decisions in this country cause buildings to have an undetermined
fate.
Tampines Junior College is no exception to
this rule.
In April 2017, eight local Junior Colleges
will be merged into four instead. This decision was made due to the dip in
annual student intake, which did not come as much of a surprise since the
country’s birth rate has been consistently falling over the years.
Despite the logistics and the sense it may
make to merge the schools, with Singapore land a constant scarcity right from
the beginning, buildings are more than just brick and mortar. These places hold
sentimental value for the people who have spent years making memories in every
corner.
Merged is an interactive web documentary on Tampines
Junior College’s last days on campus, before they merge with Meridian Junior
College. The bite-sized videos are interspersed between texts and images of the
school.
Besides capturing the facades of the school itself,
this documentary also dives deep into the people that have made the school what
it is today—the students, teachers and the various staff of all capacities.
Through the stories and moments shared on
camera, Merged.sg becomes a microsite of a collective storybank of what
Tampines Junior College means to those it has touched. Besides the
sentimentality, it also sheds light on the implications of what a merger
entails—loss of jobs, and a change in physical landscape and the nature of the
neighbourhood it is a part of.
Informative and candid, the documentary
captures the honesty of its interview subjects well and the familiarity in each
of their demeanours (friendly ban mian stall owner, anybody?) makes it easy to
find yourself a part of the narrative being shared, and empathising.
I appreciate that some perspectives being
shared are not ones that we tend to think of, and may very well take for
granted. For example, a student shares about why he chose Tampines Junior
College and that it has been his dream to attend it, as the first JC student in
his family. It made me wonder how accessible a junior college education really
is, and how many families may factor in convenience before choosing to send
their child there.
And if convenience is a priority for some,
then what exactly is Tampines losing besides a landmark and sense of identity
of over 30 years?
The interactive documentary begs its audience
to take part in this journey to uncovering and asking questions, instead of
just being a passive viewer. Through scrolling and clicking links that
lead you to different parts of the school, I become a visitor of the school and
somehow, learn the little things that make me feel like an insider.
That this merger has something to do with me,
and I am a part of its history.
After all, it is all in the small details and
these are the things that we tend to miss the most. Some buildings may be
demolished, but some memories stay with us for a lifetime.
Merged was featured in The Future of Our Pasts Festival (TFOOPFest), which included two panel discussions and an exhibition. The documentary can be accessed at this link:
Written by Dawn Teo