How Did Li Nanxing, Felicia Chin & Chantalle Ng Give Mickey Mouse A Singaporean Makeover?

To bring this foodie Mickey as the iconic Satay Man to life, Li Nanxing consulted Google and went Hari Raya shopping at Geylang Serai. “Singapore is known as a food paradise. And at the heart of our nation’s traditional flavours is satay. I grew up eating satay. Satay is always sold in my neighbourhood, and my parents and I have it almost every week! Ketupat is one of my favourite food too. Whenever my foreign friends visit Singapore, I always recommend them to eat ketupat,” he tells us of his creation at the launch of the Mickey Go Local exhibition held at Raffles City on Tuesday (July 31). (P.S. We're talking a man who not only loves eating, but can whip up a scrumptious meal too.) To 3D-ify his Mickey, Nanxing even painstakingly spent hours sticking on tiny beads to the mouse’s facial features. But the most impressive part about his Satay Mickey, which the actor took three weeks to complete, is neither the traditional sarong nor the songkok, but the satay which he made from scratch. “I cut up a dishwashing sponge into small pieces, pierced them through a stick, and then used a lighter to slowly burn its sides until charred,” he says. Lit or what?

The highlight of Felicia Chin’s figurine is Mickey’s localicious get-up, stitched together from three store-bought tea towels printed with iconic local landmarks. “I pictured Mickey on an adventure in Singapore. He even made some new friends who custom made clothes for him that showed the places he went to and food that he ate here,” says Felicia. Adorning Mickey’s body are also leaf prints paying tribute to Singapore’s Garden City moniker. “I collected and painted these leaves, before inking them all over him. So there’s like part of Singapore’s greenery on him,” she explains. So did her beau, Jeffrey Xu, give her a helping hand? “He didn’t help me with the painting. But he helped me to pick up the leaves from near my house!” she laughs.

A close-up of Felicia’s Mickey figurine.

You may know Eunice Olsen as the once-upon-a-time Miss Singapore Universe or a former Nominated Member of Parliament. But since 2012, the actress-host has been busy running her own TV and film company, Eunice Olsen Media. It figures then that the idea behind her Mickey Mouse makeover is rooted in her line of work. “It’s my tribute to the unsung ‘sheroes’ and heroes of the media industry in Singapore,” she says of her creation that took her and her team of seven a week to complete. “The crew play an integral role in capturing the Singapore stories. Also, Mickey is holding a plastic bag that contains kopi, something all Singaporeans can identify with and that you’ll find on film sets here.” Lights, camera, kopi siew dai?

What petal way to tout Singapore’s Garden City label than dressing Mickey up with flower motifs? And trust published artist and second-gen star Chen Yixi to do so in Mickey’s iconic colours, no less. “These are actually made with petals of different flowers found in Singapore, like orchids,” he says. “Also, I chose to recreate the old-school, pie-eyed Mickey Mouse from the 1930s. The whole idea is about appreciating nature and going back to your roots.”

Former actor-turned-Teochew-opera-artiste Nick Shen has been on a one-man mission to promote the dying traditional art. But now he’s pulled in Mickey as his mascot. “My Mickey is meant to look like a Chinese opera warrior ’cos that’s who I am,” he tells us, adding that he made Mickey’s stage clothing from clay. “My favourite part of this whole design is probably the face ’cos it’s quite difficult to visualise how Mickey Mouse can look like a Chinese opera artiste. I added on red paint as blusher to his cheeks to achieve that Chinese opera look.”

42-year-old former actor Vincent Ng, who’s expecting his first child (a baby boy!) with his 39-year-old wife, clearly can’t wait to be a dad. “This artwork is dedicated to my unborn baby as we have nicknamed him ‘Little Bumblebee’,” he tells us of his creation. “’Cos my surname is ‘Weng’. So my wife and I always go, ‘Weng Weng Weng, Xiao Mi Feng (Little Bee)’ (‘weng’ is Mandarin for ‘buzz’ which is the sound a bee makes). Also, Mickey’s bee suit symbolises our hardworking nation that has created the Singapore of today.”

Forget frappuccinos. The drinks that resonates with the true-blue Singaporeans in us are kopi-o and kopi siu dai. So we say three cheers to Chantalle Ng who morphed Mickey into everyone’s familiar neighbourhood kopi uncle. Better still, her handiwork comes with a menu listing the various kopi drinks in super Singaporean coffeeshop lingo. “I chose this design ’cos we’re all very familiar with the image of the kopi uncle, and also, the kopi brewed by him,” she says. “I like the Good Morning Towel the most ’cos my friend and I cut it out from an old T-shirt and then drew the design on it from scratch!”

Spotted too at the event was Qin Wei with his five-year-old son and wife (middle; pictured alongside Lee Si Song and Felicia) in tow. Although he told us in an interview last year that he and his partner have not tied the knot, he refers to her as “his wife” when introducing us to his family (he also has a 24-year-old daughter with his ex-wife). The 50-year-old, who now works as a full-time painter, tells us that he mostly paints clowns as his artistic theme is “Life’s a joke.” So it came as a no-brainer for him to Bozo-ify Mickey. “I drew Mickey Mouse as a clown to symbolise the joy he has brought to people over the last 90 years,” he tells us. “And Mickey also builds bonds across generations. It reminds me of the bond between Lee Kuan Yew and all Singaporeans.”

"The Mickey Companion". That’s what JJ Lin calls his Mickey Mouse figurine. “I want to remind everyone that we are a reflection of each other, be it in the area of style, pop culture, art, music, or personality,” the description beside JJ’s Mickey reads. “So we should embrace the fact that we are all connected through our lives and work, and always be ready to infuse a little fun wherever we go.”

Edmund Chen and his daughter, Yixin, titled their Mickey Mouse figurine “Cherish, not Contaminate”. “This is to remind us to live happily towards a green and healthy sustainable lifestyle,” the description next to their figurine reads. “The image of a small fish at the base of Mickey is a character ‘My Little Red Dot’ I created for my latest book, my tenth personal one. My Little Red Dot is a fish coming to terms with his identity and finding his place in the world. There is a little red dot in every one of us and we are all connected by the dots. Nothing is too small to make a difference. Let’s cherish what we have.”

Radio DJ Bukoh Mary posing next to her retrolicious Mickey. “If Mickey grew up in Singapore in the '70s and '80s, he would be in a singlet, short and flip-flops!” reads the description. “With such hot weather in Singapore, he would need a straw fan and a cute little towelette mimicking the Saumsui women whose hard work helped shape Singapore between the 1920s and 1940s.”

Composer-producer, and Stefanie Sun's svengali, Lee Si Song with his musically-inspired artwork.

Host Youyi says that her Mickey Mouse artwork is dedicated to the inspiring Good Samaritans she met on her travels. “I have always been fascinated by the idea of travelling since I was a child. Being a TV presenter has given me the opportunity to travel and meet people from different places such as Africa, Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar,” reads the description next to her Mickey. “I was further humbled by the Singaporeans I have met, devoting their time to help the less privileged children, many of whom are orphans in need of shelter, food and education.” Youyi’s Mickey even carries a little backpack “filled with all the necessary supplies” so that he can “lend a helping hand to those in need.” Awww…

Actor-DJ Wallace Ang’s Mickey is inspired by Singapore’s air force, army and navy. And, yes, the Minnie Mouse on his right chest is to symbolise that Minnie is always in his heart. Cheesy but cute.

Guest of Honour President Halimah Yacob also graced the event. The Mickey Go Local exhibition, a partnership between Raffles City Singapore and The Walt Disney Company, was held in support of the President’s Challenge 2018. In conjunction with the campaign, CapitaLand has pledged to donate $300,000 through its philanthropic arm, CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), to the President’s Challenge 2018. Want to do your part for charity too? Simply snap a pic with the Mickey Mouse figurines, and upload it onto Instagram with the hashtags #RCSArtsinthecityPC, #Mickey90, #MickeyGoLocal, #CapitaLand and #CHFPC, and CHF will donate $10 per hashtag to the President’s Challenge.

At the launch, President Halimah also unveiled her Mickey Mouse design for the President’s Challenge 2018.

President Halimah viewing the Mickey Mouse figurines with the contributors. “Good job, very good,” she tells a smiling Nanxing of his Satay Mickey.

The mystery guest that had celebs and guests jostling to snap a selfie with him was none other than Mickey Mouse himself.

A snapshot of just some of the 90 Mickey Mouse figurines painted by local personalities and enthusiasts. All the Mickey Mouse figurines will be on display at Raffles City Singapore till Aug 29. Admission is free.

PHOTOS: WILSON PANG