Vol. 12 Issue biblioasia03 OCT–DEC 2016 02 / The Art of Tan Swie Hian 17 / Origins of the Financial District 24 / Women Sculptors 30 / Early HDB Flats 44 / The Tiger in Art & Literature 52 / Remembering S R Nathan Art & Architecture BiblioAsia Director’s Note Editorial & CONTENTS Vol. 12 / Issue 03 OCT–DEC 2016 Production “The world is but a canvas of our imagination” the American poet and writer Henry Managing Editor David Thoreau famously said, and nowhere is this perhaps more evident than in the Francis Dorai art and architecture of a city. The dividing line between art and architecture is often FEATURES Editor blurred – when is a building of visionary design deemed a work of art? – but the Veronica Chee Baring Mind and Soul: creative process of executing a painting or a sculpture, or erecting a building – from 02 Tan Swie Hian architectural plans to its physical construction – are not dissimilar. Editorial Support It is impossible to speak of our art and architectural icons without mentioning Tan Masamah Ahmad Stephanie Pee 悲悯人生: Swie Hian. The virtuoso artist returns to the National Library after a long hiatus to pres- 10 陈瑞献的文艺创作 ent a new solo exhibition of his quintessential works along with his cherished notebooks Design and Print of scribblings and sketches – as Chung Sang Hong tells us. Don’t miss “Anatomy of a Oxygen Studio Designs Pte Ltd Free Mind: Tan Swie Hian’s Notebooks and Creations” on level 10 of the National Library Saving Pearl Bank Building, which opens to the public on 22 November 2016. Contributors 12 Apartments 02 10 Anasuya Soundararajan Still on the subject of art, Nadia Arianna Ramli writes about the community of Chung Sang Hong Singaporean women sculptors who have held their own in an art form that has long As Good As Gold: Gracie Lee been dominated by men. Going beyond the shores of our little island, Patricia Bjaaland Jessie Yak 17 The Making of a Welch examines the tiger motif in Asian art and literature. Justin Zhuang Financial Centre Purpose-built HDB flats, at least the ones from yesteryear, may not have won any Kevin Khoo Lai Chee Kien design awards, but who is to say they are not iconic? You can’t be anywhere except in Lim Tin Seng Soft Hands but Steely Singapore when you see laundry-laden bamboo poles suspended out of kitchen win- Nadia Arianna Ramli 24 Hearts: Women and dows. Yu-Mei Balasingamchow recounts the trials of early public housing in Singapore. Patricia Bjaaland Welch Their Art Pearl Bank apartments in Chinatown, built in 1976 and touted as the “tallest Sri Asrina Tanuri apartment block in Southeast Asia” at the time, is regrettably, a sorry sight today. Yu-Mei Balasingamchow Yet, the architectural icon has sufficient merit to warrant conservation, according to Public Housing, Please direct all 30 Private Lives Justin Zhuang. correspondence to: 17 12 If you’ve ever wondered how Golden Shoe Car Park in Market Street got its quirky National Library Board Time-Honoured name, then read Lim Tin Seng’s article on the history of Singapore’s business district. 100 Victoria Street #14-01 Temple Design Hint: the original area zoned for development took the quirky shape of an upturned National Library Building 36 lady’s shoe. Singapore 188064 Email: [email protected] The Padang: Two colonial-era icons, the Sri Mariamman Temple and the Padang, along with Website: www.nlb.gov.sg 40 Centrepiece of Colonial several of the original buildings surrounding the latter, are still around today. Anasuya Design Soundararajan and Sri Asrina Tanuri describe the architectural details of Singapore’s On the cover: oldest Hindu temple, while Dr Lai Chee Kien explains why and how the Padang became Detail taken from “Knot a symbol of British order and might during the colonial era. of Bliss” (2012), depicting The Tiger Within a pair of crimson goldfish During the Japanese Occupation, Christian POWs erected makeshift churches in with their lips conjoined as 44 their camps with whatever materials they could salvage – testimony of religious fortitude if in a kiss. Oil on canvas, in the face of persecution. Gracie Lee chronicles the architecture of these churches as 139 cm x 206 cm. Collection S R Nathan: 50 Stories featured in the book, The Churches of the Captivity in Malaya. of Tan Swie Hian. 52 from My Life 24 30 To raise awareness of our legal history, a new permanent exhibition, “Law of the Land: Highlights of Singapore’s Constitutional Documents”, opens on 19 October 2016 at the former Chief Justice’s Chamber and Office at the National Gallery Singapore. Kevin Khoo previews a selection of rare materials taken from the collections of the National Archives of Singapore and the National Library. Finally, on a more sombre note, we pay tribute to our much-loved late President S R Nathan, who not only read voraciously but was also the author and co-author of seven books. We honour his memory by featuring two milestone events – how he met his wife Urmila (or Umi as he fondly referred to her) and the Laju hijack incident – from All rights reserved. his book 50 Stories from My Life. National Library Board, We hope you enjoy reading this edition of BiblioAsia. Singapore, 2016. ISSN 0219-8126 (print) 36 40 44 52 ISSN 1793-9968 (online) The views of writers and con- Mrs Wai Yin Pryke tributors do not reflect the views Director of the Publisher. No part of this NL NOTES publication may be reproduced in National Library any form or by any means without prior written permission from the Building Faith: Wartime Publisher and copyright owner(s). 56 Churches in Syonan-to Whilst reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publica- Law of the Land BiblioAsia is a free quarterly publication produced by the National Library Board. It tion, the Publisher accepts no features articles on the history, culture and heritage of Singapore within the larger Asian legal liabilities whatsoever for 60 the contents of this magazine. context, and has a strong focus on the collections and services of the National Library. 56 60 BiblioAsia is distributed to local and international libraries, academic institutions, government ministries and agencies, as well as members of the public. The online edition of BiblioAsia can be viewed at: www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/ 01 BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2016 Vol. 12 / Issue 03 / Feature Chung Sang Hong is Assistant Director (Exhibitions & Curation) at the National Baring Library, Singapore. He is the lead curator of the “Anatomy of a Free Mind: Tan Swie Hian’s Mind Notebooks and Creations” exhibition. andSoul Tan Swie Hian After a long absence of 43 years, Singapore’s celebrated (Facing page) Portrait of Tan Swie Hian. Collection of Tan Swie Hian. (Above) Tan Swie Hian’s notebooks offer an inkling into the thought processes he engages in when creat- multi-hyphenate artist returns to the National Library with ing his artworks. These pages show handwritten notes and a sketch of his painting “Ode to Euphrates a new solo exhibition. Chung Sang Hong tells you more. Poplar”. Donated by Tan Swie Hian. Collection of National Library, Singapore. Journaling has been used by great artists and writings, they are a window to Tan’s Singapore’s Renaissance Man since time immemorial. Michelangelo’s formidable mind, which he describes as notebooks are not only a priceless archive an “immense web with myriads of beings Tan Swie Hian was born in Indonesia in j 3 of his creative inspirations but also offer hanging.” The exhibition aims to draw 1943 and moved to Singapore when he a rare glimpse into his private life. From people into the unfettered mind and soul was three. While as a student at the Chi- snippets of poetry, random doodles and of the artist, and reveal how his ideas, nese High School, Tan already displayed ethereal drawings to memos and prac- passions, philosophical insights and his prodigious talents in art, calligraphy tical listings of food and expenses, the spiritual enlightenment are manifested and poetry. He later pursued a degree notebooks cast a light into the Italian through his artistic and literary creations. in Modern Languages and Literature master’s inner world; the connections Tan refers to his notebooks as at Nanyang University, graduating in and juxtapositions of words and images his “secret garden”, and he is thus the 1968. In the same year he published his divulge the thinking and creative pro- diligent and disciplined “gardener” who first anthology,The Giant – a collection cesses behind his works.1 painstakingly and lovingly cultivates and of Chinese modernist poetry – a land- That same deep introspection, an nurtures the seedlings of inspiration. mark work that earned him recognition intimate baring of the mind and soul as it So intrinsically important are these as a poet of standing.5 Since then, Tan were, is similarly revealed in the private notebooks that Tan considers them as has published close to 40 collections of notebooks of Tan Swie Hian, whom Time his “companions in life”: they never poetry, essays, novels, fables, critiques magazine proclaimed in 2003 as “Sin- leave his side – they are stashed into and translated works. gapore’s Renaissance man”.2 For those his briefcase, they clutter his desk and The year 1973 was a turning point in who are familiar with the works of Tan, even his bedside. Tan’s life: he received spiritual illumina- this epithet is a justifiably fitting tribute. The pages are filled from cover to tion for the first time and deepened his Now for the first time, the National cover, with almost every square inch faith in Buddhism.