Exactly Foundation – Singapore Surfacing by Zakaria Zainal
$70.00
Imagine the Singapore Merlion partially submerged by sea water. The average sea level around Singapore is projected to rise by up to 1.15m by 2100, exceeding previous estimates. Singapore Surfacing interrogates the narratives and relationships of man and the Singapore coast — both on the main island as well as the offshore islands — in light of global rising sea levels.
In 2019, former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it would take S$100 billion or more, spread over 100 years, to tackle rising sea levels. Assuming 1.5C of warming, prime real estate in the city worth S$70 billion ($50 billion) faces a high risk of flooding, according to Bloomberg estimates using data from a real estate company. According to the former Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore Benjamin Horton, a third of Singapore’s land area is only one meter above the highest tides. The government’s approach to rising sea levels is clear. “We are not planning to lose any inch of land permanently,” PUB deputy director Ho Chai Teck said in a news report.
Availability: 4 in stock
| BY | Zakaria Zainal |
| YEAR | 2026 |
| DETAILS | Paperback 21cm x 29.7cm |
| LANGUAGE | English |
About Zakaria Zainal
Zakaria Zainal makes meaning of the world through his photographs. His photographs and text interrogate space and memory vis-a-vis visual projects exploring national myopia through the lens of communities on the margins. He is best known for the Singapore Gurkhas trilogy—visual books on the diasporic lives of this proud paramilitary tradition in the Lion City. Other projects include: vignettes from the 2013 Little India riot; reclaiming living histories of forgotten Singapore islanders; and the declining Malay-Muslim mutual benefit organisations. Most recently, Zakaria was commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore to document the pandemic, which were exhibited in the Picturing the Pandemic: A Visual Record of COVID-19. His visual projects are collected by the National Museumof Singapore and exhibited internationally. Additionally, Zakaria was once an adjunct faculty at Nanyang Technological University and a programme officer at the Asia Journalism Fellowship, where he supports and mentors aspiring journalists from the region. He graduated from Hyper Island and NTU’s School of Communication. He also runs a creative studio, Zainal & Zainal.
About Exactly Foundation
Exactly Foundation is a not-for-profit, trademarked registered label established by Li Li Chung to commission photographers to create works that stimulate discussion of social concerns in Singapore. Its goal is to produce new knowledge by having viewers engage with the photographs and share them with friends and family over a 2-3 month period.
