Bukit Batok Boys is a personal journey by Matthew into the lives of of his friends, a gang of boys with whom he has grown up with since the age of 12 in the Housing Development Board (HDB) heartland neighbourhood of Bukit Batok, boys with whom he has whiled away his time and with whom he experienced bittersweet moments of growing up. It is a series of in-your-face photographs showing the not-so-pretty sight of boys getting drunk along public pavements, of boys sharing a smoke, of boys injured in what could either been a fight or an accident, of close-up shots of scars and wounds and tattoos, of boys and their toys- their BMX bicycles and rollerblades. It is an honest narrative of boys enjoying hedonistic pleasures without inhibitions. These photographs take the audience in directly, no holds barred. They show grit and grime, blood and sweat. They don't pretend to be anything but what they are. These photographs are disturbing but yet exude a raw innocence as if the subjects are unaware of the challenges ahead of themas responsible adults or perhaps they are aware but have decided to throw caution to the wind because they know that this moment called youth will not last forever. This series also trains the spotlight onto the peripheral areas of Singapore, away from the slick shopping malls of Orchard Road and the city. Bukit Batok, a HDB estate on the north-western end of the island, is as far removed from the bright lights of the Singapore downtown as one can get. Matthew's photographs provide a first-hand visual account into the leisure activities of a group of boys from these outskirt areas of Singapore. This starkly honest series is a celebration of pleasure, camaraderie and youthfulness at the periphery.
