We, The People of Singapore

The Singapore March exhibition will be all about the glorious and most entertaining characters that make up Singapore.

The idea for this exhibition struck me when I was getting my handphone repaired by the neighbourhood handphone store. The gentleman in question was, for lack of a better word, a perfect Ah Beng. 

His clothes, his hair, his mannerisms, as well as that cocky, streetwise demeanour all exemplified a true Singaporean Ah Beng. How many more of these perfect character stereotypes exist, and are present around us now?

One of the many iconic Ah Bengs portrayed in Sui Yue: The Days, a local film directed by Boi Kwong.

Singapore's visual identity is still in a nascent stage. Our country is still very young and the visual repertoire of images that define us are extremely diverse and very complex. It is perhaps easier to imagine a Frenchman or a Japanese Salaryman, but Singaporeans are a very varied lot. What happens when we gather an entire army of our own Singaporean characters and put them in one place?

The Kacang Puteh Man, taken by ConnexionSG of Pininterest.

A Mama Shop Owner, Photo by Gary Wang.

PAP candidates Jessica Tan, Mohd Maliki Osman, Raymond Lim, Lim Swee Say and Lee Yi Shyan.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  If the entirety of Singapore's visual identity was to be represented by just fifty people, who would you pick? The Karang Guni man? Or perhaps our politician in white? Maybe we can find space to include our Mama Shop owner or our Summon Aunties!

Tune in here for more updates!