The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye

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The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye book cover.png
Cover of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
by Sonny Liew
DateMarch 2015
Main charactersCharlie Chan Hock Chye
Page count320 pages
Publisher Epigram Books
Pantheon Books
Creative team
WriterSonny Liew
ArtistSonny Liew
Creator Sonny Liew
EditorJoyce Sim
Original publication
Published in Epigram Books
Date of publicationMarch 2015
LanguageEnglish
ISBN 9789810731069  (paperback)
9789810754891  (e-book)

The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a Singaporean graphic novel written and illustrated by Sonny Liew, first published in 2015 by Epigram Books. Structured as a fictional biography of an imaginary comic artist named Charlie Chan Hock Chye from Singapore's colonial era to the present day, the work introduces his cartoons depicting the political climate of each era, through which Liew offers perspectives that differ from the Singapore government’s official historical narrative. The embedded comics employ diverse artistic styles that pay homage to landmark works in the global history of comics, from Osamu Tezuka to Art Spiegelman.

Contents

The withdrawal of a government grant for the book shortly before publication generated domestic controversy and international media attention. In 2016, it became the first comic work to receive the Singapore Literature Prize. [1] [2] Subsequent international editions gained widespread critical acclaim and won several awards, including three Eisner Awards in 2017.

Synopsis

In 2010, 72-year-old Charlie Chan Hock Chye tells an interviewer that he, born in 1938 alongside The Beano and Superman, may have been destined to become “Singapore's greatest comics artist.” [3] [4] The narrative then traces Chan's journey as an artist, interweaving his works with the social climate of each era.

Chinatown, Singapore, in 1965. South Bridge Road, Singapore - 1965.jpg
Chinatown, Singapore, in 1965.

During Singapore's post-World War II colonial era, Chan discovered comics at a rental bookstore as a child and became absorbed in them. At age sixteen, he published a comic book featuring a giant robot. [5] The story wove in real-life riots he had witnessed and portrayed the activist Lim Chin Siong as a supporter of protests against the colonial government. [6] [7]

In 1955, Chan began collaborating with Bertrand, an aspiring comics writer. Dissatisfied with producing material for children, the two sought to depict the political turbulence surrounding the independence movement. [8] In their science-fiction story, set on an alien-controlled Earth, Lee Kuan Yew, another real-life figure, forms the People's Action Party together with Lim Chin Siong to fight for independence. [9] However, the work found no outlet in Singapore's limited comics-publishing scene. The two were forced to pivot, launching a superhero comic series instead. [10]

As the narrative unfolds, Chan’s early description of himself as a “great comics artist” is presented ironically: their publishing ventures underperformed, and in 1963 Bertrand abandoned their prospects and left for the business world. [11] Meanwhile, Singapore's political landscape underwent significant changes. Lim Chin Siong, who had left the People's Action Party to become a leftist leader, was detained and removed from the political scene by Lee Kuan Yew. [12] Having consolidated his power, Lee guided Singapore toward becoming one of Asia's wealthiest nations in the following decades. However, it was not a society that permitted free expression. Chan continued to produce comics satirizing the government's strong-arm tactics and oppression, with no outlet for publication. [13] [14]

In 1988, an obscure and disheartened Chan began drawing an alternate history comic. In this world, Lim Chin Siong serves as the nation's founding prime minister, and Chan himself becomes a national cartoonist. However, an apparition resembling Lee—presented in the narrative as representing "true history"—appears to correct the alternate timeline, and the boundary between reality and fantasy grows increasingly blurred. [15] [16] Unable to decide on an ending, Chan left the work unfinished for several years. In 1996, upon hearing of Lim's passing, he gave the story an ending by sending its versions of Lim and Chan back to Singapore's past. [17] The young Lim embarks once more on the path of fighting for workers' welfare. Chan notices a rental bookstore and recalls the happiness of losing himself in comics. [18]

The narrative concludes shortly after Lee Kuan Yew’s death in 2015, with Chan shown quietly maintaining his drawing practice. [19] [20]

Background and production

Singapore's comics publishing landscape

According to Southeast Asian comics scholar Lim Cheng Tju, Singaporean comics have appeared mainly as comic strips in general newspapers and magazines. Lim argues that although book- and pamphlet-format comics began to emerge intermittently from the 1980s onward, the industry never developed to a degree that would allow artists to sustain full-time careers. [13] This situation is reflected in the narrative of this work. [13] Liew has noted that Singapore, despite having a population comparable to other major Asian cities, did not develop a strong comics culture—an outcome he partly attributes to the country not having been a preferred destination for immigrant intellectuals. [21]

Liew himself chose to work in the American comics industry, achieving a level of success that would have been unlikely had he remained in Singapore. [22] However, because his contributions primarily involved working on corporate-owned titles, opportunities to pursue original projects were limited, [23] especially for locally themed works such as this one. A new publishing path opened in 2013, when the local prose book publisher Epigram Books launched an initiative to release original graphic novels. [24] [a] This book, which Liew described as his most ambitious project to date, [27] went on to attract unexpectedly strong international attention within Epigram's initial slate of titles. [24]

Conception

Sonny Liew at a convention in 2010. Sonny Liew at STGCC 2010.jpg
Sonny Liew at a convention in 2010.

The work was inspired by Roger Sabin's critical overview of comics history, Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels (1996). After studying the development of comic culture in France and Japan, Liew conceived the idea of connecting comics history to Singapore's national history. [28] According to Liew, the evolution of comics has often been closely tied to the circumstances of its era, much as the 1960s American underground comics movement emerged from the counterculture. He concluded that this concept could be inverted—using the discussion of comics as a framework for examining history. [29]

Lee Kuan Yew in 2002, during his post-premiership cabinet service. Lee Kuan Yew.jpg
Lee Kuan Yew in 2002, during his post-premiership cabinet service.

Through this work, Liew sought to present a historical perspective distinct from the narrative commonly referred to as “The Singapore Story,” the government-sanctioned account of Singapore’s path from colony to independent nation. [7] The Singapore Story is also the title of the memoir written by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, [30] which, according to scholar Chang Shu-li, frames illiberal democracy and utilitarian realism as central elements in the formation of a model nation-state. [31]

Liew noted that the dominant narrative portrays the leadership of the People’s Action Party (PAP) as having guided Singapore’s modernization while confronting continual internal and external threats. [29] However, he had long been aware of accounts that diverged from the official narrative. [32] He aimed to question key assumptions underlying "The Singapore Story," such as whether Singapore was truly "a sleepy fishing village" in 1965, or whether all aspects of the PAP governance were necessary for national development. [29]

Liew stated that he did not seek to overturn the official narrative, nor did he dispute the PAP government's role in shaping Singapore’s economic development and governance. Rather, he aimed to offer what he described as a “more inclusive and complex” historical narrative. [33] [34]

In Singapore, where the PAP has maintained one-party dominance, public challenges to government positions have carried potential legal and administrative consequences. [7] Liew, who had held permanent residency as a Malaysian citizen, chose to naturalize during the creation of the book, citing concerns about potential residency revocation. [21] [23]

One of Lee Kuan Yew's arguments about foreign media or foreign meddling in Singapore is that they don't have a stake in the country. I wanted to take on the challenge, and say, I'm willing to be a part of this country. I believe what I do is not anti-Singapore... Singapore should explore it's [ sic ] history more, look at more different narratives about its past.

— Sonny Liew, 2017 [35]

Development

In later interviews, Liew recalled that his initial concept resembled a historical survey-style art book featuring excerpts from numerous comics artists. [24] It aimed to evoke an entire world through an accumulation of fragmented fictional works, which Liew likened to the labyrinthine archive from The Library of Babel . [29] [36] However, he soon found that alternating short comics with commentary was unsuitable for telling a cohesive narrative, leading him to center the project on the life of a single artist. The commentary was initially planned as prose text, but—drawing inspiration from Scott McCloud and Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comics—it was replaced with comics in which Liew himself serves as narrator. [24] To maintain a consistent throughline across the work’s multilayered structure—which includes fictional pieces, the protagonist’s recollections, and the author’s commentary—Liew studied dramatic technique, including books by Robert McKee. [32] [24]

To establish the appropriate narrative tone, Liew drew on the works of Jiro Taniguchi and Allen Say, as well as biographies of cartoonists such as Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, and Fujiko F. Fujio. [29]

To ground the work in its historical context, Liew conducted extensive interviews with publishers, cartoonists, and historians. [32] These interviews informed the portrayal of Chan's political engagement and his financial difficulties within the early comic publishing industry, where contractual arrangements were often unclear. [23] Lim Cheng Tju has suggested that one of the interviewees, the painter Koeh Sia Yong, may have served as a model for Chan. [37] For depictions of historical political events, Liew has said he relied on extensive fact-checking through numerous secondary sources due to concerns about potential legal challenges. [38]

The protagonist's name alludes to the long-standing Chinese American character Charlie Chan, though the reference is indirect and comes via Wayne Wang's film Chan Is Missing . This film, in which a search for a missing person reveals his elusive aspects, parallels Liew's interest in presenting history from multiple perspectives. [23] The Chinese name “Hock Chye,” written as "福財" (lit. 'prosperity-wealth') in Chinese characters, was chosen later based on its sound. [23] [b]

Publication history

Publication and controversy

The book had received an SGD 8,000 publication grant from the National Arts Council of Singapore, but the grant was withdrawn on 29 May 2015, one day before the book's scheduled release. [39] A spokesperson for the Arts Council stated the work “potentially undermines the authority of legitimacy of the Government and its public institutions,” in violation of the grant program's guidelines. [40]

Publisher Epigram Books released the book with the Arts Council logo on the cover concealed under a sticker. [41] The withdrawal in turn increased the book's visibility, prompting criticism from the domestic arts community and civic groups, [13] and was covered by international media including CNN, [42] The New York Times , [7] and BBC. [43] The initial print run of 1,000 copies sold out within days, [41] and the book went into its third printing within three months—a rapid pace for Singapore's publishing scene. [13] In 2016, the book received the Singapore Literature Prize and the Singapore Book Awards' Book of the Year. [44] Despite the initial controversy, Liew encountered no further significant obstacles to promotion or distribution. [7] When the work won three Eisner Awards in 2017, the National Arts Council publicly congratulated Liew without directly commenting on the book's content. [33] [45] In later years, Liew expressed the view that the withdrawal was intended as a cautious signal to publishers and writers in general. [46]

By 2025, the Singapore edition alone had reached a cumulative print run of 35,700 copies. [46] In Singapore, where graphic novel print runs typically reach only 1,000 copies, [47] the book achieved major success, with sales extending beyond comics fans into the general reading public. [46] However, Liew later noted that the income he received from the book was significantly lower than what he earned while working for major American comics publishers, highlighting the financial constraints of Singapore’s small comics market. [48]

International reception

In March 2016, a U.S. edition was published by Pantheon Books, followed by French and Italian editions. [13] It was the first Singaporean graphic novel to be released by a major Western publisher. [13] The American edition sold 8,000 copies in its first year and appeared on bestseller lists including those of Amazon’s and The New York Times ’. [23] [49] In 2017, the book received three Eisner Awards—Best Writer/Artist, Publication Design, and U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia—and was also nominated in three additional categories: Best Letterer, Colorist, and Best Graphic Album–New. [50] [51] That same year, it won Denmark’s Pingprisen award for Best International Comic. [52] In 2018, it received a Special Jury Prize at the Romics convention in Italy and won Best International Work by a Foreign Author at the Barcelona International Comic Fair. [53] Subsequent editions have appeared in Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Thai, and both simplified and traditional Chinese. [46] [53] As of 2022, a Japanese edition was scheduled for publication. [54]

Style and themes

Structure

Presented in the format of an art book, [55] the narrative alternates between contemporary, full-color comics narrated by creator Sonny Liew and interspersed materials—comic works, sketches, and oil paintings—attributed to Chan. Archival items such as aged photographs and magazine clippings, along with reproduced manuscripts bearing tape residue, are rendered to appear weathered over time. [56] While incorporating historical photographs from the National Archives of Singapore, the work also includes fabricated advertisements and record jackets, [57] [58] employing numerous devices that blur the boundary between fact and fiction. [59]

Researcher Chang Shu-li argues that throughout the work, diverse modes of expression—reportage, autobiography, and critical essay—intersect, revealing the complexity of history, which cannot be reduced to a single viewpoint. [60] According to Chang, Liew's interview with the protagonist functions as a framing device into which fragments of documents and dialogues from multiple perspectives are inserted. These pieces overlap while leaving numerous gaps, hinting at untold narratives and producing a multilayered structure where fact and possibility intertwine. [61] According to legal scholar Benjamin Goh, the official captions accompanying historical photographs acquire new meaning when juxtaposed with the work-within-the-work modeled on the same events. [62]

In addition to these historiographic readings, book reviewer John Hogan observes that the repetition across multiple layers of the narrative facilitates the communication of context: the events are first presented as the young Chan's lived experience, then as a fictionalized comic, and finally as a present-day recollection. While these accounts do not always align, their points of convergence underscore the significance of the events for Chan. [63]

Comics and artistic expression

The book includes several substantial works-within-the-work, each serving as homage to landmark comics from various countries: [46]

Title (in-story year)Referenced workChapter
Ah Huat’s Giant Robot (1956) Osamu Tezuka's manga works, Tetsujin 28-go by Mitsuteru Yokoyama [3] Prologue
Based on real incidents such as the 1954 National Service riots and the Hock Lee bus riots, depicting Chinese civilians fighting the colonial government alongside a giant robot. [3] [25]
Force 136 (1956) EC Comics war titles by Harvey Kurtzman and others [25] chap. 3
Depicts anti-Japanese resistance during World War II by portraying Singaporeans as cats, Japanese soldiers as dogs, and British colonials as monkeys. [3] [25]
Invasion ! (1957) Dan Dare in the weekly Eagle by Frank Hampson [25] chap. 4
Set in a city under the control of alien invaders, depicting the struggle for independence with real historical figures appearing in the narrative. [25]
Bukit Chapalang (lit. 'Hodgepodge-of-things Hill') [64] (1958) Walt Kelly’s Pogo , [25] the Sang Kancil folktales [64] chap. 4
An allegory of Singapore’s short-lived merger with Malaysia, told through a story of animals whose picnic in a promised land goes disastrously awry. [25] [65]
Roachman (1959)Japanese seinen gekiga , Marvel Comics' Spider-Man [3] chap. 5
A protagonist modeled on Lim Chin Siong gains cockroach-like superpowers and fights crime for the downtrodden, only to be betrayed by a villain he had allied with. [65] [66]
Sinkapor Inks: Stationery & Supplies (1983)chap. 7
A satire featuring a business magnate modeled on Lee Kuan Yew who dominates his company through bureaucracy and repression. [25]
Days of August (1988) The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller [25] chap. 8
An alternate history in which Lim Chin Siong, rather than Lee Kuan Yew, wins the election and becomes the nation’s founding leader. [67]
Dato Duck in Singapore (contemporary) Disney comics in the style of Carl Barks [13] Epilogue
A satire of modern Singapore as a global financial center—alongside growing inequality—portrayed through a duck character reminiscent of Scrooge McDuck. [68]

These embedded works represent the influences Chan was under at the time their supposed creation, and chart his development from imitation to the emergence of his own style. [69] Young Chan is portrayed as learning techniques from early Osamu Tezuka, [70] while his depiction of World War II and the Malayan Emergency are rendered in the manner of EC Comics' war stories. [13] Scenes of massacres of civilians by Japanese occupational forces show the influence of Art Spiegelman's Maus . [71] There are also homages to Jack Kirby's superhero illustrations, and the alternate history sci-fi sequences employ a style reminiscent of The Dark Knight Returns . [63] Other referenced works include Little Nemo and MAD . [13] [72] Chang Shu-li argues that this sensibility, freely borrowing styles from comic artists worldwide, constitutes a critique of Singapore's centralized and restrictive state capitalism. [31]

According to Lim Cheng Tju, these varied artistic styles are deliberately employed to "disorient" readers' assumptions about the narrative, thereby encouraging a critical engagement with historical accounts, including those by Chan. [13] Weaving diverse styles and genres into a single work is also characteristic of Liew's broader body of work. Liew explains that this approach underscores for readers that “every story is constructed” and that people apprehend the world through such narratives. [73]

Most of the stories-within-stories remain unfinished or unpublished. [74] Postcolonial literary scholar Jini Kim Watson argues that the numerous historical events depicted therein trace how the possibility of a "free society," understood as one with broad latitude for individual expression, steadily narrowed as the Singaporean government consolidated tight controls over politics and the media. [74] Even as he recorded these events in his work, Chan withdrew from society and immersed himself in private creation. Watson describes this as a form of melancholy arising from a state that prioritized economic development over individual creative expression. [74]

The life Chan recounts is marked by both artistic and personal setbacks. [74] Chang Shu-li describes the book as “an artwork about failures,” [75] while also arguing that its unfinished pieces represent not artistic failure, but fragments inscribed with the sensations Chan experienced at each moment—glimpses of the very instant in which art emerges. [76]

Historical themes

The work offers an alternative perspective on the state-sanctioned account of modern Singaporean history. [77] Central to that account is “The Singapore Story,” introduced into the secondary-school history curriculum in 1982 and incorporated into the National Education program. [30] [78] Scholars have noted that this narrative tends to simplify the turbulent period between the end of World War II and the establishment of the PAP’s one-party dominance. [78]

Liew's book focuses especially on the 1950s and 1960s, tracing the end of colonial rule, Singapore’s merger with and separation from the Federation of Malaysia, and its transition to an independent state. [23] [79] To illustrate how Singapore’s official narrative typically frames this period, journalist Ian Johnson summarizes the account found in mainstream history textbooks: [7]

Newly independent from its bigger neighbor Malaysia, small and vulnerable in the middle of the Cold War, beset by Communist infiltrators and surrounded by domino nations, Singapore finally found stability and a road to prosperity when its founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, defeated dangerous left-wing opponents, regrettably by having many tossed in jail.

— Ian Johnson, 2017 [7]

Lee Kuan Yew in 1965, around the time of Singapore's independence. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew at Mayoral reception 1965 (cropped).jpg
Lee Kuan Yew in 1965, around the time of Singapore's independence.

One of the figures portrayed as a “communist spy” in this narrative is Lim Chin Siong, who plays a central role in Liew's book. [43] A charismatic speaker with roots in the labor movement, [7] Lim led the opposition party Socialist Front and posed a significant challenge to Lee. [43] On the book’s endpapers, illustrations of Lee and Lim are accompanied by the Chinese proverb “one mountain cannot contain two tigers” [c] highlighting their political rivalry. [61] [69]

According to the official historical narrative, Lim had conspired in communist terrorism and was detained during Operation Coldstore in 1963, which led to his political downfall. [43] The operation, a large-scale joint action by the governments of Singapore, the Malaya, and the United Kingdom, relied on colonial-era preventive detention laws. [80] Mass detentions of political opponents labeled as communists continued into the 1980s. [81]

In the twenty-first century, renewed efforts have examined both the repression of the 1970s and 1980s and the earlier decolonization era that set the stage for it. [82] Fictional and nonfictional works revisiting these periods have proliferated, forming what playwright Tan Tarn How has called a Singaporean form of "scar literature"— a term originally applied to post-Cultural Revolution Chinese literature. [82] Liew's book has been discussed as part of this broader trend. [82]

Recent historical scholarship has also questioned the official portrayal of Lim, with some historians arguing that he did not conspire with foreign communist parties and characterizing him instead as a leader with a democratic, multiethnic, and unifying vision. [83] This book likewise positions Lim as “the other protagonist,” presenting him as a figure who embodies an alternative possibility for Singapore’s founding narrative. [3]

Reception

Critical reception

Critics widely praised the book’s structural ambition and visual inventiveness. The Japanese magazine Idea praised the book as a meticulously crafted work, "constructed with extraordinary structural inventiveness and passion down to the last detail.” [84] Critic Leonard Rifas similarly noted that, despite its complexity, the work remains accessible and engaging for readers without prior background knowledge. [55]

The book’s artwork—encompassing sketches, oil paintings, mixed media, collage, and stylistic pastiches of classic American, British, and Japanese comics—has been widely praised. [13] [72] [85] The A.V. Club highlighted its seamless integration of disparate visual styles. [86] Writing in The New York Times , comics critic Douglas Wolk characterized it as an ambitious, "stylistically acrobatic work.” [71] The Seattle Review of Books referred to the visual approach as “artistic parkour.” [87]

Reviewers also emphasized the book’s narrative and thematic depth, and its significance within Singapore’s cultural context. The Economist described it as a “touching, thoughtful meditation on Singapore’s relentless progress.” [88] Postcolonial scholar Joanne Leow situated the work within contemporary literature, theatre, and film that revisit histories excluded from official nation-building narratives. [89] On U.S. National Public Radio, critic John Powers called the book “at once dizzyingly meta and deeply heartfelt,” characterizing it as “a Valentine" to cartooning and to forgotten people and places. [47] Writer Mike Carey praised it as “a celebration of the comic book medium, a technical masterclass, a thrill ride, a Bildungsroman and an unflinching retrospective of the post-war-into-modern era.” [2]

Singaporean critic Gwee Li Sui described the book as “a classic,” underscoring its significance as the first Singaporean graphic novel to achieve international recognition and its role in increasing local attention to the graphic novel form. [90] French comics translator Masato Hara observed that the book challenges the long-held view that Singapore’s focus on economic development left little room for cultural formation. In his view, its artistic accomplishment demonstrates otherwise. [3] The Beat highlighted the book's international resonance by comparing it to works such as Tatsumi Yoshihiro's graphic autobiography A Drifting Life and Michael Chabon’s novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay . [69] Comics scholars Lucas Etter and Jan-Noël Thon cited the book as an example of increasing thematic, linguistic, and regional diversity in Anglophone graphic novel publishing. [91]

Scholarly analysis

Scholars have examined the book's approach to historical narration and its challenge to state-centered historiography. Majed Akhter argued that the work, through the reminiscences of an aging cartoonist, brings together diverse memories and affects—of cinemas, amusement parks, strikes, and communist movements—and thereby suggests alternative possibilities for national identity beyond the state’s official historiography. [92] Similarly, Joanne Leow interprets the book as a strategy for rendering alternative histories visible in a context where access to national archives remains tightly controlled, positioning the work as part of broader cultural efforts to reconsider Singapore's past. [93] Literary scholar Philip Holden argues that the work demonstrates how history is actively constructed rather than passively observed. By presenting alternative historical narratives as provisional possibilities and encouraging readers to critically engage with dominant accounts, the book fosters what he calls "agency for social change." [94]

Awards

The book has received numerous international comics and literary awards, including three Eisner Awards, and has been included in several 2016 “best of the year” lists in mainstream publications and comics-focused media. [46]

Adaptations

Animated film

In 2019, an animated film project based on this book was selected for Animation du Monde, the emerging-nation support program of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. [104] [105] As of 2025, Finding Pictures was developing the film. Concept art for the adaptation was showcased at a retrospective exhibition of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye held in Singapore in December 2025. [106]

Television series

In November 2020, 108 Media, a Singapore-based production company, announced development of a six-episode, 30-minute animated television series adaptation, [107] co-produced with Finding Pictures. [108] [109]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Before the book’s publication by Epigram in 2015, an excerpt had appeared in Liquid City vol. 3 (2014), an anthology of Southeast Asian comics edited by Liew, under the title “Geylang Hill” by Charlie Chan Hock Chye. [25] [26]
  2. ↑ Because Liew was not proficient in Chinese, the Cantonese pronunciation "Chan" and the Hokkien pronunciation “Hock Chye” were inadvertently combined. [23]
  3. ↑ wikt:一山不容二虎 (yī shān bù róng èr hǔ)

Citations

  1. ↑ Gui 2017, p. 16/42.
  2. 1 2 "The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye". Epigram Books. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hara, Masato (1 September 2017). "知られざるマンガの王様チャーリー・チャン・ホック・チャイが語るシンガポールの歴史" [The History of Singapore Told by the Unknown King of Comics, Charlie Chan Hock Chye]. ComicStreet (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  4. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 2–3.
  5. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 6–8.
  6. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 30–38, 49–52.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Johnson, Ian (14 July 2017). "An Alternative History of Singapore, Through a Comic Book". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Liew 2016, ch. 3.
  9. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 111–115.
  10. ↑ Liew 2016, ch. 5.
  11. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 167–172, 216–217.
  12. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 173–179.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Lim, Cheng Tju (2015). "REVIEW: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye". Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 9 September 2025. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  14. ↑ Liew 2016, ch. 7.
  15. ↑ Chang 2020, p. 152.
  16. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 279–284.
  17. ↑ Liew 2016, p. 293.
  18. ↑ Liew 2016, pp. 285–293.
  19. ↑ Liew 2016, p. 296.
  20. ↑ Liew 2016, Epilogue.
  21. 1 2 Martin, Mayo (16 May 2015). "Hey, Charlie: Sonny Liew talks about his new, epic graphic novel". TODAYonline . Archived from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  22. ↑ Lim, Cheng Tju (2014). "Current Trends in Singapore Comics: When Autobiography is Mainstream". Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 10 August 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tan, Sumiko (12 February 2017). "Lunch With Sumiko: The art of Sonny Liew". The Straits Times . Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Mah, Kenny (8 March 2015). "Comics and Singapore history join forces in 'The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'!". Malay Mail . Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Murphy, Tom (24 March 2016). "The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye – Sonny Liew's Biography of an Artist and a Nation is a Comics Tour de Force". Broken Frontier . Archived from the original on 21 April 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  26. ↑ Murphy, Tom (14 July 2014). "Liquid City: Volume 3 - Highlighting the Quality and Diversity of the South-East Asian Indie Comics Scene". Broken Frontier . Archived from the original on 10 July 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  27. ↑ Liew, Sonny (8 July 2014). "From Singapore to Cambridge to 1930s San Francisco - An Interview with Shadow Hero Artist Sonny Liew". Broken Frontier (Interview). Interviewed by Murphy, Tom. Archived from the original on 13 July 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  28. ↑ Liew, Sonny (12 November 2020). "By The Book: An Interview with Sonny Liew, creator of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye". Bakchormeeboy (Interview). Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 Liew, Sonny (23 February 2016). "Liew's "Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye" Tells Singapore's Secret History". Comic Book Resources (Interview). Interviewed by Dueben, Alex. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  30. 1 2 Goh 2025, p. 15.
  31. 1 2 Chang 2020, p. 136.
  32. 1 2 3 Liew, Sonny. "Interview Sonny Liew". Banana Writers (Interview). Interviewed by Guimaraes, Graca. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  33. 1 2 Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia (25 July 2017). "Controversial Singaporean graphic novel wins 'Oscars' of comic world". CNN style. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  34. ↑ de Guzman, Jennifer (17 June 2015). "Liew's 'Charlie Chan Hock Chye' Draws Controversy, Acclaim". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  35. ↑ "Capturing the comic world with The Art Of Charlie Chan". The Straits Times . 6 November 2017. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  36. ↑ Johnston, Rich (25 June 2017). "Sonny Liew, Eisner Winner Behind 'The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'". Bleeding Cool . Archived from the original on 20 April 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  37. ↑ Lim, CT (2024). "Singapore's Pioneer Cartoonists". BiblioAsia. Archived from the original on 3 October 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  38. ↑ "シンガポールの歴史を漫画で　規制があるからこそ" [Telling Singapore’s History in Comics—Precisely Because of the Restrictions]. BBCニュース [BBC News] (in Japanese). 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
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