Three art works representing the resilience of Singapore’s own special digital artist, the late Martin See Tho, were given to Mercy Relief last night at the launch of his exhibition ‘Cosmos of Life’ at the School Of The Arts (SOTA), which is opened for public viewing from 19–23 July.  Mercy Relief’s (MR) Chairman T K Udairam received the art pieces from Martin’s wife, Sandra Choo, after they both launched the exhibition.  The three donated pieces will be put up for auction at the 4th World Humanitarian Day observance on 22 August 2012, to support Mercy Relief’s humanitarian operations.

 

Adversity was no stranger to Martin throughout his life but finding strength in adversity was something he constantly strove for.  Having lost both his parents  at a young age, he worked hard and graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Just as he embarked on a promising career as a design engineer, at the age of 32, he was hit by Machado Joseph disease, an incurable degenerative disorder that robbed him of his muscular control and made him wheelchair-bound and he eventually lost the ability to speak and swallow. However, during the 8 years till his passing, Martin broke free from self-pity and was introduced to digital art.  Though his talent was boundless, his disability was a limiting factor.  Creating pieces of art on a computer may seem a simple task, but for him, controlling the mouse with precision was a challenging task.  He persevered, and within three years, created over 160 pieces of digital art.  He was conferred the Signature Digital Artist in Singapore following his first Solo Art Exhibition.  Martin passed away peacefully on 13 April 2009, and is survived by his wife Sandra and their son.

Martin’s struggles and success are inspirational to anyone who seeks to conquer their own adversities.  He epitomises resilience, which is key to overcoming any crisis, and  relevant to post- disaster community rebuilding.

Title: Icy

The power of the heart can melt the icy walls of suffering and turn winter into spring.

Title: Prevalence of Good

Change comes from conquering your inner darkness and rediscovering the external dignity within your life. 

Title: Go with the flow 

Life has no beginning and no end –a vibrant energy that flows endlessly.

Bidding starts at SGD 3,500 for each of the 3 pieces above.  For more information or to make a bid, please email tointouch@mercyrelief.org before 22 August 2012.

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is a Singaporean humanitarian organisation which engages in both disaster relief and sustainable development programmes. It was established in 2003 as an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity responding to the human tragedies in Asia. Mercy Relief’s aid programme focuses on providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken communities and has maintained the delivery of emergency aid within 72 hours from the point of appeal for assistance.  

In the past 12 years, Mercy Relief has disbursed over S$32 million in aid across 40 disaster relief and 53 sustainable development initiatives. Mercy Relief has impacted an aggregate of 2 million lives in 24 countries and areas, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,  Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen.

For more information, you may call us at 6514 6322 or email corporateaffairs@mercyrelief.org

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