Nanyang Volunteers Memorial

Chern Lian Shan

First placed in Singapore: 2012

Was installed briefly at the Sun Yat Sen House but does not seem to have made it through the ~2015 renovation

According to the article, this piece was to be installed at the Sun Yat Sen Hall in February 2013. I did photograph it in place, pre-official installation, but it doesn't look like it was there very long.

Patron: Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry

On Aug 12, 2012, six months before the planned unveiling, this article ran about the piece in the Singapore Straits Times

S'pore memorial for war volunteers

Monument to be first to honour efforts of S-E Asian men, women in Sino-Japanese war

Sculptor Chern Lian Shan has had his fair share of high-profile projects over a 40-year career. Singaporeans would have come across the 59-year-old's work, like the bronze pieces depicting early Singapore, dotting the Singapore River, or the S-League trophy, last held by Japanese club Albirex Niigata.

But none has given him as much satisfaction as his current project, to honour the memory of the Nanyang Volunteers - men and women from South-east Asia who stepped forward for China's war effort during the second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945. Of the 3,226 who answered the call to arms, 706 were from Singapore and included Indian and Malay men, according to Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao.

A model of the Nanyang Volunteers memorial sculpture was unveiled yesterday by Mr Chern at a conference organised by the Nanyang Volunteers Historical Research Association. The sculpture will be placed in the grounds of the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall in Balestier when it is completed in February next year. Mr Chern told The Sunday Times yesterday that even though he had produced many memorable pieces over his career, including the busts of former presidents Benjamin Sheares and S R Nathan, this was his "most meaningful piece".

He said: "Most of my other works are about the present or the future but this one acknowledges a significant piece of our history."

Last updated: Jul-20-2021