Marina Bay Sands lit up for National Day 2020 during the pandemic

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"I am an avid fan of running and would go running to Marina Bay Sands Complex - a destination regarded as a key landmark that puts Singapore on the world map. I mean this spot was featured in the movie “Crazy Rich Asians”. It is to Singapore what Big Ben and Houses of Parliament is to Londoners. But when I ran past it (alone) during the depths of CB, the entire place was void of any being. It was eerily quiet. And Marina Bay Sands, stood stoically in the middle, cloaked in lights showing “SG ❤️“ in Singaporean Red. Similarly, the Singapore Art Science museum was decked with the text “SG United”, providing some company to the Marina Bay Sands complex in that eerie quietness. Seeing Marina Bay in this state brought some sadness in me. Looking at my workplace in MBFC and the sheer silence in MBS, I couldn’t help but wonder if the CBD of Singapore, as I once knew it, would ever come back. Is everything before February this year, deeply buried in the past? Do we have to brave up to this strange new world and change our way of life for good? Or is this a deep, long period of wait before normalcy returns. It reminded me of this scene in the fairytale Sleeping Beauty, when the entire Kingdom was put into a deep sleep, until a saviour shows up and wakes the Princess (and the rest of the kingdom) from their sleep. While most public areas have become noticeably quiet, the park connector outside my home became twice as busy since lockdown begun as gyms and sports facilities were closed. It had become an outdoor gym for the masses and was congested in mornings and evenings."--Contributed by Wong Ling Siew, as part of the "Documenting COVID-19 in Singapore" collection community call. This photograph shows a night view of Marina Bay Sands, all lit up for National Day 2020 in the Singapore colours. Despite the pandemic, National Day celebrations are just as festive, albeit different, as those celebrated in non-pandemic years. Additional description by Library staff.