'The Modern Ancient Mariner'

'Rice, rice, everywhere, nor any grain to eat.'

The Free Press, 18 Sept 1946, Wednesday.

Reference to Coleridge and Killearn again. But what is the bird doing there?

It'll be interesting at this point to place the cartoons so far in context and also to see how the other cartoonists/papers were portraying the same event. (Thanks to Kevin Blackburn for the notes and cartoons below)

The reports in the ST for 24 August 1946 (taken from Singapore: Illustrated History (1984)) seem quite scathing of Lord Killearn, especially the ‘letter’ with the former Japanese Mayor Odate congratulating Killearn on reducing the rice ration to a level that even he could reduce it during the Japanese Occupation.



The Peng cartoon for ST 24 August 1946 is hard on Killearn as well. He seems to be getting the blame for the reduced rice ration. The cartoon in the Illustrated History that has Lord Killearn as the ‘Black Market King’ is particularly strong, and it is submitted by a reader, Mr Goh Seng Lim.





These cartoons and letters seem to be in response to Lord Killearn’s 21 August 1946 speech frankly telling the public ‘the days of Japanese tapioca are not over’ and asking the public to ‘grow more food’. (which inspired the following cartoon from The Malayan Tribune, 5 Sept 1946)



In the same speech on 21 August 1946, Killearn did explain that the Thai government had declared all rice supplies national property in order to help supply Malaya, and prevent hoarding. He also mentioned that Burma was trying to fix up its bombed infrastructure to get rice to Malaya. But cautioned that the stocks of the supplying countries are at their lowest in the aftermath of the war.

All these thus provide the context for the first Kwan cartoon on 26 August 1946.

By the end of the first week of September 1946, Peng of ST shifts the blame to the hoarders in Thailand, and not Lord Killearn. (ST, 7 September 1946)



[NB: The figure behind Malaya is Dato Onn.]

It looks like Killearn was not seen as to blame by then. His visits to Java, Indochina, and Thailand seemed to have clarified that the causes of the cut in the rice rations lay well beyond the British administration. The Malaya Tribune cartoonists were not as forgiving based on their 5 September 1946 cartoons. (see Tapioca cartoon above)

Kwan was of the latter camp. In 1946, at the age of 26, Kwan was already married and trying to start a family, making ends meet. He would not make any excuses for Killearn.

Again, thanks to Blackburn for the excellent close reading.

Food Shortage

3 Sept 1946, Sunday.

3rd appearance of Killearn in so many days. Kwan really had it for him. Either that or the situation in 1946 was very dired - food shortage, corruption, rampant black market, incompetency and inefficiency of the returning British forces and government. The people had it, even for the English-educated like Kwan. These laid the seeds for the postwar anti-colonial movement.

You could read more about these in the books by Kevin Blackburn, Karl Hack and Paul Kratoska about the Japanese Occupation in Singapore and Malaya and its aftermath. Mark Frost and Yu-Mei Balasingamchow's Singapore A Biography also contained scathing comments about the British Military Adminstration (BMA). The bad times are recorded in the various oral history tapes in the National Archives of Singapore. Also captured in Beyond The Empires: Memories Retold.

'Fairy Tale'

31 August 1946, Saturday.

It's Lord Killearn again as the Fairy Godmother.

'Indonesian Holiday'

26 August 1946, Monday.

Start of a new series

Kwan Sai Kheong (b. in Malacca in 1920) was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education from 1964 to 1975 and concurrently, Director of Education from 1964 to 1972. From 1975 to 1980, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Singapore. He passed away in 1981.

Kwan started out his career as an art teacher at Raffles Institution in 1946, his alma mater. (he attended a Chinese medium school before that) He obtained a diploma in arts from Raffles College on a scholarship. In the 1950s, he received another government scholarship to study painting at the Royal College of Art in London. (University of London)

In the mid 1940s, while working as a teacher during the day, Kwan was making ends meet by playing the violin and the saxophone at nightclubs. He was also an accidental cartoonist as he drew cartoons for The Straits Times and The Free Press to supplement his income.

A few years ago, a family member of his passed me a set of the cartoons Kwan drew between the period 1946 to 1951. A lot of them dealt with life in postwar Singapore, the changing socio-economic millieu and the emerging political landscape towards independence.

I am starting this new series to load Kwan's cartoons in chronological order on a daily basis. I'll add whatever comments I can about the context of the cartoon. But this is where I hope the rest of you can come in, especially the Singapore history buffs and those knowledgeable about Singapore in the mid 1940s and early 50s.

Btw, Kwan also designed the Merlion.

More Good Ideas Never Die...

By Miel, from The Straits Times, 23 April 2010



By Hokusai, circa 19th Century

Rick Geary

Here's a list of Rick Geary books that I have read. In order of preference:

1. The Lindbergh Child

This one really sets the tone/standard for The Treasury of Victorian/XXth Century Murders and got us hooked and on a hunt for the rest of the series by NBM.

2. The Murder of Abraham Lincoln

'Nuff said. Can read this together with the recently released, Booth by CC Colbert and Tanitoc. (First Second)

3. The Mystery of Mary Rogers

Borrowed this from the library. I must buy this next.

4. The Saga of the Bloody Benders

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Hills Have Eyes.

5. Famous Players

Okay, i didn't like this as much. Read this more for the early Hollywood background which Geary delved into quite a bit here.
(cross-reference this with Blanche Goes to Hollywood; see below)

6. Jack The Ripper

Quite disappointing after the magnum opus that is From Hell. Also this third printing I got is too dark. The blacks almost smudge.

7. The Invisible Man

Papercutz bought the rights to the First Comics Classic Illustrated. This adaptation of the HG Wells sci-fi story doesn't quite cut it.

The following are must-haves:

Trotsky
J Edgar Hoover
Geary is doing these "Serious Comics" for Hill and Wang. The size is smaller than the NBM books, reminds me of Ladybird books. Excellent, excellent stuff, especially the Trotsky one. Let's hope he does more of these for Hill and Wang.

The Adventures of Blanche
This is what got me paying attention to Geary all those years ago. Reviewed Blanche Goes to New York in the early 1990s and followed her adventures in Hollywood and Paris. I suggested to Geary that Blanche should head East and drop by Southeast Asia/Singapore. He said he has 2 more Blanche stories planned out but they are set in USA. If he got round to doing these and there's enough interest from publishers and buyers, maybe one of these days...in the meantime, go get this from Dark Horse comics.