Category: Singapore

Three Workers

Lip Seng

One of my more successful international salon pictures was taken in the ’60s. The Outram prison in Singapore was being demolished then. This was not a set-up image: I just managed to capture the three workers going back to work after their morning tea break. This image illustrates the importance of being at the right place and time to capture a good image. I montaged the original trans with a piece of positive film to create the bias relief effect. This transparency won a plaque at the 16th Worcestershire International Salon, UK in 1968. This is one of the National Gallery, Singapore, Permanent Collections.

Final Heat

Lip Seng


The South East Asian Athletics Meet at the Singapore National Stadium in the early 80’s provided me with an opportunity to capture this decisive moment image.

In this day and age, you may think that I might have used the motor drive to take a series of exposures (and then chose the best picture). Actually, I had only one shot of this right moment. For such a picture, your timing really had to be right on the dot. Incidentally, this image was the Grand Prize winner of the Canon Photo Contest, 1984. The prize included a Canon new F1 with motor drive unit and two lenses with focal length from 50mm to 210mm. On top of that, I enjoyed a free stay at the Mandarin Hotel with my family.

In A Singapore Market

Lip Seng

This was one of my very first acceptance in the Singapore International Salon in 1962. I used a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex camera fitted with Rolleikin to capture this image at the China Town market. Kodachrome film was used. This picture won the Silver Medal and US$100 cash (top award) in the New York World Fair “The World and Its Peoples” Kodak International Picture Contest in 1964. After 42 years , the image is still as brilliant as brand new, a testament to the longevity of good film (if kept properly).

(Courtesy of: The National Museum of Singapore Permanent Collection, National Heritage Board, 2008)