50 Metres: Our Swimming Pools

This isn't my first solo book project, but it can probably be considered my first collaborative one. With support from the SG50 Celebration Fund, I created all the illustrations in the book, which was authored by Jocelyn Lau and Lucien Low.

The book contains sketches of all of Singapore's public pools past and present. For the pools which are still open today, I paid them a personal visit and sketched most of them on-location. For those which have since been closed, demolished, or privatized, I had to draw them from photographs sourced from various quarters. The drawings took several months to complete and were done in a variety of styles so the book doesn't start to look boring after a while. It was a very interesting project and it helped me appreciate our government's efforts at providing such facilities for the general public. The interaction with the staff of the various pools was eye-opening. This is a somewhat neglected aspect of Singapore's history, and I'm glad to have been part of this project.

Here are some photos from the book. The book contains some 55 drawings. It is not on sale in shops at this point in time, but they can be borrowed from any local public library or school library. There are plans for a second edition for commercial release in future.