Ho Ho Ying
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is He(何).
| Ho Ho Ying (何和应) | |
| Born | February 20, 1935 Hainan,  China |
| Training | Liu Kang,Chen Wen Hsi |
Ho Ho Ying (simplified Chinese: 何和应; pinyin: Hé HéYīng) was born to a father who came to Singapore on his own to work as a cook for Mrs Loke Cheng Kim, mother of Datuk Loke Wan Tho. His childhood years was spent with his mother on Hainan island. Ho migrated to Singapore with his mother when he was 9 years old, to reunite with the elder Ho and escape from the Second Sino-Japanese War. Ho received his education at the Chinese High School. It was also then he developed strong interest in art under the influence of teachers like Liu Kang and Chen Wen Hsi. As he was a poor and could not afford art materials, Chen would often offer him money to buy the art materials. Ho's confidence in his art grew as he was proficient with Chinese calligraphy and often won awards in school.
When he was 18 years old, his mother passed away of cervical cancer and shortly after giving birth to his youngest sister. As his father was away working with Mrs Loke's household in Kuala Lumpur, Ho had to take on the responsibility of taking care of his two younger brothers 5 years and 6 years of age, a 9-year old sister and a 4-and-half months old infant sister. Life was hard for Ho and his siblings as his father could not remit money home on time to them, and Ho often had to seek credit for food and provisions from shop owners.
In 1962 Ho graduated from Nanyang University with a Bachelor (Arts) in Chinese Language and Literature graduate in 1962. In 1963, Ho along with seven other artists Wee Beng Chong, Tong Siang Eng, Tay Chee Toh, Tan Yee Hong, Johnda Goh and Ng Yat Chuang frequently gathered together to discuss the development of the country’s fine art, and came to develop a singular thought that modern art for Singapore should be explored with loft and zeal. And so in October that year they founded the Modern Art Society, and launched their First Modern Art Exhibition at the National Library. In 1975, Ho was presented with an award the Malay arts group APAD (Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya) for his contribution in promoting art among different racial art groups in Singapore and uniting various ethnic art organisations.[1]
