With its wide floors, floor-to-ceiling mirrors and a ready audience, the underground passage connecting a train station to Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay had served as a practice ground for aspiring dancers for years.
Until 1 January, when they showed up as usual only to find the mirrors frosted.
Hundreds of commuters and tourists walk through the spacious tunnel every day, many of them on their way to the city’s number-one attraction. People had complained that the dancers were “blocking pedestrian flow at this high-traffic area”, local media reported.
So, the mirrors were frosted, triggering a debate – not just about space, but also Singapore’s fixation with orderliness, the low bar for people to complain, and its many, many rules.
All of which arguably stifle the abandon, or even the havoc, that is often characteristic of the world’s biggest cities.
This is not the first time Singaporeans have crossed swords over how common spaces should be used in the land-scarce country, where more than 8,300 people jostle for each kilometre.
From whether frisbees should be allowed in parks, to benches fitted with dividers to deter rough sleepers, Singaporeans are often split on whose needs come first.
Additional restrictions are not the problem, says urban planning expert Tan Shin Bin from the National University of Singapore.
“[What should] give us pause is really whether the decision was a well-considered and fair one… Whose needs are being prioritised as legitimate, and whose desires are deemed secondary?”
The mirrors were frosted after complaints dancers were “blocking pedestrian flow” [Kelly Ng/BBC]
In the case of the walkway, it is one of many owned and maintained by private developers to “facilitate all-weather, safe and convenient connectivity”, authorities told the BBC.
This particular one belongs to Marina Bay Sands (MBS), the luxury hotel, casino and mall hard to miss in the city’s towering skyline.
But their decision to frost the mirrors stirred a debate because the walkway is used by so many people, not just those making their way to MBS.
Singapore’s urban planning authority said MBS had lined the path with mirrors “to enhance the visual appearance and experience”, but the “primary function” is for walking.
Some Singaporeans said the dancers in the walkway were inconsiderate, as they would sometimes block the path with props. “If they had kept to one side, no-one would have complained,” read a comment on Instagram with more than 3,000 likes.
Others pushed back, calling the move to frost the mirrors “blunt” and “rigid”. Several said they enjoyed watching the dancers while passing through and sympathised with them because the cost of renting a studio was so high.
“Seeing other dancers around me was really motivating,” says Wilson Tay, who used the walkway for dance practice twice a week. “It was also fun when tourists stopped by and tried to mimic my moves.”
Now there are no catchy K-pop beats and lingering onlookers who groove along.
Some dancers, like Tay, now practise at a train station two stops away, where five full-length mirrors have been put up in a corner, carefully marked with yellow tape.
Tay and other dancers now practise in this corner of a quieter train station that is close by [Kelly Ng/BBC]
“It is very quiet here and much less vibrant. I’ve often found myself practising alone,” Tay says. “But the good thing, I guess, is that I get to dance without being disrupted.”
In so many cities, dancing, skateboarding and other activities in public places become a part of the daily rhythm, as people adjust to what is happening around them, whether they see it as artistic expression, or a nuisance.
But this is Singapore, a nation built on pragmatism, order and convenience.
