Mr Lee Choy Ken

Honorary President

Mr Lee Choy Ken, a Singapore citizen, is one of the Collectors' Association's (Singapore) founders. He had served three terms (2006-2008, 2016-2018, 2018-2020) as the President. He is now the Honorary President of the Singapore Collectors' Association. He is engaged in furniture design, engineering, manufacturing, building materials and the hardware trading industry. As early as 1985, he often went to Macau, Hong Kong and Shenzhen for business and inadvertently embarked on the road of collecting ceramics. His collection range from 1950 onwards with exceptional quality, especially the "7501" porcelain dedicated to Chairman Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. Other collection also includes the works of many famous artists during the Cultural Revolution from the Republic of China, such as "Cheng-Men", "Jin Pinqing", and "Zhushan Bayou". Mr Lee's contemporary porcelain collections include renowned masters artists, namely Wang Bu, Hu Xianya, Wang Xiliang, Zhang Songmao, Li Jin, Dai Ronghua and Zhang Jian. Porcelain sculptures master include Zeng Longsheng, Zhang Yuxian, Zhou Guozhen, Kang Jiazhong and He Shuigen. During the millennium anniversary of the founding of Jingdezhen in 2004, the association organized a delegation to participate in the "2004 Jingdezhen Annual Meeting of China Ancient Ceramic Society and Jingdezhen Millennium Ceramic Culture" (International) Seminar. Mr Lee served as the head of the delegation and led members to attend this rare and commemorative international event. The association also warmly invited many famous contemporary ceramic artists in Jingdezhen to gather for an occasional dinner, leaving precious memories and unforgettable friendship. In June 2013, the Chinese Association of Collectors, Shandong Dezhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, held the "Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of Chairman Mao Zedong's Birth" National Red Collection Exhibition. As a notable collector, Mr Lee was invited to the exhibition and showcase of the16 pieces of "7501" porcelains the utensil for Chairman Mao. These exhibits won the attention and appreciation of the organizer. Mr Lee roped in the "official kiln rare treasure award", "Porcelain Projects Special Award", and "Top Ten Sculptures third position award" in the event. On September 16, 2014, Mr Lee participated in the 9th National Red Collection Exhibition held in Panjiayuan, Beijing. He gave a speech on "Mei Yuan Xin Lu", reviewing his hard work and research achievements in collecting "7501' Porcelain the utensil for Chairman Mao ". On July 1, 2016, Mr Lee was invited to participate in the "Ode to the Motherland - The Main Melody of the Times in the Collection of Handicrafts" and "The Storm-Red", jointly organized by the China Red Collectors Association and Guangdong Folk Craft Museum, and made a keynote speech at the seminar on "Collection Research and Appreciation of Red Cultural Relics". After ten years of preparation and two years of meticulous planning, Lee Choy Ken, in collaboration with China Ceramics Journal, published the "Ruixue Hongmei-‘7501'" art book, the contents of the utensil porcelain for Chairman Mao in 2019. On December 26, 2019, the publication ceremony of the Artbook "Ruixue Hongmei-‘7501'" was grandly held at the Jingdezhen National Porcelain Museum. Mr Liu Chaoyang, head of the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, attended the event and unveiled its release. Subsequently, he invited Professor Jiang Jianxin, the Jingdezhen Ceramic Research Institute director and the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum curator, to come to Singapore to hold a Jingdezhen Yuan speech Mingguan Kiln Porcelain Research and Appreciation. This speech was warmly welcomed and praised by the audience. In January 2020, he again invited Professor Jiang to hold a lecture on "Research and Appreciation of Qing Dynasty Official Kiln Porcelain", which was also well received and successful.

Mr Goh Chu Chung

Honorary President

Goh Chu Chung, born in Singapore in 1941, is one of the founders of the Collectors’ Association (Singapore). He had served two terms (2020-2022, 2022-2024) as the President. Goh is the Honorary President in 2024. Before becoming the President, he served the Association as the vice president for many years. He has a deep affinity for the long history of Chinese culture. In the past half-century, he has been active in the art circle of antique painting and calligraphy. To promote awareness of antiques, calligraphy, and painting, he often publishes articles on antique appreciation in newspapers under the pen names "Nan Fei Yan" and "Nan Feng." Goh wrote articles to Singapore Chinese newspapers to promote antiques and art and the articles were well-received. Some of his articles include "Ancient Red Lion Porcelain", "Snuff Bottles with Interior Painting", "Jade Carving", "Yixing Purple Clay Pots", "Beijing Cloisonné", "Natural Strange Stones", "Chinese Bonsai", "Chinese Curated Chrysanthemum Pots Exhibition", and "Hangzhou's West Lake Lantern Exhibition”. His books include a collection of prose titled, "Cactus: The Nan Feng Volume." At the invitations by Singapore TV Stations, he had also given many interviews in the "Collected Treasures from Past and Present" program and the "Afternoon Leisure" program. In 1968, he was a director at Xinhua Departmental Store, which specialized in merchandise from China. He headed four divisions, including the antique division and the ceramics division, at the store. Through his work, he mastered much knowledge about antiques and ceramics, especially for the period’s art and craft works on the theme of the Cultural Revolution. A few years later, Mr Goh joined the Rising Arts & Craft Pte Ltd. This company was well-funded and managed many different types of artwork. In addition to antiques, paintings and calligraphy, ceramics, and handicrafts, it also imported Chinese marbles, rugs, and glazed tiles. The company also often held various exhibitions of antiques, paintings, calligraphy, and other works of art. As one of the company’s managers, he further accumulated first-hand knowledge about the ins and outs of the sale of works of art, thereby increasing his understanding of antiques as a result. When the company held an exhibition, Goh also served as the writer of informational and promotional materials geared toward the public. In the forty years since leaving Rising Arts & Craft Pte Ltd, Goh had set up five companies. He hosted many exhibitions in those years, including a calligraphy and painting exhibition co-organised with Shanghai Duoyunxuan Auction Company; an ancient porcelain exhibition co-organised with Shenyang Cultural Relics Store; a joint oil painting exhibition by Professor Ge Pengren and the painter Hong Ling, both of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing; an ancient red lion porcelain exhibition co-organised with Beijing Huaxia; and more. At the same time, he had written articles that included pictures of artworks for many exhibitions including the Curated Chrysanthemum Pots of China Exhibition and Hangzhou’s West Lake Lantern Exhibition held by Singapore’s Chinese Garden. The Chinese Artwork Exhibition was held at Orchard Square (he wrote the essay “Hong Kong Ceramic Artist He Bingcong” for this exhibition). The Cloisonné of Beijing Exhibition was held at the Tangs Plaza. His company published many articles for the exhibitions, including some of those listed at the beginning of the introduction. In order to expand the antique and handicraft market, Mr Goh has established long-term relationships with Beijing Foreign Trade Company, Beijing Huaxia Company, Tianjin Foreign Trade Company, and Jiangsu Foreign Trade Company. His effort to explore new markets for snuff bottles with interior painting also brought him to Hengshui, Shijiazhuang, Raoyang and other areas in Hebei Province and Zibo in Shandong Province. To acquire new sources for ancient red lion porcelain, he also visited the antique markets in Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing and those outside the Badaling of the Great Wall. Over the years, Goh has fostered deep friendships in the antique circles in Singapore and Malaysia too. Goh is now eighty years old and retired, but he is still attached to his friends in the antique and art circle, and he is always ready to share his experiences and knowledge with everyone.

Mr Lau Wee Soong

Honorary Advisor

Lau Wee Soong is a Singaporean, Honorary Advisor of the Collectors’ Association (Singapore), hailing from a prominent family. According to the《Biographies of Historical Figures in Xinhua》published by the Clan Association in 1995, Lau Wee Soong’s great-grandfather, Low Cheang Yee, was the leader of the famous Tide Gang at that time. With Xu Liang Cheng and Chen Yong Xu attending the "Strait British Chinese Association" founding ceremony on behalf of the Teochew Clan, he became highly respected and elected as the first executive committee of the Association. Lau Wee Soong’s grandfather Low Peng Yam was the Director of Sze Hai Tong Bank and its largest shareholder. On February 4, 1915, the Bank specially mentioned in the eighth annual report that Low Peng Yam lent Five Hundred Thousand Singapore Dollars to the Bank to enhance the capital flow and the Bank’s status. Lau Wee Soong’s forefathers loved the motherland, had profound friendships and never forgot the hometown, always remitting money regularly to support their hometown relatives and friends. They were eager to do charity works for the public good, contributing money and effort to work with others. They too had a fondness and passion for antiquities collecting. Lau Wee Soong himself believes that high-grade artworks can expand the scope of appreciation and exchange, creating positive social effects and economic benefits. Lau Wee Soong’s research on cultural relics for more than 40 years can be regarded as a life-long work. He traces the relics back to their source, origins, understanding and compiling them into the set. However, he professes he is still unsatisfied with the status quo and continues his efforts to enrich his collection of rich and precious antiques to fulfil his desire of having "true, good and beautiful" and original. In the 5,000-year-old history of Chinese culture, Lau Wee Soong believes his knowledge and collection are just "a drop in the ocean" and a tiny one. He is always hungry for more perfect pieces and knowledge. Lau Wee Soong heard his forefathers quietly singing at a highly spiritual moment. “Yue-Kiln open at the high of the windy dew of autumn.” “It has drawn thousands of brilliant greenish charms.” Lau Wee Soong bathed in a torrent of ceramics, He indulges in pleasure, obsesses in collection!