Heng Kim Song (; born 1963) is a Singaporean editorial cartoonist.
Heng was born in 1963.[1] He studied business at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (graduating in 1983[2]) and then became an editorial cartoonist.[3] He won first place in Singapore's National Drawing Competition.[1]
Since 1984,[1] Heng has drawn editorial cartoons for Lianhe Zaobao, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in Singapore.[1] [3] His work was first syndicated internationally in 1991; since that time, his work has been published in The Straits Times, The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Newsweek.[3] 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.[4]
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."[5] Heng's work focuses on international, rather than domestic, politics.[5]
A freelancer, Heng also completed commissioned work. His work was displayed in a solo exhibition entitled Heng On The World at Singapore's Arts House gallery in 2011.[3]
In September 2014, around the time when India's Mars Orbiter Mission probe was to go into Mars orbit, 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.[4] [6] [7] Heng received both support and criticism of the cartoon.[4] Critics asserted that the cartoon was racist.[8] [9] [10] 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."[4] 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.[3] In addition to his editorial cartooning work, Heng is also an illustrator and greeting card designer.[1]
Heng is married and has three sons.[3]