2019 In Pictures – I started the year romanticising photojournalism, only to realise the tough realities of managing the stress of finding the best frames and learning to empathise with my newsmakers.
There’s still lots to learn – here are some of my favourite moments this year!
There is no end to the hustle and bustle in Little India, but electric-fan repairman Peter Chou still finds the time to shoot the breeze with Bangladeshi construction worker Lotif Sikder. The duo have become firm friends since Mr Chou sold a bicycle to Mr Lotif and now enjoy a chat and coffee on Sunday afternoons despite a 30-year age gap ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
Plant-loving neighbour causing obstruction and fire hazard with 'jungle house', says Neighbours. Rows of leafy plants are crammed pot to pot in the common space in front of the eighth-floor unit at Block 101 Pasir Ris Street 6 ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
Mounting Car Troubles – A BMW driven by an elderly woman ended up on two other cars in a carpark next to Wheelock Place at about 4pm on June 13. No injury was reported. ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
A fire broke out on May 16 at a two-storey shophouse in Little India, sending thick grey smoke into the air around it. Mr Peter Lim, 72, said he rushed out in a panic and was out of the house before he realised he had forgotten his dog, Lucky. He told ST that the police rescued the Pomeranian, his companion of 10 years, when they went into the house to check for occupants ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
The extent of the damage caused by the fire that broke out on May 16 at a two-storey shophouse in Little India ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
Artist Toby Tan (second from left) turned a run-down basketball court in Bishan into an art piece to spur residents to reflect on the meaning of the town's name. The name Bishan comes from its beginnings as a Chinese cemetery known as Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, which means "pavilions on the jade hills" ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
A crowd of more than 800 people gathered at the Kebun Baru Spring Amphitheater in Ang Mo Kio to witness the Annular Solar Eclipse on Dec 26 ©Shintaro Tay.
A massive fire broke out in a Jurong industrial area raged for more than two hours and triggered loud explosions on June 21, killing one and leaving two people injured. The fire at 43 Jalan Buroh, which involved hundreds of highly flammable liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders of various sizes, was described by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) as the largest LPG fire it had to combat ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
St Andrew’s Junior College student Ahmad Yusuf Anis embraces his mother after the school team scored a 4-1 win against Victoria Junior College in the Schools National A Division boys' football final on May 17 © Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
St Andrew’s Junior College students cheering their school team after a 4-1 win against Victoria Junior College in the Schools National A Division boys' football final on May 17 ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, flanked by Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing (left) and East Coast GRC MP Lim Swee Say, chatting with residents during a ministerial walkabout at The Marketplace @ 58 on July 27. ©Shintaro Tay/The Straits Times.
A large number of Muslim migrant workers are seen in the posture of prayer during the Maghrib prayer at a make-shift prayer location on a grass patch and gravel walkway in Little India on June 9 ©Shintaro Tay.
Migrant workers share a moment of embrace at a corner of Little India on June 9 ©Shintaro Tay.
Ms Susanna, whose husband and two-year-old son Darrell had gone missing, is pictured clinging to her son's pillow that she hugs to sleep every night, hoping that he will return. While the police had informed her both father and son had been found, the 34-year-old housewife said that they had not returned home since they left after an argument on July 2 ©Shintaro Tay/The New Paper.
