Nagore Durgha Shrine at Boon Tat Street

Singapore is a big melting pot and in this Chinatown area at the corner of Boon Tat Street and Telok Ayer Street, you will not only find the oldest Chinese temple which I did a sketch here but also a mosque, a Methodist church and an Indian shrine which I visited this week after work.

The shrine was built by the Muslims of southern India in 1828–1830 at Telok Ayer Street which was then a sandy beach crowded with sailing craft. The Nagore Durgha Shrine was gazetted a National Monument in 1974. The architectural features of the building blends classical and Indian Muslim motifs.

The weather was so hot and humid that I had two big icy apple smoothie drinks and sat outside the drink stall comfortably while experimenting with watercolours, brush pen and watercolour paper that already collaged with gesso, colour tissue papers, paper pulp and blue acrylic paint. Using a brush pen to draw on a collage was a new technique for me and I found it very liberating and refreshing.

To simplify the motifs, I find it very therapeutic to add so many dots on the building with the brush pen.

Sultan Mosque on a hot day

I did a black and white sketch on Sultan Mosque last Jan here. Last Saturday I did another quick postcard size watercolour piece as I arrived late at the Mosque. When the bird shit landed on the top left corner of the watercolour piece, we had to leave and find a place to rest as the weather was unbearably hot and humid. We went to chill at the near-by cafe called FIKA, a halal Swedish cafe. We were eating, chatting, drinking and sketching for another 2 to 3 hours. Oh yes, let me introduce the new sketching team formed by the ex-students of mine - from the left in the picture outside the Mosque - Zaihan, Nori, Ridwan, and Lawrence. Shu Shen, also an ex-student, joined later. Gus, a friend of the group was seen here in blue T-shirt also joined in the fun. We were very proud of the last photo with all the sketchbooks placed on the table and we called them 'fruits of labour'.

old but charming hospital building

I sat in the car and sketched this old building which I wanted to take a close look at its charming architecture for a long time. It was built after a typical old Malay style that the building was raised by column stumps to prevent flood in the old days. The area beneath the building was also used for storage to rear livestock like pigs and chickens in the past. This old building which houses the Tuberculosis Control Unit, is part of a very big hospital complex with a mixture of new and old buildings.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital is today transformed from a village hospital to a state of the art medical institution. It is named after its founder who built it in 1844. He is also the donor of many other public buildings including this temple without nails I did earlier.

It was so quiet that I only noticed three old patients accompanied by their family members going in and out of the premises. Two gentlemen walked passed my car and gave me a nice smile when they saw what I did at my driver seat. "They can't be patients and must be researchers or doctors with that kind of smile on their face" I said to myself.

the leaning tower of Singapore

I went to a local marketplace where locals and tourists shop for backpacking gear, army gear and equipment. I bought two small foldable chairs, one with back rest and one without. I put my new foldable chair to good use that I sat along the pavement and sketched the famous mosque near-by.

The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque was built between 1845 and 1846. It was named after a Malay business lady of the same name who donated the land to build the mosque for the community. The mosque is located within the Kampong Glam district where an earlier sketch was done for another big mosque called Sultan Mosque about 500m away. The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque is well-known for its leaning tower which leans about six degrees towards the onion-shaped dome. The leaning tower or the minaret has a European influence because it was designed by J.T. Thomas, the government surveyor. The mosque also has European Doric pilasters and a Moorish verandah.

After Hajjah Fatimah's death she was buried in a special chamber at the rear of the Mosque; her tombstone as well as her daughter's stand side bye side in the chamber. The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque was gazetted as a national monument in 1973.

I also found another good use for the new foldable sketching chair, as a support for the sketch when I took a photo as shown above. For this sketch, I also try my relatively new pen - the affordable Hero M86 caligraphy fountain pen with Noodler's ink.

national monument

The heat was still unbearable although I sat under the big shade on a Sunday afternoon.

I sketched the famous clock tower building of the Chinese High School on one Sunday. The Chinese High School, also the first Chinese secondary school in Singapore was constructed in 1919 and completed in 1925. The clock tower building was gazetted as a national monument on 19 Mar 1999. This year the School celebrates its 90th anniversary.

The building was used by the Allied defenders during the Battle of Singapore, as well as during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army for the purpose of surveillance. The building's history is synonym to the history of our country.

There are four clocks on the clock tower. This historical building is a powerful landmark along a major road in a low rise, high class residential area.

where are my stamps?

When I was a kid, my father introduced me to stamp collecting and I was very much excited about the hobby that I had about four to five stamp albums as a kid. I also started collecting first day covers and other related philatelic items when I was older. Although I did not continue with my childhood hobby, I kept the precious stamp albums in the closet and some of the stamps could be very valuable in today's market. The hobby satisfied my curiosity about the world and helped to introduce art, design and stamp illustration when I was young. So last Friday, when I visited the Singapore Philatelic Museum , I was very familiar with some of the displays on old local stamps from the 50s to 70s. Here is a sketch of the museum that will remind me of the stamp albums in the closet waiting patiently for me to take them out and do something.

temple without nails

This 169 years old temple built from 1839 to 1842 is the oldest and the most prominent temple in the old days frequented by the Chinese immigrants giving thanks to Ma Zu, the Goddess of the Sea for their safe voyage. Thian Hock Keng Temple is now managed by the rich and powerful Hokkien Clan and it is still visited by local devotees, scholars and tourists. It is located right in the heart of the central business district.

The fascinating part about this temple of southern Chinese architectural style is that the entire structure including the pagoda was assembled without nails. The roof eaves and roof parapets are heavily adorned with dragons and phoenixes which are traditional animals symbolic of auspiciousness. Wu lu or a big gourd on top of the roof of the pagoda on the right side of my sketch symbolizes longevity and the ability to ward off evil spirits.

Inside the temple hall, there is a plaque inscribed with the words 波靖南溟(Gentle Waves over the South Seas) presented by Qing Dynasty Emperor Guang Xu in 1907, evidence of the temple's stature.

The time that I was sketching at the corridor opposite the temple, there must be at least 4 to 5 big tour coaches carrying tourists from different countries visiting the temple. These big coaches often blocked my view so it took me a little longer than expected to finish the sketch. I did it in one hour.

Istana - the palace

To celebrate the National Day on 9 Aug, it is timely for me to post a sketch of the Istana on National Day eve. The Istana which means Palace in Malay is the official residence of the President of Singapore. The place is open for five occasions only in a year to the public on the Chinese Lunar New Year, Indian Deepavali, Malay Hari Raya Puasa, Labour Day and the National Day. Last Sunday I visited the place it was open to celebrate the upcoming National Day.

The main building or the government house, the national flag and the cannon are the main icons in this sprawling Istana compound of over 100 acres. I excluded the crowd to give the place its sense of saintliness and significance.

Happy 44th National Day Singapore!

downtown

This is a million dollar view!

Tuesday evening I went downtown to meet a friend. Her office was at 35th storey of Republic Plaza and the view was just spectacular. The circle on the left was the bright orange sun slowly descended into the horizontal as I watched in awe. I managed to do a sketch of the view from her office window before the sky became really dark. The tall building is the Singtel Building designed by Kenzo Tange Associates completed in 1986.

house with entrance staircase

Old houses on the left with ornamented entrance staircase are fast disappearing. This house type has its root in the Malay traditional house design. The location is Joo Chiat Place. I sat at the bus stop opposite the house and sketched this. The ornamented street lamp is of a typical design found in the Joo Chiat / Eunos area traditionally a Malay village. This neighbourhood is flooded with immigrants. How do I know? I hear them speaking in at least four different foreign dialects at the bus stop on a Sunday afternoon.

empty on Sunday?

Two days ago, Asnee, our Thai fellow urbansketcher had a great post displaying his many beautiful works of Singapore. One of which is our busy downtown central financial district sketched at lunch peak hours. I prefer to sketch the romantic side of Singapore, but here is a rare sketch I did early this year on Raffles Place, our downtown financial district. Inspired by recent digital exploration from the fellow urbansketchers, I added the digital colours last night. Although our downtown area is a typical busy financial belt categorised by many tall, modern and contemporary buildings designed by world renowned architects, there are less traffic and people on Sundays. Is'nt that the problem of all the financial hubs in the world that they all look like ghost towns on Sundays?

Raffles Place

I sketched Raffles Place early this year. The place was empty on Sunday so as my mood then I think. Will like to add some digital colours.

this is where I was born!

This is an old building in art-deco architectural style with very attractive yellow door, geometrical window grilles and art nouveau mild steel balustrade design. It has a special place in my heart simply because I was born here. It used to be a very famous private hospital founded by the late Professor A.V. Salmon whose aged daughter is still staying at this building with her helper. I last met her a year ago and briefly chatted with her at the building entrance. Dr Yvonne Salmon is the longest serving staff of the then government run Kandang Kerbau Hospital which has been transformed into today's KK Women's and Children's Hospital. Both father and daughter are the who's who in the history of obstetrics and gynecology in our country.

The building has just been given a new coat of paint. I wish it will not fall prey to urbanisation and modernisation which already seen quite a number of beautiful old buildings been demolished in the vicinity.

same building at different angles

This corner of the street is my favourite spot for sketching. The corner building at Club Street and Ann Siang Hill has been given a new leaf and it is now a very popular hang out place especially for the expatriates in the evening with dinning tables and chairs packing the entire corridor. However, when I did these two drawings from different angles on two separate weekends in the early morning in 2007 and 2008 respectively, the street was relatively empty and quiet. I will probably go back and do another drawing for 2009 but this time, a night scene perhaps....and have you noticed the same road sign (Club Street) at the same place?

air ships in the shopping complex?

I did a sketch at a huge suburban shopping complex called Novena Square. This sketch was done over a regular black coffee at the link bridge which is also the location for a local coffee chain called "Coffee Bean". There are these gigantic "air-ship" sculptures hanging in the atrium that are permanent and I thought they are just too loud and overpowering.

Public Housing

This is Rochor Centre, a public housing complex in Singapore built in the 70s. Over 80% of Singaporean live in public housing like this and we call them HDB flats. HDB stands for Housing and Development Board. Rochor Centre is unique with its location near the city area with four slab towers above a few floors of shops, eateries and offices plus a huge basement carpark. I signed up for music lessons this afternoon at a music school above the coffee shop on the left and I did this sketch while enjoying a cup of local black coffee sitting along the corridor. The colouring was done on location too.

Can you spot the laundry above? People staying in the public flats hang their laundry on the bamboo sticks outside the kitchen windows to dry. It is a common scene for our public housing estates. Some say these are our "national flags"!

sketching national monument

My ink catridge totally dried up when I finished this drawing on location. I literally used up the last drop of ink!

This afternoon my son and I spent about 25 minutes before his 2pm Akido class which is at a building adjacent to this national monument, an important building that connects Chinese revolution and our country. Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall or Wan Qing Yuan(晚晴园) was an old villa where Dr Sun Yat Sen stayed and planned the revolutionary activities in 1906 during the revolution. The planned uprising did happen in 1907 in China but the revolutionary army had to retreat when they were surrounded by the Qing army. The Qing Dynasty finally fell in 1911.

The weather today is irratic. It was very hot like 32 degree C when we were sketching. However, it started pouring with repeated ligtnings and thunders after the Akido class one hour later. We saw at least two big falling brunches on the road on our way home. I got home, scan and post. It is still raining like cats and dogs outside.

Balmoral Park

Those days in 1980s, we could get big job by showing our great ideas like this on butter paper mounted on boards. In just one week, I designed and did the visuals on butter paper with a lot of interesting interior spaces. I cannot find the big interiors drawings and this exterior view was found on my pc:

award winning building

I worked at Housing and Development Board in the late 80s and I was lucky to be given the opportunities to design a few buildings. Most of the HDB architects were either designing public housing or managing the construction projects. My design won the SIA Architectural Design Award in 1991. Here is the citation published for the award.

CITATION - SIA ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AWARD 1991
on Clementi Sports Hall by Housing and Development Board
"The dramatic form of the building is entirely appropriate to its setting with the Ayer Rajah Expressway on the south and the parking plaza on the north. The simple sculptural form is sensitively related to surrounding developments allowing for a harmony of geometries and sympathetic ground treatment.

The grammatical permutation of forms is reinforced by the choice of materials and the detailing of the junctioning of the different building elements and the use of the louvred facade cladding."

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