While looking for some utility items in a cupboard, I found these ceramic figurines from the Shiwan District of Foshan in Guangzhou province in China. They are handicraft works made during the 10-year Cultural Revolution, which placed ordinary workers’ positions or ranking (such as farmers and factory workers) requiring manual labour above all other professions. The figurines show a fisherman with his catch, a carpenter, a working-class grandfather reading papers with his granddaughter, the Tang Dynasty scholar (Li Bai) in white with a brush in hand, the same scholar in green sleeping beside a large jar of wine, the ancient poet Du Pu seated and holding a brush to wrote a poem, legendary herbalist Li Shizhen seated and drinking tea, and a seated businessman wearing a bright yellow vest with one hand on an abacus.
Tan It Koon
Before retirement, Dr Tan It Koon was, among many appointments, Head of Clinical Biochemistry at SGH’s Dept of Pathology. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust and Chairman for Grants and Scholarships of the Spore Cultural Foundation. He received the National Day Awards, PBM, and PPA, for his contribution to cultural and community development and excellence in Public Administration.
