Call it the Streisand Effect, Singapore-style: Sonny Liew's graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye has sold out at bookstores across Singapore after the National Arts Council pulled its funding from the book at the last minute, citing "sensitive content."
The book had an initial press run of 1,000 copies, and all 500 of the copies allotted to Books Kinokuniya Singapore are gone. Other bookstores also report a run on the book, and the publisher has no more copies in the warehouse; a second printing is planned. Publisher Edmund Wee of Epigram Books attributed the sellout to a combination of the controversy and Liew's popularity. To give an idea of the scale of graphic novel sales in Singapore, a typical Epigram book sells about 500 copies a year.
On Tuesday, Khor Kok Wah, senior director of the NAC’s literary arts sector, elaborated on the decision to withdraw its $8,000 grant for the book, saying, “The retelling of Singapore’s history in the work potentially undermines the authority or legitimacy of the Government and its public institutions, and thus breaches our funding guidelines. The council’s funding guidelines are published online and well known among the arts community.”
Nonetheless, commentator Howard Lee states that the NAC had seen a complete copy of the book before publication. Liew's graphic novel traces the career of pioneering Singaporean cartoonist Charlie Chan Hock Chye through 60 years of the country's history and includes satirical portrayals of Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, and his rival Lim Chin Siong.
The book will be published later this year in the United States. Liew is the creator of Malinky Robot, which won a Xeric Award in 2004, and collaborated with Gene Luen Yang on The Shadow Hero. He's also the artist on DC Comics' Dr. Fate, which debuts later this month.