Pages

Monday, September 30, 2019

Sketching Melaka

I have a certain fondness for Melaka (Malacca). Its history is closely tied to Singapore’s history. It is said that the last king of Singapura (Singapore’s old name), Parameswara (Sultan Iskandar Shah, but historical records vary) fled an Majapahit invasion and founded the new city. Like Singapura (meaning “lion city” being named after it was founded by a Palembang prince who reportedly saw a lion after surviving a storm en-route by casting his crown into the sea), Melaka got its name from the Melaka tree Parameswara was resting under when he saw how a brave mousedeer kicked his hunting dog into the water. He took it as a good omen (probably after having to flee a powerful enemy) and the rest is history. That was in 1402. Over the years, it grew into a regional power establishing alliances with China during the Ming Dynasty

Over the centuries, Melaka’s spice position along the spice trade route became the desire of European powers. The Portuguese were the first to conquer the city in 1511, followed by the Dutch in 1641, who later ceded the city to the British in 1824 in exchange for Bencoolen on Sumatra. In 1948, Melaka became part of the Federation of Malaya (today Malaysia) which gained independence from British rule in 1957 after World War II.

Vestiges of colonial and pre-colonial Melaka can still be seen, including the tombs of its early heroes. Historical records and verification can be rather sketchy at parts, but interesting nonetheless. In recent years, a book was published documenting pre-1402 Melaka. The findings are controversial to some, but others think the writer builds a strong case.

I visited Melaka as part of my school history trip in 1993. I have fond memories of that trip. It was probably the first time i got to design a T-shirt for a school activity, and I drew the Porta de Santiago gate below. I don’t remember where I got the reference photo from, since those were pre-Google days. I wish I still had that shirt.

There are currently 3 sketches in his post which I did over 2 trips. They were done in simple linework using Platinum Preppy fountain pens. I will update with more should I get the chance to visit again. There are other places I would like to draw such as Kampong Morten, Bukit Cina, Jonker Walk, and other historical sites and places of interest.


Porta de Santiago
Copyright © Favian Ee


This gateway is almost all that remains of the once impregnable Portuguese fortress, the A’Famosa, whose walls once circled the city. Behind the fort is St Paul’s Hill, on top of which is the remains of St Paul’s Church which I sketched in the third sketch below. This is a popular tourist spot, but less crowded on weekdays. There’s a mall opposite if you need respite from the heat. I took cover under a tree while sketching this and a bird bombed my sketch pouch. Fortunately the drawing was unscathed.

Dutch Square
Copyright © Favian Ee



Red is the colour of the Dutch Square. On the left is the clocktower. Christ Church (an Anglican church) is in the middle, and the Stadthuys (an old Dutch word for "Town Hall") is to the right, said to be the oldest and largest surviving Dutch colonial building in the East. Once the official residence of Dutch governors and officials, it now houses the Museum of History and Ethography. Services are still held in the church, which are open to public. This square sits at the gateway to the famous Jonker Walk, which has become a very touristy shopping street. Jonker Walk comes alive from Friday nights all through Sunday as street stalls ply their wares and feed visitors. Garish trishaws decorated with cartoon characters and plush toys while blasting loud music (if you can call that music) crowd around the Dutch Square where they pick up and drop off passengers.

St Paul's Church
Copyright © Favian Ee


On a hill behind the Porta de Santiago is the roofless St Paul's Church. I drew this piece on a different trip. To the right is a white statue of the Jesuit missionary St Francis Xavier. You may notice he is missing his right hand. Legend has it that it was sculpted with the hand, but the sculptor didn't realise that the saint's hand was removed for him to be canonized. "Miraculously", during a thunderstorm, a tree fell and lopped the hand right off the statue. That was the story I was told by our tour guide when I visited in 1993. It was one of several stories of the miracles of St Francis Xavier. Inside the church, you will find a burial vault and several large tombstones.


Previous post on my Melaka sketch trip: https://sketchpacker.blogspot.com/2018/04/melaka-anniversary-trip.html

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Drawing Home

It’s almost a year since I collected the keys to my first and very own flat. It’s a small 2-room flat with a floor area of 45 sqm. Renovating this space would be the most expensive and largest project I had ever undertaken. Needless to say, a lot of planning was necessary, and being able to draw was a huge plus. My concept sketches were not exactly to scale, but roughly based on the measurements I took at the showflat (which was larger than the actual flat, I think), but the idea was there and I could use them to show my ID what I wanted. You can take a look and see what compromises I had to make due to space constraints in the end.

Living Room














Bedroom




Kitchen




Bathroom




Maybe I'll do another round of sketches of my flat now that it's completed, but being able to draw was really helpful. You don't need to draw well to communicate your ideas. A few fundamental skills (eg. proportion, perspective, texture, tone, colour) will get you a long way and these are things that can be learned.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Missing Singapore

Singapore is rapidly developing. One of the highlights of being an Urban Sketcher is to capture disappearing places. As the old gets replaced by the new, more and more spaces go missing. These spaces are holders of memories. We ate and drank here. We loved and broke up there. We brought our children and parents there. We lived and died here. When those spaces are removed, we feel displaced. Call it "nostalgia" if you like. I call it "home".

I've tried to capture some of these places in my sketches, particularly in my Perfect Sketchbook B5. Why that particular sketchbook? Cos I spent so much on it, and even went and bought the frame specially designed to hold the sketchbook for another tidy sum. The sketches had to be meaningful, worthy for such an investment.

I'd like to share some of those sketches here. Over time I might add some more.

Enjoy.


Pearl Bank Apartments

The unusual horseshoe-shaped tower of Pearl Bank Apartments used to stand atop Pearl’s Hill, overlooking Chinatown and Outram Park. Inspired by Brutalist architecture, it was designed by Singaporean architect Tan Cheng Siong and completed in 1976. It was the first all-housing project to be undertaken in the Urban Renewal Department of the Housing and Development Board’s Sale of Sites programme, and the first residential development in Singapore to employ the slip-form construction technique. At 113m, it was the tallest residential building in Singapore when it was built. It was first put up for en bloc sale in 2007 and was sold only in 2018 after 2 failed bids. Demolitions for redevelopment of this icon started in 2019.

 Image Copyright © Favian Ee  Mar 2018




Sembawang Hot Spring

Located at Gambas Avenue at the edge of Sembawang and Yishun, Sembawang Hot Spring is the only natural hot spring on mainland Singapore. It was discovered in 1909 by Seah Eng Keong in his pineapple estate. Fraser & Neave (F&N) acquired the site in 1922 and sold bottled water from the spring under the brand Seletaris. Many locals came to the spring to enjoy the hot water and soothe their aches and pains. The spring was closed in 2018 as the area underwent redevelopment into Sembawang Hot Spring Park, which is scheduled to open in late 2019.

 Image Copyright © Favian Ee  Mar 2018


Kampong Java Park

Just behind KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (formerly Kandang Kerbau Hospital) stood Kampong Java Park, a haven of peace and tranquility where patients could enjoy a pocket of nature in the city as they underwent their treatments. Formerly a Christian cemetary, the area was developed into a park which opened in 1973. It was the first park to have ornamental lighting, made of steel poles and plastic light covers along its footpath. The park was closed in 2018 to make way for an expressway tunnel.

 Image Copyright © Favian Ee  Aug 2018