Lui Hock Seng Had First Solo Show At 81

The Singaporean photographer was working as a cleaner when his talent in photography was discovered in 2016

- Venessa Lee

Lui Hock Seng, a self-taught local photographer who found acclaim with his first exhibition at 81, died on July 26 at the age of 88.

He had been admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for pneumonia, said his youngest son Roger Looi, 51, who confirmed his death.

Lui was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer affecting the lymphatic system, in 2018. While he underwent chemotherapy at the time, doctors recently told the family that the cancer had spread.

"Photography was his life. It was in his blood. Wherever he went, he took along a camera," said Mr Looi, who had taken a few months' absence from his work in the oil and gas industry to care for his father.

Lui, a widower, is survived by his three sons and two grandchildren.

While Lui did not take up photography full-time, his wide-ranging oeuvre spanned streetscapes, portraits, nature, architecture and industry. He roamed the streets of Singapore in his free time, pursuing his passion for photography for about 60 years. His black-and-white photographs of the country, taken in the 1960s and 1970s, gained recognition in the past several years.

His work recorded a Singapore that has long vanished, capturing images such as snake meat vendors in Chinatown, letter-writers for the illiterate and a boy drawing water from a well in a kampung.

He was once lauded by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong as an exemplar of living well in old age.

After a career as a mechanic, Lui worked as a cleaner. From 2012, he was employed at Singapore Press Holdings — now known as SPH Media — where his talent in photography was discovered.

He left his job based at the local media company, which publishes The Straits Times, after he got cancer.

An ST article profiling him in 2016 prompted two strangers who admired his work to come together to gain a wider audience for Lui.