Catalysing inspired giving

There is now one more reason to visit our well-loved SMU Campus Green.

Besides its lush greenery enjoyed by both the SMU Community and members of the public, the Campus Green is also an oasis of calm amid the hustle and bustle of the campus. It has now been adorned with a sculpture generously donated by Dato’ Kho Hui Meng - a first for Campus Green.

Produced by Bill Woodrow, one of the most eminent British sculptors, the bronze sculpture ‘Sitting on History’, measuring 100x105x155cm and weighing 428kg, was first conceived in 1990 and exhibited at the Tate Gallery in London in 1996.

Members of Dato’ Kho’s family, staff and SMU Alumni from Vitol Asia Pacific, as well as members of the SMU Community, attended an unveiling and appreciation ceremony hosted by SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer on 14 February 2014.

In his welcome remarks, President De Meyer said that his dream of having a sculpture in Campus Green has now been realised. Commenting on the work of art, Professor De Meyer said that besides its obvious aesthetic value, it is a thought-provoking piece which would spark many conversations and wonderful memories amongst the SMU community for generations to come.

The sculpture also serves a practical function as it is actually a seat. Alluding to Bill Woodrow’s idea that the sculpture will only be complete “conceptually and formally when a person sat on it”, President De Meyer shared that he had sat on it on three occasions for different reasons. Noting that the day of the event fell on Valentine’s Day, which happened to also be the 15th day of the first lunar month of the year, the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day known as Yuan Xiao Jie (元宵节), he expressed, to much applause and laughter, the hope that the sculpture would also serve another function - as the venue for many courtships and marriage proposals.

In his remarks, Dato’ Kho, who is President of Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, noted that the sculpture could not have found a better location as it lies in the vicinity of the art district of Singapore, comprising of the Singapore Art Museum, the National Museum of Singapore, and the upcoming National Art Gallery. Agreeing that the artwork would be ideal for couples to take photos with, he quipped “I hope they will take a moment to contemplate about the sculpture and not just snap a photo and leave.”

Sharing that the setting up of the Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre led to other Singapore universities setting up similar centres for their students, Dato’ Kho said he hoped that the donation of the sculpture would serve to catalyse others to contribute similarly.

Indeed, SMU has benefitted from the generosity and contributions of Dato’ Kho. The International Trading Institute@SMU, the first trading centre in the world to be set up within a university, was established in 2007, with Vitol as one of its earlier supporters. In 2012, the Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre was launched, offering a range of comprehensive services, programmes and resources for SMU students to chart their career directions and empower them with the necessary skills to realise their potential and goals.

“Sitting on History”, with its ball and chain, refers to the book as a receptacle of information. History is filtered through millions of pages of writing, making the book the major vehicle for research and study. Bill Woodrow proposes that although one absorbs knowledge, one appears to have great difficulty in changing one’s behaviour as a result.

The real books from which the original maquettes were made came from a box of books given to Bill Woodrow by a London bookseller, discarded, as they were no longer saleable. To Woodrow’s wry amusement, in this haul were three volumes on the history of the Labour Party, which he chose to use for the maquettes. Woodrow finds books one of the most powerful democratic tools in the world and still the most advanced form of communication.

[Featured photo: SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer with Dato’ Kho Hui Meng at the unveiling of the sculpture ‘Sitting on History’ on SMU Campus Green]