SINGAPORE: Visiting Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Wednesday (Aug 2) launched a exhibition featuring 1950s Hong Kong through the lens of a Singaporean photographer. Mrs Lam is in Singapore for a two-day visit, at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong…
SINGAPORE: Visiting Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Wednesday (Aug 2) launched a exhibition featuring 1950s Hong Kong through the lens of a Singaporean photographer.
Mrs Lam is in Singapore for a two-day visit, at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It is her first official trip since she was sworn in on Jul 1, and also the first time in nine years that a Hong Kong chief executive has been to Singapore.
The exhibition at the Arts House, titled « Son of Singapore, Photographer of Hong Kong », commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Mrs Lam called the reunification with China “the most significant transition” in the city’s history.
The showcase features 50 images taken by Singaporean Lee Fook Chee who, after a hard childhood, worked as a seaman and came to Hong Kong in 1947. Mr Lee photographed Hong Kong and lived simply off the earnings from selling the images to tourists on the highest point of the city, The Peak.
Mrs Lam noted that the photos captured a time when Hong Kong was entering a period of post-war transformation. It had a population of two million and was just gaining a reputation as a manufacturing hub.
“His photos from the 1950s Hong Kong convey the can-do spirit of people of all backgrounds who helped to build our city – the values of hard work, creativity and determination that we all share, ” said Mrs Lam.
