SITUATING IDENTITY — DORMS ON ROCHOR CANAL, C.1999
Teo Yee Chin, Ho Yenn Giin, Yeo Yih Hsiu, Moses Tan

Can we etch the story of the Others into the city, or do we put them out of sight, out of mind, in the farthest reaches of the island? Recognition is the first and perhaps most important human right.

In 1999, when foreign workers were overcrowding shophouses and rental flats rather more visibly than now — although they were worse off in terms of living conditions — four students submitted this proposal to a UNESCO (UIA) housing design competition.

This attempt to "surface" the silent workers was paired with remnant sites in the city that had unique traits but were unable to fit into the pattern of development. The housing hovers above Rochor Canal (which was covered up in 2018), integrating commercial amenities for the public. Linking Little India and the Civic District, the canal would have ceased to be a hard edge of the city, existing as something charming and distinctive in itself.