Object size: Refer to parts
This image is part of the "Riot Recollections" (2014) 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 Sokkiah Ashok, a migrant worker from India who worked as a driver and lived at a shared dormitory at the corner of Veerasamy Road. He recalled the sound of yelling and the strong smell of smoke on the night of the riot. Unsettled by rumours of fellow migrants being repatriated home after the incident, Sokkiah expressed fear and helplessness of possibly facing a similar fate.