Chua Mia Tee remarkable life like epic realism
Singapore leading realism artist Chua Mia Tee
Chua Mia Tee Directing the Real
Chua Mia Tee is one of Singapore’s leading realist artists. On reading this, my first thought was that I prefer photographs to realistic paintings.
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Why spend hours painting something that could be captured by a camera in seconds? The exhibition Directing the Real changed my thinking.
In a video introducing the exhibition, the artist directly answers the question, saying:
“The creation of paintings is different from photos. The act of painting can be selective and some things related to the theme can be exaggerated. Those that have nothing to do with the theme are omitted or relaxed. Therefore, painting has nothing to do with photography and will not be the same.
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Take this painting, Workers in Canteen, as an example. There are more than seventy people in this painting.
If you want to photograph such a work, you must find more than seventy people, almost everyone must be a good actor, and a director must teach them the kinds of expression and action they must have.
Then under certain lighting, there must be a good photographer. At that moment, the human and material resources expended are more than painting, and this becomes a waste of material and time. Painting can provide more freedom.
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You can paint as you desire. The painter is also the director, actor, production designer and photographer.
The National Museum Singapore goes on to describe Chua’s paintings as “painted documentaries” for, like documentary films, they make a claim on reality but are nonetheless subjective representations of the world.
Singapore nationalism after WWII
He developed as an artist during a momentous period in Singapore’s history, and his works bear witness to its burgeoning nationalism after World War II, followed by independence and subsequent rapid economic progress.
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His art from the 1950s to the 1980s captures this history, and his realist approach reflects Singapore as he saw it, portraying its aspirations and transformations.
Chua Mia Tee was born in China in 1931. In 1937, his family permanently moved to Singapore to escape the Sino-Japanese War. From an early age, he was inspired by his father to pursue art.
![Portrait of Lee Boon Ngan, 1957, Oil on canvas, [the artist's wife], Chua Mia Tee](https://culture-hongkong.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/P1038342-Chua-Mia-Tee-Web.jpg)
He enrolled in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1950 and one year later, at the age of twenty, he was appointed as a part-time tutor. He subsequently became a full-time lecturer.
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Chua was a founding member of the Equator Art Society, established in 1956 with the goals of providing art education and contributing to the development of realist art in Singapore.
Artists in this group were primarily concerned with depicting the masses, especially the working class, using their works to draw attention to the harsh realities of daily life at the time.
Voice of the people and serve the people
He was strongly influenced by the writings of Wang Chaowen, a Chinese leftist art theorist, who advocated for artists to become “the voice of the people and serve the people”.
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Chua himself championed the need for artists to draw from personal experiences and depict familiar aspects of Malayan society to create meaningful works that resonated with the public.
Chua’s paintings express reality through the lens of his personal experiences and, just as importantly, his principles. He believed art must be realistic, virtuous and beautiful.
His approach emerged during the post-World War II period in Singapore.
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As communities in Singapore and Malaya sought to heal from the traumatic experiences of the Japanese Occupation, they began to question the legitimacy of British colonial rule and hold hopes for a new, independent nation.
Artists came together to develop a new Malayan art that could act as the antidote to society’s ills and bolster the spirit of nation-building.
The rallying cries of the day were for independence and morally upright values.
A cultural movement emerged, one that advocated these values and took a particularly strong stance against pornography.
To these artists, morality was inseparable from culture and society and the nation they desired.
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Singapore’s changing landscape and disappearing ways of life were central themes through the 1970s and 1980s, with Singapore itself becoming a character.
The city-state’s rapid economic development and the rise of technology led to a more fast-paced lifestyle.
The increased availability of modern transport such as buses, cars and taxis relegated trishaws to tourist rides.
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Shophouses were razed to make way for modern office towers and apartment blocks for the country’s growing population, transforming Singapore’s skyline.
Chinatown near the Singapore River was a particular draw. As it was cleaned up and its industries and dwellings relocated and replaced, Chau endeavoured to document the Singapore he knew.
Chua Mia Tee respected photography
He took numerous photographs of scenes to help develop his paintings.
While Chua Mia Tee respected the art of photography, he never exhibited these images.
Instead, his paintings portray the likenesses of people, daily life and landscapes with a realism that is more than factual accuracy.
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At its heart is a deep belief that the artist has a responsibility to uncover the truths, virtues and beauty of life, which extend beyond what we can see.
Text National Gallery Singapore & Martin Wray / Photos Martin Wray
