By Lynda Hong | Posted: 07
December 2010 2108 hrs
SINGAPORE: Ten paintings were unveiled on Tuesday to
remember Singapore's founding fathers.
To put them together, about 5,000 fingerprints were
collected.
Phase by phase, the 10 paintings came to symbolise the first 10
Cabinet Ministers of the Singapore Government.
The 10 leaders are Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Toh Chin Chye, Dr Goh Keng
Swee, Mr S Rajaratnam, Mr Ong Pang Boon, Mr Yong Nyuk Lin, Mr Lim
Kim San, Mr Jek Yuen Thong, Mr Othman Wok and Mr E W Barker.
For each of the 10 canvasses in the "Live our Dreams" community
project, some 500 fingerprints belonging to Singaporeans from all
walks of life were collected.
Artists, including the award-winning 10-year-old painter Janice
Yap, then worked on their interpretations of the
fingerprints.
"Each fingerprint belongs to a person who makes the Singapore we
know now - possible," said Janice.
The 10-year-old started painting when she was
two-and-a-half-year-old and became an award-winning artist at the
age of three. She has also won numerous local and international
awards like the UOB Painting of the Year in 2003, 2004, and the
recent 2010 competition. To date, she has held five solo art
exhibitions.
The completed works were presented on Tuesday to the Ministers and
their family members at the Arts House.
Among those at the event was Mr Othman Wok who was Minister of
Culture and Social Affairs in the founding Cabinet.
Organisers hope the project will help young understand know our
pioneers.
Wu Shouyi, who is the grandson of Dr Goh Keng Swee, said: "Besides
textbooks that we have gone through, I guess, not many people, if
you go around the street and ask them who is Dr Goh (Keng Swee),
not many people would actually know.
"It does embody my grandfather as someone as a being a commoner,
because he is being portrayed as what I think is a common sweeper.
He didn't really sing praises about himself and he didn't want
people to sing praises of himself."
- CNA/fa
