It’s been a sobering week for Singaporeans since founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew passed away on 23 March 2015. Tributes came pouring in. Some took to the pen and wrote touching tributes while others choose to express their gratitude and thoughts visually.
As the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words. Here are some of our favourites visual art tributes to the founder of modern Singapore.
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20-year-old aspiring artist Ong Yi Teck spent a painstaking 15 hours to create this portrait, made up of writing Mr Lee’s name thousands of times – 18,000 words to be more precise. His work is currently displayed at the Nanyang Technological University, where he will be enrolling in.
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Another artist, Siew Yan, took inspiration from the movie “Up” and sketched this tribute of Mr and Mrs Lee.
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Dan Wong, of A Good Citizen, deviates from his usual satirical and sometimes controversial style, and drew a heartwarming picture of Mr and Mrs Lee being together again.
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Alvin Lim, one of Singapore’s top bloggers (Alvinology), did a sketch on his mobile with strokes that are simple but speak volumes.
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Evangeline Neo, a comics artist and blogger, went to Clarke Quay after paying her respects to the late Mr Lee at the Parliament House. She originally wanted to draw the shophouses as backdrop but decided on the Parliament House instead. Note the cloud on the top left corner – it is in the shape of the Singapore island.
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The ubiquitous motif of a black ribbon encompassing a side portrait of Mr Lee was created by the People’s Action Party (PAP). PAP MP Alex Yam posted on his Facebook on how the motif came about:
“It started as a spur of the moment decision. The team worked through the night, we brainstormed and deliberated… Simple but dignified was our starting premise. Final 6 versions, down to 4, then 2. And then the final version. We stared at it for a long time, emotions welled. Tired and emotional, but what’s this compared to the work of Mr Lee.
It started as a simple Whatsapp message. It now sits as decals on cars, as a print on T-shirts, as an image of tribute on badges, even as a temporary tattoo! But not because of its design, but because of the message it conveys, that we honour the founding Prime Minister of Singapore in a simple, dignified way, that his memory and legacy will live, and to say #ThankYouLKY.”
