To some historians, Yong Mun Sen is one of the earliest pioneer artists in the Nanyang. To me, he is the Grandpa I never knew because he died before I was born. This art project is my personal journey to learn about him as a gentleman, a family man, an artist and an art educator. I am blessed to have the support of my wife Saniza in this life mission.
As we did not inherit any artwork of my Grandpa, we started collecting his works in 1999, after visiting his art retrospective in the Penang State Art Gallery. It has taken us over 20 years to assemble the collection to represent his oeuvre. This art project started as our mission to honour Grandpa’s artistic legacy (光宗耀祖). As the project progressed, we realised that it is not just about his artistic legacy. It is about family, heritage, humanity and the connections between people through shared experiences and a desire to hold on to values that matter. Regardless of what people think, values are indeed embodied in commonplace things, including artworks, photographs, letters and archives. They are so mundane but remain alive when we actively seek enlightenment from it all.
We are often asked what does art mean to us? Our response is that we cannot imagine a world without art, without literature, without music. What would be the joy of life? Many people underestimate the power of art and how it balances our senses, inspires us to do great things, gives us resilience and facilitates dialogues that are important for our society. On a more profound level, we see art as soft power and curated the right way will have a lasting impact on people and our community. Art needs to be shared. Our collection is always ready to be loaned for exhibitions. Through our involvement in various institutions such as the Friends of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, as Founding Patrons of the M+ Museum, and the Asia Society Hong Kong Arts and Culture Council, we have been fortunate to gain a deeper appreciation of the workings of museums and art institutions. We believe these institutions play a very important role in education and unifying our community. Art makes us whole as human beings.
It may be an overstatement to use our approach as a template to revive interests in our other pioneer artists. But we hope we have created a platform of sorts to inspire others to follow. Time is not on our side. There is a sense of urgency to do this work now. Some of the generations before us are still lucid and remember the history of our forefathers. But this window is closing as time and tide waits for no man. We need to do this for our children and the generations to follow. The impact of these efforts will extend beyond the shores of Singapore and Malaysia as the stakeholders of art and culture are citizens of the world.
“Yong Mun Sen in Nanyang” is a narrative of an overseas Chinese who had the passion and courage to be a pioneer artist and art educator. This project reflects our personal art journey. As part of the Yong clan, we hope to have made something that our clan can take pride in, and bring us closer together as a family.
Michael Yong-Haron, 楊焜善 (觀山)
Saniza Othman-Yong, 楊薛盈珊
