CHNG HUCK THENG, SCULPTOR, PAINTER AND BON VIVANT ESTABLISHED A RECORD LAST MAY IN SINGAPORE BY BEING THE FIRST AND ONLY MALAYSIAN ARTIST TO SELL A SUPERB BRONZE SCULPTURE FOR S$ 21,000!
Chng Huck Theng with 'Anak Malaysia
Chng Huck Theng, Linda Ma and Ali Kusno Fusin, owners of 33 Auction
'Anak Malaysia' sold for S$ 21,000!
Linda Ma, ever elegant and fashionable owner of 33 Auction
Chng Huck Theng with admirers of his sculpture
The Chinese
The Malay
The Indian
A bigger look; The Malay
The Chinese
The Indian
Anak Malaysia on display at Museum of Contemporary Art before the auction
Linda Ma, Chng Huck Theng and Ali Kusno Fusin
Kee Hua Chee joins in
Kee Hua Chee joins in
With 'Anak Malaysia' but not all are anak Malaysia!
Linda Ma, owner of 33 Auction House holding the Chinese in 'Anak Malaysia'
Linda Ma with Anak Malaysia
Linda Ma with Anak Malaysia
Linda Ma with Anak Malaysia
Linda Ma, Chng Huck Theng and Kee Hua Chee
Taking it easy; Linda Ma, Chng Huck Theng and Kee Hua Chee
The auction selling price of S$ 21,000 did not include the buyer's premium of 15% so the total amount the fortunate new owner had to pay was S$ 24,500 or around a respectable RM 60,790!
The trio of sculptures was entitled 'Anak Malaysia' and obviously represented the 3 main races of Malays, Chinese and Indians. Standing at 48 by 30 by 30cm, the high price fetched was even more remarkable as this was not unique but #2 out of eight sets. The first is now on show at East West Museum in Penang and the remaining sets are either sold by private treaty or not yet cast.
"This trio of sculptures have always been in my mind, bubbling up only to dissipate but always at the back of my mind for the past decade. Only within the last 2 years did I decide to materialise my dream by working stoically on crafting and designing my sketches into bronze reality," explains Chng Huck Theng, 40.
"'Anak Malaysia' is all about being Malaysian and being proud of it! We are born Malaysian and are proud to be Malaysian as this is the only home we have. The 3 figures represent the main races of Malaysia though originally I wanted to add a fourth to represent the Orang Asli, tribes and Eurasians but the figurine would be too generic and I would probably end up pleasing none so I decided to focus on the 3 main races."
Says Linda Ma, managing director of 33 Auction which conducted the auction at Grand Hyatt Singapore, "I got to know Chng through his father when he visited Malinda Art Gallery, my art gallery in Jakarta. He bought some paintings and said his son had just cast some bronzes and asked me to have a look the next time I went to Penang."
By chance this glamorous and sexy multi millionairess from Medan, Sumatra was born and raised in Penang. She studied at Han Chiang High School and only returned to Indonesia when her father passed away. Her parents were avid art lovers and collectors and Linda Ma inherited this trait.
At 22, she opened Malinda Art Gallery in Jakarta. "I named the gallery after myself by reversing my name Linda Ma into Malinda which sounds more Indonesian. Now I have galleries in Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing."
In 1997 she married fellow millionaire Ali Kusno Fusin, a property developer and decided to elevate her art business into the next level. "We established 33 Auction in 2008. My husband liked our auction house to be named Auction 88 but I thought it was too common. As Beyonce announced in her song, women rule the world so I got my way. I preferred 33 as '3' means life so to me, '33' means 'double life'! By the way, I was not 33 when I set up Auction 33!"
After Chinese New Year, Linda Ma came to Penang for a working holiday. When she saw 'Anak Malaysia', she knew she had a winner. "It was highly creative, interesting, unusual and eye catching. 'Anak Malaysia' is not pretty in the conventional sense but it certainly rouses passion and attention! To me, the 3 figurines look cute, charming, humorous and fun at first glance. Even if you see them for the first time and are unaware of what they represent, they will lift your spirits. This is good reason enough to buy!
"The 3 figures make a positive political statement yet stand on their own as endearing and lovable works of art. I immediately included 'Anak Malaysia' for the auction on 6 May in Singapore and priced it S$ 12,000 to S$ 20,000 as I know how much the art market can take."
True to form, 'Anak Malaysia' sold a tad more than the higher estimate at S$ 21,000.
Grinned an elated Chng, "I would have been happy and relieved to see 'Anak Malaysia' go for S$ 15,000 but don't publish this. I was up against established sculptors like Zhu Wei whose aluminum sculpture was estimated between S$ 120,000 to S$ 160,000. Well, Zhu Wei's sculpture sold for S$ 120,000.
"I don't know who bought 'Anak Malaysia' but I hope he or she will have many years of pleasure looking at my 'Children of Malaysia'.
"I hope one day we will all be 'anak Malaysia' ie 'children of Malaysia' and not just being Malay or Malaysian Chinese or Malaysian Indian! We already respect each other's cultures and religions and we live in harmony yet we maintain our own different traditions and lifestyles."
At first glance all three look markedly different but the deepest irony?
All three started off the same and could have been identical if not for minor alterations!
Elaborates their creator, "I just tweaked their necks and added a songkok on the Malay figure and 'putu' on the Indian and their entire facial expressions changed dramatically! However the Chinese figure has no distinguishing mark. In a way this is very apt as the Chinese diaspora is spread all over the world but in countries where they are a minority, they keep a low profile and are hence considered by some as the 'invisible race'!
"You may notice their garments are near identical which is intentional as I purposely avoided their national costumes of a mandarin coat, Baju Melayu or Nehru jacket. That would be so cliche and passe! I want to show that however different we are, we share more commonalities than we ever imagined and we all share the same roots due to our humaneness. Some tell me there appears to be a root entwining on the left shoulder! You see what you wish to see!"
The 3 main ethnic races have different beliefs and cultures yet are a reflection of each other. Says Chng, "This is to remind all Malaysians that only with tolerance and acceptance of each other can the spirit of patriotism stay strong and alive."
Concurs Linda Ma, "Chng Huck Theng is one of a few artists, if not the only one, to boldly incorporate racial elements into his sculpture to express his outlook on the racial differences in Malaysia."
This normally sensitive issue takes a back seat as the racial overtones are eclipsed by the statuettes' appearance. Squat, abstract, cartoonish and grotesque even, the threesome come with thick, puckered lips, seemingly deformed torsos and oversized toes. Each of the sharply delineated body gives the impression it could bob up and down or sideways when touched.
Hardly heroic in physique and posture, 'Anak Malaysia' may well be Chng's caricatures of ourselves. Each equally funny in hindsight and in foresight!
"The differences, or what we perceived as differences, come from our minds and not from appearances." says Chng Huck Theng.
1Malaysia can hardly be better expressed than in 'Anak Malaysia'.
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