He is the oldest living local born artist, the only artist who was an adult during the second world war. Unlike artists who came from China to explore their fortunes in Southeast Asia (Nanyang), Lim Tze Peng is self-taught and home grown. His mentors might have been Nanyang artists, but his visual language is inspired by his immediate surroundings and his art vocabulary originally and uniquely his own.

One of the earliest to put a personal stamp on his art that is neither Eastern nor Western, but unapologetically home grown. In 1977, his entry for the Commonwealth Art Competition was initially rejected as it did not conform to any Eastern or Western art convention. But he was eventually allowed to participate and surprising everyone, actually won.

He joins the ranks of a small group of pioneer artists who have been awarded the rare Meritorious Service Medal. But unlike all who were awarded posthumously, he got his medal at 95. The four who preceded him were big names, Cheong Soo Peng (received the award in 1962); Chen Wen Hsi (1992); Pan Shou (1994); and Liu Kang (1996).

He is the only practising artist from the Ten Men Group, the group that collected inspiration and material from the Southeast Asian region instead of perpetuating the style of art from China in the 1960s and 70s.

First and foremost, he believes that to be a good artist, one needs to be a good man. Art emanates from the moral fibre of an artist’s soul. How the artist sees his world and what he brings to his canvas or rice paper comes deep from the artist moral core. And for this reason, the artist is honest to a fault, spends on others but is frugal with himself, never has a negative word to say of fellow artists or indeed of any fellow human being. But most importantly, he believes in being the upright exemplar, that good man who intuitively knows right from wrong. And when he sets that example, good art will follow. When asked how he wants to be remembered, he says simply, “I want to be remembered as a good man.”

But it is his fighting spirit that most find most inspiring. It is brute and relentless determination, against the onslaught of age, fighting illness and fatigue to paint every day, to try and achieve breakthroughs past the age of 80, through his 90s and now at 100. He does not see his life as a sprint, but a long, almost unending marathon. There is no retirement, instead he sees himself as a learning student at every stage. And it is because of this spirit of a humble, improving student that his art continues to improve past the medals and accolades. There is almost a dichotomy, two conflicting impulses that balances him and propels him forward: the confidence that he can make a difference, and the continuing and underlying need to improve because he is not good enough. This conflict is at the core of who Lim Tze Peng is and why he is fresh and new at every stage of his life, even at 100.

At the age when most are no longer around or in deep retirement, Lim Tze Peng made his most significant innovations and finally gained recognition, in his 80s and 90s. He made innovations in the institution of calligraphy by coming up with hutuzi, and added colour to an essentially black and white practice. He won his most coveted awards, the Cultural Medallion and the Meritorious Service Award at 82 and 95. Which is why they called his art the art of perseverance.

He is the only practising artist from the Ten Men Group, the group that collected inspiration and material from the Southeast Asian region instead of perpetuating the style of art from China in the 1960s and 70s.