Object size: Refer to parts
This image is part of the "Riot Recollections" (2013) series by documentary photographer Zakaria Zainal and writer Prabhu Silvam. It consists of portraits of eye-witnesses and their accounts of the riot that struck Little India on 8 December 2013 — the worst outbreak of violence Singapore had experienced in four decades since the outbreak of communal riots in the 1960s. The incident, sparked by a fatal accident involving a migrant worker at the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road, injured 54 officers and 8 civilians and damaged 30 vehicles.Hitting the ground fresh a week after the incident, Zakaria and Prabhu sought to better understand what provoked the outpouring of anger by adopting the "vox populi" approach. Depicted here is Muthusamy, a migrant worker from Tamil Nadu who narrowly avoided the Little India riot after a close friend suggested they head home early after grocery shopping to avoid jostling with the evening crowd. In reference to how the riot started after a private bus accidentally ran over and killed a construction worker who alighted, Muthusamy alluded to challenges in communication between bus conductors, drivers and passengers due to language differences.