SINGAPORE: Primary school students can now read about the life and times of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister thanks to a new children’s manga about the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Titled The Story of LKY, the two-volume biographical series was launched on Thursday (May 25) at the National Library by Shogakukan Asia, which publishes titles such as Detective Conan, Pokemon and Doraemon.
Written by Japanese author Yoshio Nabeta and illustrated by manga artist Toshiki Takii, the comic is the second manga title on Mr Lee from the publisher.
The two-part The Story Of LKY looks at the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s growing up years as well as his post-war life. (Image: Shogakukan Asia)
Last year, it released The LKY Story – Lee Kuan Yew: The Man Who Shaped A Nation, a single-volume graphic novel targeted at young adults, which was also written by Mr Nabeta.
The comic book had garnered relative success, earning a nomination for Book of the Year at the recent Singapore Book Awards.
To date, it has sold over 5,000 copies. There is also a digital version for the Japanese market and publishers also announced a licensing deal for the Vietnamese market.
With the strong public interest in The LKY Story, it was only logical that a children’s version was made, said Mr Bunsho Kajiya, managing director of Shogakukan Asia.
“Singaporeans know about Mr Lee, but there were still comments about how interesting the book was,” he said.
In crafting the children’s version, its creators simplified the story and made the illustration style more similar to other children’s manga.
A sample from the first volume of The Story of LKY. (Image: Shogakukan Asia)
Divided into two parts, the first volume, Growing Up, looks at Mr Lee’s early years, college life and experiences during World War II. The second, Road To Independence, chronicles his life upon returning home, and features key events such as the formation of the People’s Action Party and Singapore’s merger and separation from Malaya.
Mr Nabeta had worked on both the young adult and children’s version simultaneously, reading up books on Mr Lee and Singapore history in both Japanese and English, while also scouring the Internet. He also watched The LKY Musical in 2015 and even visited Mr Lee’s Oxley Road bungalow.
“The young adult version is more straightforward, but for the children’s version, there had to be some exciting scenes,” he said.
The second volume of The Story of LKY sees a young Mr and Mrs Lee Kuan Yew returning to Singapore from England. (Image: Shogakukan Asia)
For instance, while older readers would be familiar with the history of the Japanese invasion during the war, children would have a hard time understand the historical background, he said.
“My editor advised us to put the map of Malaya to show how the Japanese army invaded Singapore, what route they took, so it’s easier for children to understand,” said Mr Nabeta, who together with Mr Takii, was in town for the launch as well as to give talks at Boon Lay Garden Primary School and Fuhua Primary School earlier that day.
For the series’ illustrator, the mission was to make Mr Lee look like a manga character.
“I made his eyes as attractive as possible – he is the main character (and these) reflect his passion as a hero,” said Mr Takii, who also referred to a photography book on Singapore history as reference material.
The Story of LKY’s illustrator, Toshiki Takii, signing off on his sketch of Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the book launch. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
He added that he would like to work on another story on Mr Lee if given the chance.
“ I would like to make another one that’s something more towards the manga style and more fictional. I would draw him as a Doraemon kind of hero, someone who has the powers to make the impossible possible!”
As for Mr Nabeta, when asked what description would best fit Mr Lee, he said: “Since I’m Japanese, I would describe Mr Lee Kuan Yew as a samurai. His spirit is very similar to one.”
