FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Photo: Pink Dot SG
SINGAPORE, 28 June 2025 – Hong Lim Park turned pink once again as thousands formed Pink Dot 17, Singapore’s most visible LGBTQ+ gathering. This year’s theme, “Different Stories, Same Love”, celebrated love in all its forms — whether between partners, friends or chosen family — as our community came together to share hopes for a more inclusive future.
Honouring love across time: Pink Dot’s community time capsule
At the heart of this year’s event was a powerful gesture of hope for the future: a community time capsule, beautifully conceptualised by local designer Nichole Ho. The capsule gathered over 60 objects representing intimate expressions of love, resilience, and shared history. Visitors to the park were able to see a display installation of these items, which showed a cross-section of Singaporean LGBTQ+ life, from everyday objects to cherished heirlooms — all transformed by memories of love. These included:
- A special ring, remembering a partner who passed on, and their love story of more than twenty years;
- A chest-binder, lovingly passed from one person going through their gender journey to another;
- and a phone pouch, which held the first phone used for Oogachaga’s telephone counselling hotline launched nearly two decades ago.
Each object told a story. Some were deeply personal. Others, donated by community groups, symbolised the collective care and solidarity that sustains LGBTQ+ spaces in Singapore. At the high point of the rally on Saturday evening, all of these items were ceremonially sealed into the time capsule — with the last being a polaroid ‘wefie’ of the thousands-strong crowd gathered at the park.
The time capsule will be opened in 2050. As our community looks toward that future moment of rediscovery, the capsule becomes more than a container — it expresses our wishes for generations to come. Pink Dot spokesperson Clement Tan said:
“This time capsule serves as a reminder of the love and resilience that has carried us this far. We want to send a message of hope to future Singaporeans: that all forms of love are valid and that our relationships should be celebrated equally.”
Amplifying voices of love: our soapbox speakers
The event also featured three sets of soapbox speakers, who shared moving personal stories about the relationships that affirmed and carried them through. They each submitted objects to the time capsule.
Brenda (she/her) and Pearlyn (she/her), two lesbian mothers, decided to raise their now five-year-old daughter openly and proudly despite social and family challenges. They shared their story of building a “village” around her, so that she could grow up loved and unafraid to be herself. Brenda said:
“It was never an option to hide our family. We knew that if we wanted our daughter to grow up being proud of who she is and where she comes from, we’ve got to show her that we were proud too. We know not everyone gets to be this open, so we count our blessings every day.”
The family submitted an IVF syringe — one of many they used when trying for a child, to remember their journey of love and resilience in creating a family.
Starr (she/her), a trans FemmeQueen from the ballroom scene. From a young age, Starr faced rejection from her conservative biological family. But she found the space to discover and be herself, and to care for others, with Singapore’s ballroom community. Starr shared:
“Warm, tender, and unconditional love was never there for me. My familial ties felt merely like an unwanted biological connection. My house never felt like a home. But I’ve rediscovered that love. For myself, and also for the people that I care about. I found a new family in Singapore’s ballroom community.”
Starr donated the mesh top she wore to her first ball three years ago, which helped her find her chosen family, and started her on a journey that allowed her to love herself today.
Opera Tang (she/they) and Ah Ma Tang (she/her). From the very first outfit, Ah Ma, now 94, has been quietly supporting her grandchild’s drag journey with love and craft. Their bond not only shows how familial care can be powerful and affirming, but also the power of love to transcend generations. Opera said:
“Ah Ma doesn’t say ‘queer’ or ‘drag’. But she says, ‘汝食未?’ (Teochew: leu jiah bhue, or “Have you eaten?”) … That is her way of saying “I love you”. That – that is queer love. Quiet. Resilient. And unconditional.”
Opera submitted the first headdress she ever made, which she wore for her debut performance at Pink Dot in 2021. It was part of an outfit she and her Ah Ma styled together, symbolising a bridge between tradition and transformation.
Coming together as one: our community
Attendees at this year’s Pink Dot were treated to performances by Shak and Preetipls, rhyu, Ryan Anders & Maximus, RENE, Ahora, Vogue In Progress, Mantravine and Singapore Drag Royalty. Performances included originals such as ‘same for me’ by RENE and dramatic dance performances by Vogue In Progress and Singapore Drag Royalty.
The community tents hosted 26 groups that provide support to people across the LGBTQ+ umbrella and different life stages. Community stalwarts like Oogachaga, Pelangi Pride Centre and The T Project returned, and we also welcomed newcomers. One was Queer Book Club Collective, an LGBTQ+-run group that caters to our community through their love for the written word. Another was a booth set up by two groups involved in research work at the National University of Singapore, The Courage Lab — based in the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health — and kayos kollective.
For the first time, Pink Dot also set up its very own space at the community tent to feature the history of the movement and key milestones, from the very first Hong Lim Park rally in 2009 to the historic park formation calling for the repeal of Section 377A. It also debuted the Find a Friend initiative, which saw representatives from community groups accompany solo and first-time attendees to make them feel welcome at the Park.
Pink Dot 17 would not have been possible without the generous support of its 65 homegrown corporate sponsors and 66 individual sponsors, whose belief in Pink Dot’s mission has made this movement stronger each year. Pink Dot spokesperson Clement Tan said:
“Each object within the capsule tells a different story, but they all contain the same message of love. Not all of us will be around when it’s opened 25 years from now, so we hope that the next generation knows this: that we are thinking of them, and that we are fighting for their future to be brighter than ours today.”
To explore the full stories behind each item, visit: timecapsule.pinkdot.sg. High-resolution photos of some of these objects can be found inside the media kit Google Drive link.
 | Starr donated a mesh top worn to their first ball, Crystal Ball 2.0, three years ago. Once a bold symbol of gay boy-core expression, the top now marks a farewell to a former self and a celebration of transformation. The gesture is both a tribute and a thank-you to the garment that played a part in discovering their chosen family and embracing the powerful woman they are today. |
 | Brenda and Pearlyn donated an IVF syringe, one of many that they used from multiple rounds of treatment when they were trying for a child. The item symbolises their resilience and determination in creating their family. |
 | Opera Tang contributed the first headdress she ever made, which she wore for her debut performance at Pink Dot in 2021. It was part of an outfit she and her Ah Ma styled together, symbolising a bridge between tradition and transformation. |
 | Longtime Pink Dot sponsors since 2012, gay couple V (a healthcare worker) and E (a researcher) had been together since 2000. In 2017, E was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed away in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. This ring was part of a pair that commemorated their second anniversary. Now, on the fifth anniversary of E’s passing, it will be placed in Pink Dot’s time capsule — an enduring symbol that love is love. |
 | This binder carries the story of two transitions — Rick’s and Ellie’s. Rick first acquired the binder in 2021 to ease dysphoria and affirm his identity; it helped him pass and feel more like himself. Later, Ellie used the same binder to conceal her changing body shape from her family. For her, it was a way to maintain peace. Now both active volunteers with TransgenderSG, they have contributed this binder as a symbol of resilience, identity and the freedom to be. |
 | This phone cover once housed the original mobile phone used by Oogachaga’s telephone counselling hotline, launched on February 14, 2006. Before the organisation had an office, the phone — and this cover — was passed lovingly between volunteers on each shift. As needs evolved, the hotline ceased in 2022. Eventually retired as Oogachaga changed phones, the cover marks its 25 years of supporting Singapore’s LGBTQ+ community. |
