Town council says student's effort to cover HDB staircase in gold foil 'not permissible'

SINGAPORE — The Jalan Besar Town Council is reaching out to an arts student who covered the 20th floor staircase of a Jalan Rajah flat with gold foil to explore future collaboration, although it made clear what she did was "unauthorised" and "not permissible”.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a spokesman said the town council wants to “explore ways in which we may be able to work together” as it is “supportive of efforts by the community to enhance our living environment”.

Ms Priyageetha Dia, who is studying fine arts at Lasalle College of the Arts, had earlier identified herself on Facebook as the person behind the “golden staircase” at Block 103 Jalan Rajah.

“We appreciate Ms Priyageetha Dia’s desire to enhance her surrounding space,” said the spokesman. “Under the Town Council's (Common Property and Open Spaces) By-laws, however, this constitutes an unauthorised act and is thus not permissible.”

Set in the public area near her unit, Ms Dia said the artwork exists to question "what constitutes public and private spaces" and if it is "possible to draw a line between art and vandalism”.

The 25-year-old said she came up with the idea a month ago, but only executed it on Sunday (March 5) despite being apprehensive of the consequences she might face. The “hush deed” took five hours.

Aware that she was treading a thin line between art and vandalism, Ms Dia asserted that she “did not deface anything”.

“What I did was to enhance the space and my surroundings,” said Ms Dia, who lives on the 20th floor. “This work provokes. Provokes in all sense (as) we are used to living the standard way of life, and all of a sudden something as glaring as gold negotiates the space. My work does not seek to obliterate a public space; vandalism in all sense has no respect for another individual.”

It is believed no police complaint has been made on Ms Dia’s work so far. When TODAY visited the golden staircase on Tuesday, the families who live right by it said they have no issues with it.

Members of the Jalan Besar Town Council were also present on Tuesday to ascertain if the gold foil made the stairs slippery.

Residents TODAY spoke to had mixed reactions about the artwork.

Ms Akiko Ler, 43, felt that such an act, if done on the artist’s own accord without seeking counsel from the town council, is considered vandalism. “Residents here pay fees to keep the public space clean, so it’s only fair that it’s kept like how it was meant to be,” said the housewife from Japan.

Mr Don Tan, 22, who frequents the flat as his girlfriend stays there, said he is seeing it from both the perspective of the artist as well as the law. “It’s a grey area because it doesn’t affect people’s lives, and (it caused) little trouble or inconvenience,” he said.

Another resident Tiffany Tan, 22, a freelancer, said “it’s really cool” that someone would do such a thing at her block.

“It’ll be quite sad if someone orders it to be taken down,” she said. “But, even if it stays, the art work may not be appreciated as much without proper recognition of it as an artwork — for instance, putting up a sign to indicate what it is.

“Someone might just treat it the same as any other stairway and spit on it.”