Celebration of Life
by Belinda Low
Title
Celebration of Life
Artist
Belinda Low
Medium
Painting - Acrylic On Wall
Description
FEATURED in the following FAA groups
Just Perfect
Your Story of Art
Awesome Asia
Venue - 4 Sago Land (towards the direction of Keong Saik Rd). Duration = 3.5 days.
With the reopening of activities in Singapore and the lifting of the restrictions -- it seems life is almost back to normal. Been 2.5 years since the pandemic that all mural work had stopped. I thought I would never paint on walls again....until I was invited recently to paint two walls in Chinatown! I seized the opportunity and completed the walls within 7 days! As this is the first National Day that we will be celebrating outdoors after two years of doing it virtually that it calls for a National Celebration by putting these on walls everywhere. Except for one image - The faces you see are residents living here including the cat who goes by the name of 'Ah Fa' (Flower in Cantonese which is the main dialect). She is our mascot and comes by every day to greet me. We bonded immediately. I shall miss her dearly. lPassers-by who saw them knew who they are. This is a close community where most of the residents lived here for more than 40 years with their children grown up and now with their grandchildren.
Amongst them are iconic faces of the uncle who sold ice balls and is now retired. I remembered buying them for just a few cents back in those days when I was in elementary (primary) school. The older woman [fondly known as "Por Por" (maternal
grandmother) who is sitting down represents a breed of woman pioneers in our nation building. She came from China at a very young age to work here. They were either construction works known as the Samsui woman (named after an island by the same name) or worked as nannies to expatriate children. Understand she is now being cared for in a nursing home. She is known to be feisty, and very independent and lives alone.
The wall is therefore a metaphor of resilience not only for the seniors who saw through t WWII, but also in their early years when life was tough. The faces are of diverse races making Singapore unique that we can all LIVE together and forget the differences in race, language or religion.
It stands for a celebration of life for the young and old - a contiuum of life to the current younger generation who will continue to carry the torch for our country. A togetherness and cohesiveness to be a ONE NATION, ONE PEOPLE, ONE SINGAPORE. As the pledge goes -- "regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation."
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June 29th, 2022
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