1. The adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. The problem, however, is that "a single still image" never conveys the same idea to everybody. For the same reason, cartoons are no laughing matter to everybody. Hence, cartoonists often find themselves facing threats from people who view their creations differently from others. Singaporean cartoonist Heng Kim Song compared a cartoon to a knife. Recently he found that his cartoon really "cut" like a knife. One of his cartoons, published in The New York Times on September 28, was slammed by "a large number" of readers for being alleged racism. He said: "I started receiving many posts and messages on my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. They were abusive, curt and filled with vulgarities. One of them even said they wanted to tear me apart." 2. Following are excerpts from the article headlined "From The Straits Times archives: Political cartoonist Heng Kim Song's harshest critics are school kids" at http://www.straitstimes.com/news/si...-times-archives-political-cartoonist-heng-kim (Begin excerpts) SINGAPOREAN cartoonist Heng Kim Song was thrust in the spotlight recently when one of his cartoons published in The New York Times in September was slammed for being allegedly racist. In a drawing about India's Mars mission, the 51-year-old editorial artist had personified India as a turban-wearing farmer with a cow, knocking on the door of a house called Elite Space Club. The New York Times has since apologised for the cartoon. In a Facebook post, its editorial page editor said the paper had received a large number of complaints from readers..... SOME of his harshest critics are not, as you might imagine, the public figures he lampoons but school kids. The political cartoons Heng Kim Song churns out are no laughing matter for students - including his own children - who discuss them seriously as part of their General Paper curriculum when they are learning about current affairs.... His black-and-white works - ranging from American politics to turmoil in the Middle East - brim with light-heartedness and droll humour. Speaking to Life! at The Arts House on Tuesday, he says: "Cartoons don't have to be negative. It's like a knife - it's how you use it that matters. My aim is not to put anyone down." As a child, he drew chalk doodles on the corridor outside his family's flat. Much to his pleasant surprise, his neighbours would walk around his creations instead of stepping on them. He says: "The corridor was my canvas." He was never professionally trained. The freelance cartoonist had originally wanted to study art, then studied business at Ngee Ann Polytechnic as a compromise with his parents. But today, his doodles have been published in publications such as The Straits Times, The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and Newsweek. His works have been syndicated internationally since 1991 and he has also garnered top awards in cartoon competitions organised by the United Nations, the Italian Museum of Political Satire and Caricature and the Society of Publishers in Asia..... (End excerpts) Singapore artist gets threats over India cartoon http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/singapore-artist-gets-threats-over-india-cartoon Singapore artist gets threats over India cartoon http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/singapore-artist-gets-threats-over-india-cartoon-20141008 Cartoonist Heng Kim Song in New York Times: Not so heng, but racist? http://smong.net/2014/10/cartoonist-heng-kim-song-not-so-heng.html New York Times Says Offensive Cartoon About India’s Space Mission Was Not Meant To Be Offensive http://comicsalliance.com/tags/heng-kim-song/ Heng Kim Song https://sg.linkedin.com/pub/heng-kim-song/4a/a61/72b Cartoons of the Week http://content.time.com/time/cartoonsoftheweek/0,29489,2033323_2213603,00.html P.S. Perhaps our friends, ashdoc and Bic_Cherry, could care to comment on Mr Heng's cartoon.
