"The sheer diversity of human life means that what counts as important can be somewhat subjective, or at least a niche affair. But insofar as historical matters which can shape us and affect how we behave and think, then a more inclusive account would surely be a good thing."

 

 

 

B   is for... book. What is your favourite childhood book?

 

Too many to really choose from, but I remember Roger Hargreave’s Mr. Men books having a particular flavor (especially in their illustrations) that I still can’t put my finger on. 

 

A   is for… animal. If you could transform into one animal for one week, what would you be?

 

Maybe a Dodo - just to see the reactions. And hopefully I won’t get dissected in the name of science or eaten. 

 

N  is for… necessary. If you were banished to a desert island and could only bring two items, what would they be?

 

A copy of Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything and a Swiss Army Knife. Hopefully, one will make me feel knowledgeable enough to put the other to good use! Although I’d probably still end up eating poisoned berries. Also, a lot depends on just what sort of desert island this is. (Almost) Everything is contextual after all.

 

A is for… authentic. How would you describe yourself in three words?

 

I wouldn’t really.

 

N is for… novelist. Which writer do you most admire?

 

For Graphic Novelists I would have to say Chris Ware. For novels, perhaps Don Delillo.

 

A    is for… appetite. What is your favourite banana themed food?

 

Banana Milk - even if that’s technically a drink. 

 

What are your influences and inspirations? 

 

There really are too many to speak of - in the wider sense. Everything from family and friends, to movies and music and of course other comics, which would include everyone from Bill Watterson to Daniel Clowes, Yoshiharu Tsuge to Alan Moore. But for the present, I’d hazard to say that I’m interested to try to do a little of what David Simon (creator of The Wire) has done - that is to have enough knowledge and mastery of narrative forms to tell a really compelling story whilst having something of real purpose to say. Or in his own words from an interview I saw on YouTube:

 

“I'm not really interested in making entertainment. I know it has to be entertaining, and it has to draw people in and the characters have to be worthy. I know what the form is... but if at the end of the day I've just entertained you, and there hasn't been an argument within the piece, than I've shamed myself in front of my father's ghost."

 

 

Your work seems to have mixed influences from a simple retro comic style to artwork that would not look out of place in an art gallery. Was it difficult to maintain both balance and cohesion when you were creating The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye? 

 

Hmm… well the central idea behind the book was quite clear from the get go – it would be a telling of Singapore’s history through the lens and form of a fictional comics history. But the exact nature of the book evolved quite a bit. What had been intended as a book with essays and image excerpts of the works with a whole slew of fictional creators ultimately evolved into focusing on one artist (with the written essays transmuted into more comics, Scott McCloud-style).

 

I don’t think there are exact rules on the decision-making process (a lot of which is intuitive). For my part, I thought that a book covering so much historical ground and containing so many breaks of styles needed to be simpler in other areas. So, some elements were pared down to ensure the narrative was more manageable both on the creative side and for the reader.

 

I always knew that the book would take on an “Art of…” book format and part of the challenge was to make it all readable somehow. I thought it was at least possible based on prior experimentations in books like Malinky Robot: Bicycle and The Life of Georgette Chen. In these books, the trick was to try to introduce different elements in a gradual and subtle manner – sort of trying to show the reader how to read the book even as they were reading it.

The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye covers the history of Singapore. Why did you decide to write about this subject?

 

 

I’ve spent the bulk of my life here in Singapore and had always been vaguely aware that there were contesting accounts that challenged the dominant historical narrative. The so-called “Singapore Story” was told by the ruling party but any knowledge of both the dominant and alternative accounts were patchy at best. So, I wanted to try to get to grips with things and see if I could craft a story around whatever understanding emerged.

 

To put it into perspective, you’d have to imagine a United States where only one party has been in charge of all branches of the government and the power they would have been able to wield over the historical discourse.

 

Ultimately though, I’d argue that it’s not about presenting a revisionist history as much as a more inclusive one - which while it may lose some of the black and white certainty, is also more truthful to the richness of the country’s past.