Mute

Can a photograph show what is absent, what has been erased? Through this illuminating series of images, we get to see Singapores forgotten Little Japan, a once-flourishing enclave with a red-light district featuring karayuki-san right where Bugis Junction stands today... Mute is a uniquely moving collection of photographs. Photographer Chua Aik Beng gives a highly personal take on Little Japans forgotten history, prompting us to ask, Why do we not know? The book also documents the responses of over 80 viewers from all walks of life. Their opinions, recollections and musings triggered by the photos offer us a fascinating, multifaceted look at memory, progress, and the nature of time.