Doom and gloom. That is the narrative the media and much of the world have perpetuated among the youth. Are we truly living in an era of catastrophe, or are we merely catastrophising it ourselves? In 2025, both answers could ring true. So, without turning to prompt-generated answers or statistics from questionable news sources, Men’s Folio seeks catharsis through the voices of youth on the ground. Through the lens of four young Southeast Asian creatives, with photographer Jude Chua being introduced by us first, we uncover what it feels like to come of age in uncertain times — and how hope, art and expression become quiet acts of defiance.
In his first interview with Men’s Folio, Jude offers to us a glimpse of his first self published work, titled ‘Yes, We Are Going To Suffer’, as well as his second work, ‘Sabar’, shot on iPhone. Read the full interview down below.
Yes, We Are Going To Suffer (2024)
Name, Age, and Occupation?
Jude Chua, 19, Graphic Communications student at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
What’s your current equipment?
Right now, I’m using an old Pentax IQZoom that I bought off Carousell four years ago. It’s starting to show some wear and tear, though, so maybe it’s about time for it to go.
Please give us a background on the work shown here.
‘Yes, We Are Going To Suffer’ is my first zine, made after collecting about 600 film images over the span of three years. It reflects many moments in between the memories I’ve made. Usually, whenever something becomes a memory, the day has slipped by faster than you realise. You need to appreciate things in the moment. That’s what pushed me to make those images. It was important to me to capture moments, because only by seeing these in print can I remember all the love I’ve shared with the people in the zine. I’ve lived through and with all of them, and even though I might not be at all close to some of them any more, these images express my gratitude.
Yes, We Are Going To Suffer (2024)
As much as Singapore can be captured as a place full of cultural diversity and comfortable living, free from political interference, there is still struggle and strife that no one wants to notice, maybe because they don’t want to intrude on someone else’s privacy. And that’s exactly what I want to try and capture; I really wanted photography that involved more personal emotions and experiences.
For ‘Sabar’, when I made it I had a lot of appreciation for the capabilities of iPhone images, especially because of one of my favourite photographers Jerry Hsu, and his new book Lonley City. At the point that photography and photo making is now, the information we perceive has become so overwhelming that there ends up being a lot of irony that can persist in our personal lives, and it lives in the things we see around us everywhere we go.
Sabar (2025)
A lot of images in ‘Sabar’ felt very anecdotal to how I was feeling mentally, or that I’ve been disillusioned by seeing. With the images I kind of ask myself how we get here – what kind of circumstances and habits lead to these odd situations where we break out of monotony and can question how peculiar the things around us have really become.
Sabar (2025)
I think ‘Sabar’ also ended up being a very Singaporean book. It ended up reflecting exactly how I feel about the state, and the people, and the mentalities we hold toward each other and ourselves, in a more vulnerable way, hopefully. Singaporeans are tired, but we’re all going faster than ever, and I think in making ‘Sabar’ I realised that we’re all really in this together.
What does it mean to be young in Singapore?
Being young in Singapore means a lot. The state of the world as it’s progressing has been slowly spelling out a lot of things about how we view culture and community, and I think we’ve already been playing a part in this. Being young in Singapore, to me, has been about rolling with the punches and staying true to yourself. We’re taking everything that’s been passed down from the people who have done it before us, and it should be in our hearts to foster something new and different, but it can be so hard to find now because of how Singapore views and appreciates culture.
Yes, We Are Going To Suffer (2024)
With the shut down of so many third spaces and venues made for self-expression and for letting people come together, us as youth have the burden of matching the art we make with the value that we have to attach to it to make it worth it to the people who are perceiving it. I feel like this has always been the case, which is why so many indie spaces slip by so easily – Singapore’s always been about money in that sense. And so as youth, there’s a very uncomfortable role to play where we have to play this money game while still preserving the value of the art that we put out.
Yes, We Are Going To Suffer (2024)
Being a part of youth in Singapore is also about how we influence each other. It’s easier than ever to dress the same, do the same things, be the same person, and it’s scary. And while Singapore may be a good place for that mentality to foster because I feel like conformity is very effective to operate in Singapore, whether it be for creative endeavors or not. And if conformity can exist so comfortably, how much space is there for us as youth to really reach for things that are unique and more personally driven?
What’s one word to describe our generation?
Connected. Literally. It’s quite easy to find people you’re friends with that’s friends with someone else you know. And a lot of people find that to be irritating because they want their own space and privacy, but I think how connected we are can be a really good thing, it can bring people together, and that always has potential. Even if it doesn’t turn out well, there’s always something to take from it.
Yes, We Are Going To Suffer (2024)
Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our November 2025 issue.