For the first time ever, Singapore honours one of its artists, the late Chen Wen Hsi, with a Meritorious Service Medal. Chen Wen Hsi, a pioneer artist of outstanding talent, had made impressive contributions to the development of visual arts in Singapore, his adopted home.

A versatile and dedicated artist, he had devoted his life to the pursuit of artistic excellence. Through the various phases of his personal development, Chen Wen Hsi had produced an extensive range of beautiful works that include portraits, landscapes and nature, ranging in style from representational to semi-abstracts and abstracts. Although skilled in Chinese ink, he was equally adapt in Western oil, but what is more amazing is his genius in creating an unique style that is a marriage of the best of both mediums in his Chinese ink paintings, for which he had won international recognition.

In this stamp issue, we reproduce one of his best works, a semi-abstract painting of cranes, which also reflects his love of nature in general and animals in particular.

This painting was specially chosen by his son, Dr Chen Siew Min, who has kindly given permission to reproduce the painting on stamp through the assistance of the National Arts Council.

The graphic designer, Leo Teck Chong, has chosen a simple layout that will best convey the beauty of the painting. He also decided on a stamp with a large size so that the reproduced design can better display the original work. The stamps will be printed by the special photogravure process which will further enhance its quality. The ancillary products of this issue comprising first day cover, presentation pack, poster and datestamp will together form beautiful complements of the stamp to enhance its value.