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.The paintings ‘Born on 4th June’ and ‘Yellow Face’ represent quite a departure for the artist whose repertoire of works up until the early 1990s was predominantly inspired by nature. ‘Born on 4th June’ commemorates the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Goh has used specific colours to symbolise different meanings: set against the billowing grey clouds of turmoil, yellow signifies a boy of Chinese heritage; red denotes the bloodstained Square. The boy represents ‘rebirth’ since the tragedy, but the missing red square corner implies that whatever rebirth has occurred is still not obvious and only time will reveal.
