SINGAPORE – With a digicam in hand and sweat dripping down my forehead, I press the shutter button, hoping to capture a group of people cheering.
The dim rally lighting and fast-moving crowd overwhelm the camera – it lags, and the moment slips away.
I try again. Then again. I get my shot, but not without losing a few others along the way.
There’s a kind of beauty in the slowness of a point-and-shoot digital camera – a contrast to the electric pace of GE2025 and the speed of the latest mirrorless cameras and even smartphones.
Once considered outdated, digicams have become trendy again among Gen Z digital natives aged between 13 and 27 years old. They seek the nostalgic Y2K aesthetic, having grown up with pictures taken on these cameras. Many new businesses have sprung up, selling deadstock or secondhand cameras.
Photojournalist Shintaro Tay holding a Canon IXUS 275HS after the Singapore Democratic Party rally at Woodlands Stadium on April 28, 2025.PHOTO: RYAN CHIONG
Armed with a Canon Ixus 275HS, I wondered what it was like for people in the past to capture their experiences of the general election.
The grungy, almost nostalgic effect of the low-fi pictures made me reflect on how they might compare with photos from past eras – especially my first time taking pictures at a rally in 2013, when I was a 17-year-old student – and what they might reveal about this moment in time.
Before the GE2025 rallies began, I wondered if people would show up. After all, it had been a decade since such rallies were last held. Would they prefer to tune in from the comfort of their homes instead? After all, we have all got used to wireless communication since the pandemic.
However, as I looked through the lens, I realised some things have not changed. The boisterous characters, the fiery speeches and the riot of colours were just like what I remembered from my first experience.
It was as though time had stood still for a moment, reminding me that despite all the changes around me, some things remain timeless.
WP supporters waving inflatable hammers at a rally at Temasek Junior College on April 26, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Supporters of Mr Ng Chee Meng, PAP candidate for Jalan Kayu SMC, cheering at a rally at Fern Green Primary School on April 27, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
An SDP supporter waving flags at a rally at Woodlands Stadium on April 28, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Youth holding up their phones to capture People’s Power Party candidate Samuel Lee speaking at a rally at Yio Chu Kang Stadium on April 29, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
A PSP volunteer cheering at Jurong West Stadium on May 1, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
WP supporters listening intently to a rally at Temasek Junior College on April 26, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Red Dot United supporters, standing on muddy grass after an evening rain, listening to a rally at Boon Lay Way on April 30, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
SDP supporters holding hands during a rally at Woodlands Stadium on April 28, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
PAP supporters waving party flags at Fern Green Primary School on April 27, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
A People’s Power Party supporter with a flag tucked into her hair at a rally at Yio Chu Kang Stadium on April 29, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock addressing the crowd at Jurong West Stadium on May 1, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
People’s Power Party secretary-general Goh Meng Seng before a rally at Yio Chu Kang Stadium on April 29, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
SDP chief Chee Soon Juan signing copies of his books after a rally at Woodlands Stadium on April 28, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Contractors taking down a camera after an SDP rally at Woodlands Stadium on April 28, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
A stage being dismantled after a PAP rally at Fern Green Primary School on April 27, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
PAP supporters waiting for the election results at Bukit Gombak Stadium on May 4, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Red Dot United supporters saying the pledge at the end of a rally in a field in Boon Lay Way on April 30, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
The Singapore flag held by a supporter at a PSP rally at Jurong West Stadium on May 1, 2025.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
- Shintaro is a photojournalist with The Straits Times. Through journalism, photography and documentary-making, he strives to shine a light on the everyday man.
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