SG Founding Father Mr Lee Kuan Yew cool look.

• Ct2220

  9 Sep 14, 07:16

  

  FOUNDING FATHER REIMAGINED: Ms Chan, 26, exhibited her works at the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention over the weekend. Her Lee Kuan Yew Cosplay caricatures were so popular with visitors that she had to take pre-orders on Saturday.

  PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER

   

  Mr Lee Kuan Yew, like you've never seen him before

  FORMER prime minister Lee Kuan Yew made an appearance at the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention (STGCC) over the weekend - in the form of five caricatures.

  Titled Lee Kuan Yew Cosplay, the 90-year-old is portrayed as five fictional characters: from Magneto in the latest X-Men movie to Yoda in Star Wars.

  Chan Shiuan, 26, who quit her flight attendant job of five years to become a full-time artist, is behind the idea.

  Ms Chan, who graduated from Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design in 2008, was first inspired to portray Mr Lee as Magneto, one of the characters in the X-Men franchise.

  "I was watching the latest X-men movie and was reminded of someone when Magneto came on. I realised it was Mr Lee only after the movie.

  "Both (Magneto and Mr Lee) are intelligent people who think they are right in their own ways," she said.

  The two days spent drawing Mr Lee as Magneto for fun at first became a little project, after a friend suggested that she expand it into a series.

  As the subject is a sensitive one, everyone warned Ms Chan she would get into trouble.

  "I am constantly thinking, 'Do I have enough money for bail?' or 'I better eat as much as I can before I go to jail,' " she said.

  She tried to get a good mix of characters.

  "I also stayed clear of cartoon characters that would make him look silly, out of respect," she said.

  Ms Chan hopes that by emphasising the element of fun, the general public would accept her caricatures of Mr Lee.

  That is also why she decided to call her works Lee Kuan Yew Cosplay.

  She said: "At STGCC, people cosplay all the time.

  "To see someone famous like our founding father cosplay - it tickles, it's funny and it piques your interest."

  The caricatures were so popular with visitors at the two-day STGCC that Ms Chan had to take pre-orders on Saturday.

  "Some comments I had were that (the caricatures) are really cute, that they like the idea and that (Mr Lee) fits the characters," she said.

  Lecturer Low Chee Lie, 36, who bought Ms Chan's prints, thought the caricatures were a salute to Singapore's founding father.

  He said: "I think it's beautiful how Mr Lee has been reimagined as fictional superheroes we've grown up with."

  Law professor Eugene Tan of the Singapore Management University sees this interpretation of Singapore's founding father as something positive.

  "You do have people who view the founding fathers somewhat like superheroes, but, at the same time, (are) very aware that they will have human frailties," he said.

  "So long as the artist doesn't put Mr Lee in a bad light."

  Referring to Ms Chan's interpretation of Mr Lee as someone who thinks he is right in his own ways, Associate Professor Tan attributed it to the era - post-1980s - that the artist was born in.

  "There may be aspects of laws and policies which someone born post-1980s may have difficulty trying to appreciate and understand," he said.

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  作畫时特別谨慎

  陈淑安�言，把建国总�畫�超级英雄，题�有点�感。她作畫时因此特別谨慎，除了�把�光耀畫��派人物，也�开那些看起�滑稽的人物。

  她说，让建国总ç�†ä¹ŸçŽ©æ—¶ä¸‹æµ�行的“角色扮演”，是幽默的手法，希望能激起人们的兴趣。

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  买家刘志利（36å²�，讲师）就说：“畫家大胆å�šå‡ºæ–°è¯ é‡Šï¼ŒæŠŠæ�Žå…‰è€€å…ˆç”Ÿå�˜æˆ�陪大家一起长大的超级英雄，是好的想法。”

  黄奕�：���是�派，政治家�会太介�

  国大政治系副教授黄奕�表示，把政治家畫��通肖�在国外相当常�，���是畫��派人物，一般�会太介�。况且，许多年轻人觉得科幻电影的人物很真实，把虚构的英雄人物和政治领袖�想在一起，�以是正�的事。

• Ct2220

  9 Sep 14, 07:39

  He ! He ! He !

  Maybe one day, somebody will have a Celebrity Taxi Driver cosplay.

  Then our PM Lee Hsien Loong, Hammer Low Thia Khiang。。。。。。。。

  

• Shorter ninja

  9 Sep 14, 08:37

  Write kena sue Draw pics maybe ok in Sinagapore
• FireIce

  9 Sep 14, 16:51

  cool meh.

• bowah

  9 Sep 14, 16:56

  By a young chio bu...of course can and cool lah, if lau Uncle draw..sure kenna sue liao... ...hmmm never know university professors and lecturers also like cosplay...Sex for grade or sex for promoting her...??
• Shorter ninja

  10 Sep 14, 07:48

  How she can get away making fun of our 'emperor' if she did something like that in Thailand..... Her backside koyak oready