CHUA MIA TEE
Chua Mia Tee is most well known for his paintings of the Singaporean streetscape that reflect the nation state and developing urban lifestyle in Singapore during the 20th Century. With Singapore facing issues such as racial riots, student demonstrations, and also the possibility of self-governance when approaching the year of independence, Chua sympathised with the realities of the students and working-class, documenting the then developing contemporary life and spirit of Singapore and her people through his paintings. Many of these works are now featured in the National collection of the National Gallery, giving a window to a lost era of pre- and post- independence Singapore in the 20th Century.
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National Language Class
(Left: Chua Mia Tee, 'National Language Class', 1959, Oil on canvas, 112 x 153 cm. Photo from National Gallery, https://www.nationalgallery.sg/see-do/programme-detail/77/national-language-class-by-spell7)
National Language Class, painted in 1959, depicts a group of students learning Malay, the then newly-assigned national language of Singapore. Scrawled on a chalkboard behind the teacher are two basic questions about identity and belonging, “siapa nama kamu?” (what is your name?) and “di-mana awak tinggal?” (where do you live?). Charged with nationalistic sentiment, Chua poses those simple questions to the audience: What is your name? Where do you live?
National Language Class is an iconic painting which captures a key moment in Singapore’s history using Chua’s distinct subtlety as a historical commentator. It depicts a group of Chinese students learning Malay, the newly designated national language of Singapore. The classroom is portrayed in a realistic perspective from a viewer’s position, using earthly and natural tones to define the subject while creating a sense of three-dimensionality. This work is heavily influenced by Chua’s nationalist sentiment, and commemorates Singapore’s long-awaited attainment of self-independence in the same year and the steps they took to foster a national identity among the multiculturalism present.
Portable Cinema
(Right: Chua Mia Tee, 'Portable Cinema', 1977, Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 79.4 cm. Photo from Google Arts and Culture, https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/portable-cinema-chua-mia-tee/KAGDALNTHTE68A)
Inspired by Chua’s own memories of his childhood growing up in Chinatown, Portable Cinema depicts young children looking into a trishaw-mounted peepshow, a common sight in the early 1940s.
Portable Cinema is one of Chua’s many artworks which serve as historical documentation tracing the nation’s changing landscape. The artwork is full of intricacy, from the detail of the machine to the contrast between the eagerness of the children and the nonchalant vendor. Notably, in the background, Chua captured views of the disappeared streets scenes such as the low hanging canvas of a makeshift extension from the shophouse, as the nation's programme of urbanization changed the landscape. Chua himself recalled watching the one-cent films as a child of five or six; the reels would last about two minutes in real time, but he would turn the crank slowly to savour the films, making them last four minutes instead of two.