The year through the eyes of ST photographers

A look at some of the most memorable and inspiring moments of the year captured by the newsroom's photojournalists.

Updated

Published

Dec 23, 2016, 07:32 PM

Mr Cheong Yock Wing (front left), and his friend, Mr Simon Peter (behind Mr Cheong), parading their decorated electric bicycles alongside other performers from People’s Association to promote Chingay during Pedestrian Night in Orchard Road on Jan 2, 2016. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Eighteen swimmers aged between 15 and 60 had a splashing good time as they swam 4km from Lazarus Island – an offshore island south of Singapore – to Sentosa’s Siloso Beach on Jan 23, 2016. The swim helped to raise $55,000 for eldercare facilities Lions Home for the Elders and Lions Befrienders. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Black Eagles Aerobatic Team, by the Republic of Korea Air Force. Preview of aerial display at Singapore Airshow 2016 on Feb 14, 2016. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Para-swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, 24, receiving her Straits Times Athlete of the Year award from Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu at a ceremony held at the Raffles City Convention Centre on Feb 26, 2016. The world record-breaker and Asean Para Games champion edged out Shayna Ng (bowling), Shanti Pereira (athletics), Khairul Anwar (para-football) and 2014 winner Joseph Schooling (swimming) to become the second para-athlete after equestrian Laurentia Tan (2012) to win the annual award. ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN

Performers from Kyoto doing a traditional duet dance for shoppers at Takashimaya department store on Feb 27, 2016, as part of the Kyoto Sakura celebration. The dancers are known as geiko (left) and maiko, as geishas are known in Kyoto. The maiko is an apprentice geiko. The Governor of Kyoto Prefecture Keiji Yamada was also in attendance at the event. The fair, which runs till March 6, 2016, features 20 vendors from Kyoto selling sweets, green tea and pickles from the region. ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

Crystal Universe, an installation on display at ArtScience Museum's permanent exhibition titled Future World. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) retrieving one of the two bodies of SMRT maintenance staff who were killed in an accident along the train track near Pasir Ris MRT station on March 22, 2016. The train services on the East-West Line between Tanah Merah and Pasir Ris stations were suspended for more than two hours. They were believed to have been hit by an oncoming train. ST PHOTO: ALICIA CHAN

An inconsolable Muhammad Hatin Kamil (in light grey top) who was a witness to the accident at Pasir Ris Station where two employees, Mr Nasrulhudin Najumudin and Mr Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, were killed while undergoing on-the-job training. Mr Hatin and Mr Nasrulhudin had known each other since their first days on the job as SMRT maintenance staff in January. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Hundreds of pigeons which made the fourth level of Rochor Centre their home, feeding on scraps of bread left by the residents. However, they will soon have to find another place to roost as the iconic public housing estate consisting of a cluster of four Housing Board blocks will make way for the new North-South Expressway by the end of 2016. The centre will be completely vacated by September 2016 and there will be no more people leaving food for the birds. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Participants on a water raft they constructed at Outward Bound Singapore's (OBS) Pulau Ubin campus on March 30, 2016. OBS is looking into different ideas to fully utilise the potential of its campus on Coney Island and its location. ST PHOTO: JAMIE KOH

The body of Mr Hong, a 74-year-old bachelor who died with no known next of kin, arriving at Mandai Crematorium in a glass-enclosed hearse playing music by Taiwanese singer Yu Tian. Mr Hong's funeral was handled pro bono by Mr Tommy Yu, founder of Love And Unity Volunteers Establishment (Luve) and funeral director and owner of Seng Xiang Services. Mr Yu estimates that he takes up about 20 to 30 pro bono cases a year. He pays for about five to eight funerals out of his own pocket. The rest are paid using donations to Luve or money from sponsors who pledge to pay for such funerals. Luve is a group that cares for socially isolated and needy elderly residents in the Bukit Merah area. But the pro bono work he provides goes beyond Bukit Merah. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

A woman and two children caught in the heavy downpour at the Singapore Botanic Gardens on May 11, 2016. The downpour over various parts of the island offered a brief respite from the warm weather. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

(From front) Workers' Party secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Chen Show Mao, Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and Mr Pritam Singh coming out from the Workers’ Party HQ after the office-bearers were determined on the night of June 7, 2016. It was the first meeting of the party’s top decision-making Central Executive Council after the election. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

Mr Chan Hon Meng, owner of Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, preparing food at his stall on July 22, 2016. He has not raised his prices since opening his stall in 2009. His stall was given one-star rating in the inaugural edition of the Singapore Michelin Guide. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

The long L-shaped queue at Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle during lunchtime on July 22, 2016. The hawker stall in Crawford Lane was recently awarded a Michelin star. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Manatees at River Safari lining up for food during a feeding session on July 19, 2016. The River Safari has 14 West Indian manatees, one of the largest such collections among zoos worldwide. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

The Straits Times Big Picture Special of Singapore's first Olympic champion Joseph Schooling posing with thousands of fans who showed up at his victory parade on Aug 18, 2016. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong being helped by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen when he became ill suddenly at about 9.20pm at the National Day Rally on Aug 21, 2016. Acting Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng (third from right), security officers and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean (left) also rushed up on stage to help him. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong being helped by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen when he became ill suddenly at about 9.20pm at the National Day Rally on Aug 21, 2016. Behind Dr Ng is Acting Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng. Mr Lee is also accompanied by two security officers. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Paying respect to late former president S R Nathan at the state funeral service at University Cultural Centre on Aug 26. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Final salute for late former president S R Nathan from the coffin bearer party - comprising nine uniformed personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces and Singapore Police Force - during the state funeral service at the University Cultural Centre on Aug 26, 2016. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Fogging activities being carried out around Block 401 at Bedok North Avenue 3 on Sept 1, 2016 to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and to curb the Zika outbreak after three people were reported to have contracted the virus in the area. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

An National Environment Agency (NEA) personnel carrying out misting near Block 101, Aljunied Crescent, on Sept 2, 2016. Aljunied Crescent is one of the first areas to be identified as a Zika cluster. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Ms Audrey Chen fin-swimming at the Orchard Hotel on Sept 9, 2016. The beauty line entrepreneur was crowned Singapore's first mermaid queen at the Miss Mermaid beauty pageant and will be representing the Republic at the Miss Mermaid International pageant, which will be held in the Red Sea in Egypt from Oct 15 to 30, 2016. Besides strutting and posing on land, she will have to show off her moves under water at the competition. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Finalists of the Miss Mermaid Singapore 2016 at a rehearsal and photoshoot at Village Hotel Changi on Sept 5, 2016. Besides strutting and posing on land, the beauty contestants have to show off their moves under water like a mermaid. The mermaid tail is made of poly spandex swimsuit material with a monofin inside. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Sahara Force India F1 Team driver Nico Hulkenberg of Germany walking away after crashing out during the night race of the 2016 Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sept 18, 2016. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Police leading away the 39-year-old man who had locked himself in the Sembawang flat with his girlfriend’s two-year-old son on Sept 28, 2016. The unarmed man was arrested for wrongful confinement and drug-related offences, and the boy is now in the custody of the authorities. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

An SMRT bendy bus was stuck in a field at Kim Keat Avenue for more than 10 hours on Sept 29, 2016, after its driver took a wrong turn and attempted to make a U-turn on the field. The wheels of the bus appeared to have sunk into the soft earth. A tow truck operator who responded to the incident said he had never seen such a situation in his 19 years on the job. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

The charred remains of the coffee shop and wet market at Block 493, Jurong West Street 41, after the blaze was put out on Oct 11, 2016 morning. A coffee shop at Block 494 was also damaged. Residents from the surrounding blocks were evacuated at the height of the fire, but allowed to return later. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Two “Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs” terrorised the Central Business District (CBD) on Oct 30, 2016, lumbering on their in-line skates. Thousands of people gathered for the return of Car-Free Sunday SG after the event went on a brief hiatus from July. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Ms Caroline Cornelius- Jones, aka CJ the Bubble Girl creating bubbles in all shapes and sizes on Oct 31, 2016. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Sunny, a Great Hornbill, the Jurong Bird Park's new animal icon on Nov 3, 2016. The move is to raise awareness of the hornbill ivory trade which threatens the survival of the species. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

The interior of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in Queen Street on Nov 7, 2016, two weeks before it reopens for service on Nov 20, 2016. The cathedral closed its doors to the public three years ago for a major restoration. The cathedral’s crucifix has been hung in its original position and the marble altar put up. Back in place also are the semi-circular stained glass panels above the doors, the chandeliers and the Stations of the Cross paintings. The cathedral also has new wooden pews designed to match its neoclassical architecture. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Madam Mary Ho poses with her electric guitar at home on Nov 22, 2016. Her first guitar lesson started with Santana’s Samba Pa Ti. She now performs pro bono at charity events. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Singaporean of the Year profile of paralympians Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, who did Singapore proud with their medal-winning performances at the Paralympic Games in September 2016. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Ms Jaycie Tay, a 32-year-old twice-divorced mother of four, and her benefactor John Shu, a 50-year-old mechanic, at a bus stop. A chance meeting with Mr Shu at a Yishun bus stop in late 2013 led to Ms Tay achieving her diploma, and she is now gunning for a degree. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Mr Ngai Hin Kwok attempts an advanced calisthenic move, the human flag, at an exercise corner at Toa Payoh Stadium on Nov 18, 2016. The 67-year-old is a member of Team Strong Silver, a group of seven fitness enthusiasts with an average age of 68 years. They promote active ageing through calisthenics, a form of athletic training using one's body weight. A grandfather of three, he goes to the stadium regularly to work out and to practise calisthenic moves. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

The Braddell Flyover under construction on Dec 6, 2016. When completed, the flyover will allow traffic from Lorong 6 Toa Payoh heading towards Bartley Road and Paya Lebar to enter the Braddell underpass without having to join traffic heading towards the Central Expressway. The project was supposed to take four years but is taking six instead. Originally slated for completion by 2015, the end of the project has been delayed to the first quarter of 2017. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Excavators working on the site of the former Funan DigitaLife Mall on Dec 13, 2016. The mall, which specialised in electronics and IT-related goods, closed its doors after 31 years for redevelopment.
In its place, a new $560-million integrated development designed as a "lifestyle destination" will be ready in three years' time. The mixed-use complex will comprise two office towers, serviced residences and retail stores to complement the revitalised Civic and Cultural District. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

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