The artist made this sculptural installation when he was working on the MRT Art Project for Outram Park, which also utilised the same material of glass reinforced concrete . This set of 200 migrant workers on bikes are reminders to him of his own experience hitch-hiking from Singapore to England looking for better future. When he was working on the MRT Art Project, migrant workers on bikes were everywhere on the expressways on their way to work in factories. Driving behind them, Teo thought they looked like bull frogs or globes when their windbreakers were filled with air, a look which he replicated in the installation. He also deliberately kept the bikers unpolished to indicate their factory-made quality. It was exhibited at Singapore Nokia Art 2001, at the Singapore Art Museum.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.
