Heng Kim Song (; born 1963) is a Singaporean editorial cartoonist.

Career

Heng was born in 1963.Cartoonist Heng Kim Song
, World Economic Forum 2004. He studied business at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (graduating in 1983) and then became an editorial cartoonist.Corrie Tan
From The Straits Times archives: Political cartoonist Heng Kim Song's harshest critics are school kids
, ''Straits Times'' (October 7, 2014, republishing March 24, 2011 article). He won first place in Singapore's National Drawing Competition. Since 1984, Heng has drawn editorial cartoons for '' Lianhe Zaobao'', the largest Chinese-language newspaper in Singapore. His work was first

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

internationally in 1991; since that time, his work has been published in '' The Straits Times'', '' The New York Times'', the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'', and '' Newsweek''. In 2000, Heng became the first Asian to win the award for best world news cartoon at the International Political Satire Festival, held in Italy.Aw Cheng Wei
Award-winning cartoonist receives flak and support over NYT cartoon
, ''Straits Times'' (October 7, 2014). Singapore's major national media outlets are deferential to the national government, and "as a result, national newspapers do not carry political cartoons that caricature the country's politicians."

Cherian George Cherian George is a Singaporean academic, currently a professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. Early life and education Cherian George studied at Hwa Chong Junior College for his pre-university education. He then graduated fr ...

, ''Freedom from the Press: Journalism and State Power in Singapore'' ( NUS Press, 2012), p. 66. Heng's work focuses on international, rather than domestic, politics. A freelancer, Heng also completed commissioned work. His work was displayed in a

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an exhibition of the work of only one artist. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photography. The creator of any artistic technique may be the subject of a solo show. Other s ...

entitled ''Heng On The World'' at Singapore's

Arts House Arts House is a centre for contemporary performance and interactive artforms in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 2006, it is a program of the City of Melbourne. It supports and presents a range of experimental theatre Experimental theatre ...

gallery in 2011. In September 2014, around the time when India's Mars Orbiter Mission probe was to go into

Mars orbit Mars has an orbit with a semimajor axis of 1.524 astronomical units (228 million km), and an eccentricity of 0.0934.Jean Meeus, ''Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators''. (Richmond, VA: Willmann-Bell, 1988) 99. Elements by F. E. Ross The planet o ...

, the ''International New York Times'' published a cartoon by Heng Kim Song depicting a turban-wearing man with a bull knocking at the door of the "Elite Space Club" with members inside reading a newspaper with a headline about India's Mars mission.Lakshmi Gandhi
Controversial India Cartoon Forces New York Times to Apologize
, NBC News (October 7, 2014). Heng received both support and criticism of the cartoon. Critics asserted that the cartoon was racist. Heng stated that the work was not intended to be racist, as critics charged, saying: "I was trying to say that India has come a long way from its humble beginnings. It used to rely on cows for transport but is now part of an elite club because it made it to Mars." ''Times'' editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal, apologized, writing in a Facebook post: According to the '' Straits Times'', Heng's cartoons, executed in black-and-white, have a distinctive "droll" and "light-hearted" style. In addition to his editorial cartooning work, Heng is also an illustrator and greeting card designer.

Personal life

Heng is married and has three sons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heng, Kim Song 1964 births Singaporean editorial cartoonists Living people Singaporean people of Teochew descent Singaporean mass media people