Born in Singapore in 1922, Ng Ah Kuan (also known as Ng Kuan) is a watercolourist who painted many scenes of Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s, he was the chief artist in an advertising company. In 1975, Ng was commissioned to design the Hundred Dollar Commemorative Coin, which was issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Singapore’s independence; the theme was the successful public housing programme that had begun in 1960. Done in commemoration of Singapore’s commercial development, ‘Singapore River’ records the skyline of the Central Business District as seen across the river from the direction of the City Hall. The work also makes reference to Singapore’s multi-ethnic population through its inclusion of members from the various races.
