Go to a corridor of an HDB flat at around 7am/6pm and catch the lights being switched off/on.
Significance
A friend once told me about her fascination with the punctuality of the rising and setting of the sun in Singapore throughout the year. Though the lights in the HDB corridors are artificial, the time at which they are switched on and off is also dependent on the sun. I realised that this is a feature only lights near the earth’s equator can have.
It could be the outside of your office or the streets in front of your house – a familiar place that holds a space in your memory; a place that is public in context but private in character. Many HDB corridors are uniform in design, with slight differences created as they age. They may be decorated with plants or ornaments, but their walls may never be recoloured. It is a place that is not yours, but only you know its cracks, its spots, its history, and the exact time the lights turn on or off.