Steel Still presents a solitary motorcycle rendered in Chinese ink. The motorbike, an emblem of modern mobility and utilitarian freedom is a familiar sight at the Singapore–Malaysia border, symbolising transnational identity and the resilience of the working class. For the Malaysian-born, naturalised Singaporean artist, the motorcycle becomes a powerful metaphor for movement that encompasses the personal, cultural and the political. It reflects the everyday realities of crossing borders, as well as the emotional and societal negotiations that come with belonging to more than one place.
This visual juxtaposition highlights the hybridity of national identity in Southeast Asia, where the inherited and the imported, the individual and the collective, constantly converge. Steel Still prompts us to reflect on what it truly means to belong, and how identity is shaped not only by origin, but by the journeys people undertake across space and time.
