The Time Our Island Nation Stood Still

Everyday scenes of Singapore in extraordinary times that blend fashion and art, depicting a nation in battle against an invisible enemy.

- Kenneth Goh

It’s Saturday, 4 April 2020. In three days, Singapore will go into what the government terms “circuit breaker” mode—essentially a soft lockdown—to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission in the community. In essence, it’s a closure of everything in the Lion City bar essential services, healthcare and takeaway services. It’s a Singapore never seen or experienced by anyone before.

We are a 24/7 city that never sleeps—the New York of Asia. Then suddenly, like the Big Apple, the Little Red Dot is effectively shutting down. What emerges on 1 June—after nearly two months at home for most of our population—will be a new norm, a completely different city to the one we leave behind when we walk out of our workplaces and head back to our abodes on the eve of the circuit breaker.