Chua Mia Tee is one of Singapore’s leading realist painters well known for his evocative paintings of old vanishing Singaporean streetscapes and scenes reflecting the national and social concerns of the day such as his famous Epic Poem of Malaya (1955) and National Language Class (1959). He is also known for his paintings of historic events and portraits of prominent Singaporeans including the nation’s presidents and a sculpted bust of Zubir Said, composer of Singapore’s national anthem. Chua’s artistic oeuvre is a national treasure, invaluable for its historical significance and vivid documentation of the story of a nation. In 2015, Chua received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual arts in Singapore.

Born in Shantou, China, in 1931, Chua Mia Tee moved to Singapore with his family in 1937 to escape the Sino-Japanese war in China. Growing up in Singapore, Chua would often watch his father, a businessman who was a self-taught painter, draw portraits of his grandparents. From here, Chua discovered an interest for art, and began sketching and painting.

He began his primary education at Shuqun School and then Tuan Mong School, where his talents were quickly noticed in his art assignments, which would regularly receive high marks and be put on display. His studies would be temporarily halted by the Japanese Occupation. But even then as he moved with his family to Indonesia to avoid the war, Chua continued to draw with his father buying him Chinese ink and colour pencils to use.

Chua returned to Tuan Mong School in 1947 when World War II ended. After completing his primary education, he started attending Chung Cheng High School. Wanting to pursue his passion for art, Chua put his secondary school studies on hold midway through and enrolled at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts to study art. This decision was encouraged by Chua’s art-loving father who believed that his son’s talent for art was worth cultivating.

At the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Chua studied under pioneering Singapore artists such as Lim Hak Tai and Cheong Soo Pieng, learning how to draw with charcoal and oils. He practised drawing diligently every day, arriving early in the day and often painting late into the night after his classes, stopping only to eat his meals. Chua would also visit the school’s library to read art books and catalogues, discovering the works of Rembrandt, Goya, Repin, Delacroix, Gericaut and Xu Beihong, artists who would come to influence his work.

In 1952, Chua graduated from the academy and remained to become a full-time art teacher, where he would teach for two years before returning to Chung Cheng High School to complete his secondary school education. After which, he returned to the academy as an art teacher again.

Chua left the academy in 1957 to embark on an almost two-decade career in commercial art. He became an illustrator at the Shanghai Book Company and went on to become a designer with Grant Advertising International for a period of time. After, he joined the Times Organisation’s Federal Publication as a book designer and illustrator. Throughout this time, he kept in touch with his love for drawing in his work as a commercial illustrator, and at the same time, he practiced his art on the side. With meticulous observation and great skill, he painted local landscapes and people, scenes of local life, scenes depicting the national and social concerns of the day and significant moments in history.

In 1974, when Chua held his first solo exhibition at the Rising Art Gallery, the relevance and significance of his social realist paintings garnered him much critical acclaim and success. This was to be a defining moment for him and he decided to leave his commercial job and become a full-time artist at the age of 43.

Especially early on in his art practice, Chua felt compelled to document scenes of life, people and places that he noticed were under threat of disappearing as a result of rapid urban redevelopment. He placed artistic and historical value on these art works, frequently painting the Singapore River and Chinatown to preserve the memories of the neighbourhoods in which he grew up.

Chua also recorded in painting significant moments in Singapore history such as the swearing-in ceremony of then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. He painted Singapore scenes that gave a sense of current national and social concerns such as his famous Epic Poem of Malaya in 1955 and National Language Class in 1959, both of which inspiring much critical analysis and even theatre productions.

He would also gain fame as an acclaimed portraitist, painting the portraits of some of Singapore’s most significant figures in history such as the nation’s presidents and ministers, as well as sculpted portrait busts, including that of Zubir Said, the composer of Singapore’s national anthem.

Over the next few decades, using predominantly oils on canvas and sometimes using other mediums such as acrylic, mixed media, watercolour, bronze and reliefs, and inspired by travels to Hong Kong, Indonesia, Spain and Italy, he forged a body of work comprising paintings, drawings and portraits distinguished by their masterful artistry and national and social relevance. He exhibited his works at home and abroad in places such as Belgium, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand in both solo and group exhibitions.

In Oct 2015, Chua received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual arts in Singapore.

Chua continues to paint. His portrait of Singapore’s first president Yusof Ishak, drawn in 1998, can be found on Singapore’s currency notes.