Home in focus: X marks the spot

It did not start out as an intentional design feature, but graphic motifs have emerged as a by-product of the pandemic. Public spaces have been taped up and marked with crosses like Band-Aids or battle scars, while stark floor markings that remind us to keep a safe distance when queueing are, in effect, battle lines in our fight against the coronavirus. The Straits Times photojournalists have ventured out - while keeping a safe distance - to capture this unprecedented visual display that has become part of our landscape.

Updated
May 16, 2021, 12:01 AM
Published
Jun 08, 2020, 05:00 AM
In this photo taken on April 20 of a sitting area in The Star Vista mall, yellow tape is used to mark out boxes with diagonal lines to serve as safe distancing markings.
 ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A family awaiting their turn outside the Old Airport Road Food Centre on May 17. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Tables and seats at a void deck in Bedok Reservoir Road are sealed off with red and white tape. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
A couple sorting their groceries on a bench near a courtyard in Toa Payoh Central on April 27.
 ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
(Above) A shopper doing stretching exercises in Plaza Singapura on a stone seat marked with red crosses, a water cooler in HortPark is all taped up, while a plot of plants in Teban Gardens is covered with nettings, during the circuit breaker period. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A shopper doing stretching exercises in Plaza Singapura on a stone seat marked with red crosses, (above) a water cooler in HortPark is all taped up, while a plot of plants in Teban Gardens is covered with nettings, during the circuit breaker period. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A shopper doing stretching exercises in Plaza Singapura on a stone seat marked with red crosses, a water cooler in HortPark is all taped up, while a plot of plants in Teban Gardens is covered with nettings (above), during the circuit breaker period.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
It may be just a wooden log originally meant for people to sit on and chat or fish in Labrador Park, but a red and white tape around it indicates that the log is off limits for now.
 ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Above: Commuters wearing masks and observing safe distancing while sitting and waiting for the next train in Novena MRT station on April 17. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Shoppers observing social distancing while seated around a fountain surrounding the bubble lifts in Golden Landmark Shopping Centre on April 4. Known as a haven for gemstones, traditional Malay clothing and cuisine, the mall saw many businesses not categorised as essential services closed during the circuit breaker period. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Tables and seats in the Chinatown Complex Food Centre taped up with plastic and red tape. Stalls are allowed to open for takeaways and deliveries only during the circuit breaker. Customers cannot sit and eat at the tables.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Table and seats surrounded by red and white tape at a void deck in Simei on May 25, 2020. A wall mural of one of the four beauties in Chinese classical literature, Wang Zhaojun, is seen in the background. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
A person jogs past sit-up stations lined with red and white tape under the MRT viaduct between Bishan and Ang Mo Kio MRT stations on May 15, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
A woman walks by taped-off benches on May 14, 2020. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A taped-up coin-operated ride at Great World City mall on May 8, 2020. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A man rope skipping next to a cordoned off playground at French Road on May 6, 2020. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
A photo from April 30, 2020, shows torn off social distancing markings in Jurong East. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A woman jogs past the closed beach at East Coast Park on April 28, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Tables and seats sealed off with red and white tape at Clementi Market and Food Centre on April 25, 2020. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Social distancing marking seen just outside Chinatown MRT station on April 24, 2020. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A woman buys fruits at the Geylang Serai market on April 23, 2020. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
A man sits alone at a HDB void deck at Telok Blangah Crescent on April 23, 2020. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A hawker centre table and chairs are seen covered in plastic at Telok Blangah Crescent on April 23, 2020. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A urinal is taped up at Alexandra Retail Centre on April 20, 2020. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
A man jogs around a taped up badminton court in Bedok on April 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: JOEL CHAN
A long-tailed macaque climbing off a sitting area cordoned off with tape at the MacRitchie Reservoir on April 17, 2020. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
A lorry on the Central Expressway near the PIE exit on April 13, 2020. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
A customer eats fries while exiting a McDonald's outlet in Parklane on April 7, 2020. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
A rather empty Smith Street with chairs for an event placed at a distance from each other in Chinatown on March 21, 2020. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 08, 2020, with the headline Home in focus: X marks the spot. Subscribe

Available for
iPhones and iPads
Available in
Google Play

MCI (P) 066/10/2023. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2024 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

Back to the top