Hibiscus Outrage memorialises the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in West Beirut, Lebanon, where Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians were attacked and killed by Israeli-armed right-wing Lebanese militia. The red paperdyesculp atop the white sculptural forms powerfully symbolise the bloodshed of innocent victims.The artist considers this his first three-dimensional work in paperdyesculp. The work was also exhibited at the Singapore Festival of Arts 1982: Exhibition of Contemporary Singapore Art.Teo is included in what is now commonly known as the “Second-Generation Artists”, a term that covers Singapore artists active in the art scene from the 1960s onwards. The group includes artists such as Goh Beng Kwan, Choy Weng Yang, Anthony Poon and Thomas Yeo. This group of artists received training in art schools in Europe and America; their art approaches are thus strongly coloured by the artists’ international outlook on art styles and mediums. After teaching art in England for a few years (1968-1971), Teo returned to Singapore in 1971 to work at the Singapore International School (now the United World College of Southeast Asia), Singapore, where he eventually retired as head of its art department in 1996. For his contributions to art and art education, Teo was given the Cultural Medallion award (Visual Art) by the Ministry of Culture, Singapore in 1986.
