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Comic books on the life of Mr Lee Kuan Yew launched for kids

SINGAPORE — The story of Singapore’s founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, will now be more accessible to children thanks to a launch of a two-part comic.

SINGAPORE — The story of Singapore’s founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, will now be more accessible to children thanks to a launch of a two-part comic.

It follows the success of the 2016 manga-style graphic novel, The LKY Story – Lee Kuan Yew: The Man Who Shaped a Nation, which was released last October by manga publishing company, Shogakukan Asia.

The kids’ edition, The Story of LKY, was launched by the same publisher on Thursday (May 25) at the National Library, and is recommended for those aged from 9 to 14.

Bunsho Kajiya, managing director at Shogakukan Asia, said that the publisher had run a booth at Anime Festival Asia at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre last year.

“There were many young people who checked out the sample copies (of the graphic novel) we had on show, and The LKY Story ended up being our No. 1 seller at the show,” said Kajiya.

Thus, the idea for a kids’ adaptation, titled The Story of LKY, was born. The graphic novel itself has also been featured on Kinokuniya’s bestsellers list for comic books and graphic novels since its launch last year. It was recently nominated as Book of the Year at the Singapore Book Awards 2017. The single-volume novel has been released in around the region in countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and has sold over 5,000 here and abroad.

But the story had to be adapted for a younger audience for this comic edition, said Kajiya. The publisher recognised that an easy-to-read format and lively illustrations were key.

Thus, author Yoshio Nabeta and manga artist Toshiki Takii — who were in town on May 25 launch the book, as well as to give assembly talks at Boon Lay Garden Primary School and Fuhua Primary School — were roped in for the project.

Nabeta is also the author of the adults’ graphic novel.

According to Nabeta, 53, simplification of his original script was key for the kids’ version.

“When I submitted my first draft, my editor would give me feedback like ‘children wouldn’t understand terms like colony or socialists’. So I had to keep that in mind, and revise the script to explain such terms more in detail,” he said.

 

The adults’ graphic novel featured artist Yoshihide Fujiwara’s illustrations, which showed Mr Lee — who died in March 2015 — in dramatic manga style that drew on photos for the man’s likeness.

For the kids’ version, illustrator Takii, 55, adopted a different style.

“I did not try to draw Mr Lee Kuan Yew in a way that would very closely resemble the man in photos, like what Mr Fujiwara did,” said Takii. His illustrations of Mr Lee are more anime-like, with large eyes, for example, he said.

“In Japan, this sort of art style is quite typical for educational or ‘edutainment’ manga,” Takii added.

He thinks Fujiwara’s illustrations of Lee “are better than mine, as they are closer to Mr Lee’s real face”, he said.

One thing Nabeta would have wished for was to interview Lee himself. At the time Nabeta was writing the original graphic novel in 2013 and 2014, Mr Lee’s health was failing.

“There was no way he could have considered accepting an interview,” said Nabeta, who longed to hear Mr Lee’s accounts of historical events.

The kids’ edition is split into two parts — Volume 1, Lee Kuan Yew: Growing Up, covers scenes from Mr Lee’s early years and life in college, as well as his experiences during World War II that would eventually shape his ideals for an independent Singapore.

Volume 2, Lee Kuan Yew: Road to Independence follows Mr Lee’s return home to Singapore after completing his studies in England. The book covers the 1952 post office strike, the People’s Action Party’s formation in 1954, and other events Mr Lee experienced that led to Singapore’s merger with Malaysia and, eventually, its separation.

Both the writer and illustrator hopes their books will develop an interest in manga as well as biographies and non-fiction reading.

“In Japan there are many kids who go on to develop an interest in non-fiction, due to first reading about historical events in manga,” said Nabeta.

He hopes this will be the case for children in Singapore as well.

 

The Story of LKY (S$12.90 per volume) is available in all major bookstores.

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