At the end of May I retuned to Singapore for almost two weeks of events. Once again I was bowled over by the warm welcome, the colours and scale of this extraordinary island nation. Although there is little fluctuation in season, it felt subtly different. Strange exotic flowers bloomed; their scent filled the air. Gigantic moths gathered in the spotlights of skyscrapers at night, spinning around in the air like autumn leaves, or some kind of surreal confetti. And of course the sun shone, the rail fell, and the whole busy city hummed with life and crackling energy, old and new rubbing shoulders.
My first task was to return to Tanglin Trust British School for four days of mural painting with selected children from years 3 to 6. It was an exceptionally long painting, showing Singapore’s past, present and future. It was created to celebrate the forthcoming 90th anniversary of the school.
The children were taken sketching before my arrival to prepare them for the project. After discussing what to include, we set to work with emulsion paint and elbow grease. The result is a magnificent achievement by the children. Of course I guided and supported them, but most of my contribution has been, quite rightly, obliterated by the work of the children.
The panels show a sequence from the Malay origins of the island, to the arrival of Raffles (a statue is depicted) and the arrival of the various cultural strands, in particular Buddhism, Hinduism and Islamic faiths, represented in a parade, with images linking to their faiths on their banners. The hornbill flies above, swordfish swim below.
Victorian British influence continues with the colourful shopfronts, still in evidence in modern Singapore. And we had to have a storm!
The central panels shows Tanglin school, beside it a Banyan tree.
Skyscrapers appear, durian fruit shaped concert halls, Marina Bay Sands – the ship like building on top of three skyscrapers – a train on a bridge, the observation wheel, Lotus shaped science museum and the Sci-Fi like Gardens on the Bay take us to the future where the enchanted Merlion comes to life and lifts Singapore into the sky, a floating city, a space age metropolis… who knows? It feels anything is possible in the futuristic city!
I am enormously grateful to the staff at Tanglin for their exceptionally warm welcome, most especially junior librarian Celeste Fisher, who first proposed the mural and hosted it in her library. It was a great pleasure to work with her and to catch up with my friend, the infant librarian Ben Farr. Here they are with Jackie the senior librarian, outside one of the many temples in Singapore. Thank you one and all!
After the hard work, Celeste presented me with a beautiful book of sketches of Singapore. It inspired me to return to my own sketchbook, but that will have to wait for another post, along with my part in the Asian Festival of Children’s Content…
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