A culture of worshipping at special trees has existed for centuries in Singapore. When immigrants first arrived from the continent they gravitated to sacred spots in the absence of their own places of worship. Muslims, Taoists, Hindus and others adopted and often shared these spaces, making a spiritual connection to nature.
Some of these trees became totems for locals hoping for winning lottery numbers. Others had shrines and temples built around them, like the God Tree Shrine at Toa Payoh, and the old Hindu Sri Muneeswaran temple that stood at the end of Blair Road, built around a beautiful Ficus (fig) tree.
About infrared (IR) photography
By nature, leaves absorb visible light but reflect infrared light (which is of course invisible to the eye). Infrared photography captures this reflected light, rendering foliage brilliant white.
Digital sensors are able to detect infrared light, but in order to create imagery that resembles what we see, manufacturers put infrared filters into their cameras. By removing the filter, we can capture a wider spectrum of light. If we then place a filter in front of the lens that lets through infrared light but blocks most other wavelengths, we arrive at photos that look like they were shot on the moon.
Removing the filter from a camera is a tricky job, though I’d heard rumours of an uncle (local lingo for an older gentleman) in the East would could convert any camera brought to him. I waited a little while for him at a void deck till he suddenly appeared from nowhere. An electronics engineer from the Philippines, he was friendly but busy and sighed a little when I presented an old Fujifilm XE1. Two weeks later, the work was done and he showed me how to set my white balance for IR by pointing the camera at grass.
The final step for creating digital IR photos is to swap the red and blue channels in your files, then adjust colours and curves till you have the “false-colour” look with a blue sky. You can make this easier by installing specialist infrared profiles for Lightroom.
Even after switching channels, the colours are not to everyone’s taste and IR shooters often just revert to black and white. This is much easier to achieve with film, by simply using an infrared stock like Rollei Infrared 400 with a lens filter, and developing like regular BW film.
The cost of progress
Back to the trees. In 2013 the land at the end of Blair Road was redeveloped; although the fig tree was recognised as holding religious value and left untouched, the temple was razed and access to the small allotment around the tree was prohibited. The long standing connection between the people and the land was broken.
Since I live nearby, I would pass the site on Sunday mornings on my way to pick up prata. The first time I saw this particular Hindu family I was taken by their white robes. Lined-up together, still and facing the tree they made for an almost ethereal sight. Now separated from the tree by fences and a deep trench, they continued to visit every week, burning incense, leaving small offerings and paying respects from a distance.
Speaking with the family’s matriarch back in 2020, she told me that she’d petitioned her MP for years to have access restored, while others had appealed for a new temple to be built. In 2026 neither the temple nor access has been restored, but the tree still stands as bus stations, storage sites and other developments have filled in around it.
A symbolic reunion
Although no substitute for action and access, the infrared imagery reconnects the people and the tree visually, with glowing white leaves that suggest enduring vitality and mirror the family’s own resplendent white clothing.
As an aside, I have also noticed that infrared renders skin slightly translucent. It’s not entirely flattering and one reason we do not often see IR portraits. Here, the prominent veins resemble fine branches or roots, further extending the symbolism… Ok maybe I’m stretching with that one!
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