The New Paper artists drew from history for The Illustrated Men In White.
Beyond The Men In White
IT was a Herculean task for the team behind the graphic novel.
Not only did it have the job of condensing a third of the 692-page Men in White into a 32-page graphic novel, it had to do it within a month.
The project was initially conceived as a three-part spread in The New Paper, but the team then explored the idea of a bigger production.
The team – comprising infographics journalists Kelvin Chan, Chng Choon Hiong, Celestino Gulapa, Jonathan Roberts and journalist Ng Tze Yong – clocked long hours over three weeks to meet the deadline.
Said Mr Roberts: “It was the usual panic plus extra panic to make sure that everything was absolutely perfect.”
Aside from the time constraint, the challenge for the artists was getting the exact likeness of the people who shaped Singapore’s history.
“There are three artists doing the illustration and everyone had his own style. But we still had to make sure that certain things, like the hairstyles, were the same,” said Mr Chan.
As the deadline drew near, niggling doubts started creeping in: Did we do it right? Is this the best way to present it? Is everything in its right place?
The team is thankful that the men behind Men in White helped with the facts.
Enjoyable experience
Despite the stress, the team enjoyed the experience.
Said Mr Gulapa: “Seeing the final result, I am relieved that everything gelled. The variety of methods used reflect each historical point we were depicting and give the book its character.
“It’s special because as artists, this is what we want to do full-time. It’s like a dream job.”
For Mr Roberts, it was discovering the little-known stories and the pivotal events which could have led the country to a very different place from what it is today.
The team also hopes the graphic novel will get more people to delve deeper into the country’s history.
The Illustrated Men In White, published by The New Paper and Straits Times Press, is available at all major bookstores at $10 (before GST).
By Lediati Tan
ledtan@sph.com.sg
IT was a Herculean task for the team behind the graphic novel.
Not only did it have the job of condensing a third of the 692-page Men in White into a 32-page graphic novel, it had to do it within a month.
The project was initially conceived as a three-part spread in The New Paper, but the team then explored the idea of a bigger production.
The team – comprising infographics journalists Kelvin Chan, Chng Choon Hiong, Celestino Gulapa, Jonathan Roberts and journalist Ng Tze Yong – clocked long hours over three weeks to meet the deadline.
Said Mr Roberts: “It was the usual panic plus extra panic to make sure that everything was absolutely perfect.”
Aside from the time constraint, the challenge for the artists was getting the exact likeness of the people who shaped Singapore’s history. More »
He was detained for involvement in riots.
By Lediati Tan
ledtan@sph.com.sg
HE wanted to be a businessman just like his second brother.
But the circumstances surrounding those volatile post-World War II years changed his mind, said Mr Fong Swee Suan, 78.
“The Chinese-educated faced problems ranging from education to housing to employment,” he said in Mandarin.
“They had very narrow prospects and could only go into commerce or be part of the teaching profession, while the English-educated ones could choose to work for the Government.”
He said that it was under such circumstances that he started studying in The Chinese High School in 1949, the same year that Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He was 18 then.
“While my family placed great emphasis on the importance of a good education, in school, the things that we face are not what we can control.
“Any normal youngster would have his ideals and would be unhappy with what is happening around them.”
Together with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Goh Keng Swee and the late S Rajaratnam, Mr Fong was one of the 14 founding members of the PAP in 1954.
As the secretary-general of the Singapore Bus Workers’ Union at the time, Mr Fong was involved in the strike in which workers demanded better working conditions.
Unfortunately, it led to one of the bloodiest riots in which four people died on 12 May 1955.
He was detained for 45 days for his involvement in the Hock Lee Bus Company riots.
A year later, he was rearrested when riots broke out after Chinese middle school students protested against some of the Government’s anti-communist measures.
His left-wing stance kept him behind bars even after the PAP came to power.
Mr Fong was released in 1959, only to be arrested again under Operation Cold Store in 1963.
He was among more than 100 leftist leaders arrested under the operation aimed at putting communists and suspected communists behind bars.
After his release in 1967, Mr Fong lived with his family in Malaysia as he was barred from entering Singapore. The ban was lifted in 1990.
He worked in Kuala Lumpur for a company dealing with sugarcane in 1968. Two years later, he moved to Johor Baru and worked for a trading company.
In 1976, he set up his own business selling machinery.
Return
He returned to Singapore in 1998 after his retirement.
Compared to the volatile years of the 1950s and 1960s, his retirement years are much quieter.
He told The New Paper on Sunday that he spends his time taking care of his four grandchildren, reading and travelling.
He also found time to pursue his childhood interest in commerce by completing an MBA through long-distance learning from St Clements University in 2000.
He obtained a Doctor of Management from the same university a year later.
It seems that Mr Fong has made peace with his past.
In an earlier interview with The Straits Times, Mr Fong said: “This is politics. This is what happens. But once we can survive and look after our families, that’s all that’s important.”
HE wanted to be a businessman just like his second brother.
But the circumstances surrounding those volatile post-World War II years changed his mind, said Mr Fong Swee Suan, 78.
“The Chinese-educated faced problems ranging from education to housing to employment,” he said in Mandarin.
“They had very narrow prospects and could only go into commerce or be part of the teaching profession, while the English-educated ones could choose to work for the Government.”
He said that it was under such circumstances that he started studying in The Chinese High School in 1949, the same year that Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He was 18 then. More »
Fong Swee Suan’s son: I didn’t want people to know he’s my dad.
By Lediati Tan
REPORTS:LEDIATI TAN
ledtan@sph.com.sg
HIS father is Fong Swee Suan, a man whose actions contributed to the 1955 Hock Lee Bus Company riot.
But growing up, he shied away from that connection.
“I made it a point not to let people know that I’m Fong Swee Suan’s son. I didn’t want to have them treat me differently and I didn’t want my future to be affected,” said Mr Otto Fong, 41, the youngest of Mr Fong’s three children.
He has a sister and a brother.
His father’s name was often mentioned in connection with the riot. (See report on facing page.)
The younger Mr Fong, who was born here, spent his childhood and teenage years in Malaysia as his dad, after repeated jail terms, was barred from entering Singapore.
The family settled in Johor Baru, and Mr Fong and his siblings travelled daily across the Causeway to study in Singapore.
He would get up at 5am and return home only after 3pm.
Said Mr Fong: “For my sister, her first six years were very tough. It was tough for my mum too as she had to support the family. But my dad was back in our lives when I was born.
“For me, it was mostly the inconvenience of travelling (to and from school).”
During his growing-up years, there were some well-known names around. For instance, there was Uncle Lim.
That was Lim Chin Siong, who was secretary-general of the opposition Barisan Sosialis which split from the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1961.
His mother would also take him along when she visited other family friends in Singapore. They include Dr Lim Hock Siew and Mr T T Rajah.
Dr Lim, a former political detainee, was also a leader of the Barisan Sosialis. He was detained for 19 years until his release in 1982.
Mr Rajah, who died in 1996, was the former legal adviser to the Barisan Sosialis.
“Growing up, I didn’t think too much about them. I just saw them as family friends,” he said.
But when he started secondary school at his father’s alma mater, The Chinese High School, he became more conscious of who his father was.
“Even my secondary school teachers knew my father. I can see that some people perceive my dad as something special,” observed Mr Fong.
But because there were negative stories about his father, he did not want to be associated with him.
It didn’t help when he saw unflattering political cartoons of his father, and when his dad was portrayed as a communist and blamed for the bloodshed during the Hock Lee Bus Company riots.
He would even get upset with classmates if they asked about his father.
“It’s just one of those things you don’t talk about,” he said.
It was the same at home. Family conversations were never about his father’s past experience, and it was rarely discussed even among the three siblings.
“My dad never told me about what happened in prison. He only told me about him learning Malay in prison or studying for his O levels and A levels,” said Mr Fong.
“For me, I was more concerned with things like pop songs and hairstyles like other teenagers my age.”
But on occasions when he had a rough day after an unpleasant journey between home and school, he would blame his dad: “I would say things like, ‘Why are we in JB? It’s all your fault.’”
But his dad never chided him for the hurtful remarks.
Said Mr Fong: “It’s the one thing I cannot reconcile with. He’s often described as a fierce fighter but he’s such a gentle person. He lost his temper at me only once.”
The younger Mr Fong recalled how his siblings were fighting loudly when the dad told them to shut up. The unexpected outburst frightened him so much that he went to his room to cry. He was about 12 years old then.
He said: “When my dad found out, he actually apologised to me.”
Why does he think his parents did not talk about their past?
“I think they wanted the children to start with a clean slate,” he said.
“I get the sense that they left it behind and they’re not carrying it with them so that we do not have to carry it too.”
Only in recent years, he said, did he start coming to terms with his father’s past which he described as a “very long process”.
“He allowed me to take my time to come to where we are about his past,” he added.
“My parents never imposed their past on me. They just wanted us to be happy, but of course they did tell us, ‘Don’t go into politics.’”
The publication of Men In White gave him an opportunity to be more involved with his father’s past.
He went with his father to the book’s launch at The Arts House in September.
Closure
Said Mr Fong: “I’m glad that my dad was given a platform to speak his mind. It gave him some form of closure.”
He added that he has also begun talking to his mother about their past and this has allowed him to view past events differently.
When he was younger, he would even stop his parents if they tried to explain his dad’s actions.
“I’m seeing things from a fresh perspective, of my dad speaking out for the downtrodden and fighting for the rights of a group of people,” he said.
“It made me feel that I’m so lucky to be his son as opposed to, ‘Oh my god, I’m so ashamed.’”
When he heard about the launch of the graphic novel, Mr Fong, who is a full-time comic artist, thought it was a great idea.
Still, when asked if he would use his expertise to tell his dad’s story, he felt that the time was not ripe for him to do so.
“At the moment, a lot of pieces of the puzzle are still missing… in terms of my maturity and my knowledge of history,” he said.
“I do want to see my dad portrayed in a fairer light than during those turbulent years.
“I want to see my dad as a hero, not a comic villain. But then again, the Joker is cooler than Batman,” he said with a wry smile.By LEDIATI TAN
ledtan@sph.com.sg
HIS father is Fong Swee Suan, a man whose actions contributed to the 1955 Hock Lee Bus Company riot.
But growing up, he shied away from that connection.
“I made it a point not to let people know that I’m Fong Swee Suan’s son. I didn’t want to have them treat me differently and I didn’t want my future to be affected,” said Mr Otto Fong, 41, the youngest of Mr Fong’s three children.
He has a sister and a brother.
His father’s name was often mentioned in connection with the riot.
The younger Mr Fong, who was born here, spent his childhood and teenage years in Malaysia as his dad, after repeated jail terms, was barred from entering Singapore.
The family settled in Johor Baru, and Mr Fong and his siblings travelled daily across the Causeway to study in Singapore.
He would get up at 5am and return home only after 3pm.
Said Mr Fong: “For my sister, her first six years were very tough. It was tough for my mum too as she had to support the family. But my dad was back in our lives when I was born. More »
Men In White in a lighter, graphic format.
by Jeremy Au Yong
The Straits Times, Friday, 13 Nov, 2009
THE best-selling book about the early years of the People’s Action Party, Men In White, will soon be available in a lighter format: a comic.
A team from The New Paper has turned the 692-page book chronicling the PAP’s rise, fall, split and resurgence into a 32-page graphic novel.
It is called The Illustrated Men In White: Selected Tales Of Power, Struggle And Betrayal.
The team behind this new comic – artists Kelvin Chan, Chng Choon Hiong, Celestino Gulapa, Jonathan Roberts and journalist Ng Tze Yong – said its aim was to reach out to people who might not have read the book.
Said Mr Ng, the comic’s author: “We felt the tales selected for our slim book just had to be told in a graphic way to those who might never delve into Singapore’s political roots.” More »
