It was the only graphic novel to make it onto the The Economist magazine’s Books of Year 2016. Previous page. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a biography showcasing the life and work of Chan Hock Chye, a pioneering but largely forgotten comics artist in Singapore. The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by comic artist Sonny Liew, tells the story of a Singaporean artist of satirical comics against the backdrop of almost 60 years of local history. It’s almost like Sonny telling the reader: “Don’t just take one man’s word for thing, read as much as you can to form your own opinion.” So what is so terrible about The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye that made it unsuitable for funding? But first, next Saturday, Liew will launch the much-anticipated The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, a 320-page tome that is three years in the making, and breathtaking in its ambition and scope. While The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye won big for Liew and his adoptive nation, will Singapore be big enough to accept this? He did not specify what these conditions were. With The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, Liew gives you as the reader a complex, multi-dimensional insight into the history of Singapore in the context of artistic creation .Unbiased, self-effacing, and outstandingly clever, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye sets a new standard of how to demonstrate the evolution of culture and politics outside of a textbook or formal essay. With The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye Sonny Liew has drawn together a myriad of genres to create a thoroughly ingenious and engaging work, where the line between truth and construct may sometimes be blurred, but where the story told is always enthralling, bringing us on a uniquely moving, funny, and thought-provoking journey through the life of an artist and the history of a nation. Read 3 articles daily and stand to win ST rewards, including the ST News Tablet worth $398. Best U.S. NAC’s senior director of the literary arts sector Khor Kok Wah said, “We had to withdraw the grant when the book The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye came out because its sensitive content, depicted in visuals and text, did not meet our funding conditions.”. The National Arts Council (NAC) originally gave Sonny a publishing grant for the work. Really? And… come on. Via Desmond Tay on FB: "I am reading the Charlie Chan Hock Chye book. "This approach goes against the spirit of artistic expression," Mr Low added. The ostensible reason given was because the comic had “sensitive content”. Back then, Liew had feared “Charlie Chan Hock Chye” would bomb without the NAC’s funding. Tags: amos yee ban books nac national arts council … How can NAC support such work?! All done! Grants are withdrawn very infrequently, said Mr Khor, adding in his letter on Wednesday that the NAC has spoken to both the artist and the publisher on the rationale for the withdrawal. But on Wednesday, Mr Khor elaborated on the decision to withdraw funding for the graphic. Liew had earlier wrote in a post about the withdrawal: “My initial issue with the withdrawal was the impact on the … While “The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye” tells the story of a fictional character, it includes … Views expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the owners of Unscrambled.sg. The NAC receives many grant applications every year and in 2013, awards were given to nearly 1,200 applicants across all major art forms, Mr Khor added. “In The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, author and illustrator Sonny Liew masterfully juxtaposes history and fiction—so much so that at first I couldn’t tell the difference! In the comic, it turned out to be a plot to replace all music in Singapore with the melodies of American singer Richard Marx. Shouldn’t it have an sharp eye for what is artistic? The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by comic artist Sonny Liew, tells the story of a Singaporean artist of satirical comics against the backdrop of almost 60 years of local history. The appendix provides detailed historical background information of the various parts of the comic’s story. With The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye Sonny Liew has drawn together a myriad of genres to create a thoroughly ingenious and engaging work, where the line between truth and construct may sometimes be blurred, but where the story told is always enthralling, bringing us on a uniquely moving, funny, and thought-provoking journey through the life of an artist and the history of a nation. Some may be reacting in defiance, but most are simply drawn in by their own curiosity. © 2016-2020 Unscrambled.sg. We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. With a career spanning more than five decades, from pre-independent Singapore through its three Prime Ministers, Chan’s work reflects the changing political and economic environment in Singapore. Another possible reason could be because how it depicted Operation Spectrum. With the Internet opening the world to Singapore, and vice versa, it’s time for the local institutions to forego provincial thinking when it comes to deciding what audiences want to see and appreciate. This article is now fully available for you, Please verify your e-mail to read this subscriber-only article in full. Share gift link below with your friends and family. Firstly, it was picked up by Pantheon Books for publication in the US and UK for 2016, the first Singapore graphic novel to have its rights bought by a major Western publisher. It's now officially ONLY Melaka. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. The Singapore graphic novel, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Epigram Books, 2015), written and drawn by Sonny Liew, was reported in the news recently. -- PHOTO: EPIGRAM BOOKS/ SONNY LIEW. They can read the article in full after signing up for a free account. Sonny Liew’s acclaimed graphic novel “The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye” has once again broken new ground, netting six nominations at this year’s Eisner Awards, the most ever attained by a Singaporean. Some $6,400 of the grant has already been disbursed, according to the graphic novel's publisher Epigram Books, but this will be returned to the NAC. "The retelling of Singapore's history in the graphic novel potentially undermines the authority of legitimacy of the Government and its public institutions and thus breaches our funding guidelines, which are published online and are well known in the arts community," he said. It has brought much disrepute to our national leaders!