Born in 1954 in Singapore, Ng Yak Hwee is a graduate of Singapore’s former Nanyang University (Botany major). An accomplished painter and sculptor, Ng received the 1987 Silver Medal from the Salon des Artistes Français, and won First Prize (Figurative category) in the 1992 UOB Painting of the Year Competition.For this work Goh has used nine smaller panels to form the complete painting – a grid that recalls the nine squares used when learning how to write Chinese characters. Again, as with ‘Born on 4th June’, Goh has used the colour yellow to indicate the face in the slightly raised centre panel is of a person of Chinese heritage (a colour code used during Goh’s National Service days). The contours and lines of the face are traditionally what Chinese fortune-tellers observe and read – the face reveals one’s future and fortune.
