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They prefer to see the myriad of issues they touch with their comics \u2014 including sexual assault, racism, and mental health, among many others \u2014 as deeply interconnected.\u00a0\u201cI guess if we try to artificially separate these issues, then we will miss the bigger picture, which is that many of them are systemic, caused by the same root problems,\u201d they say.\u00a0Having studied Political Science and American Studies during their college years in the United States, Mx Pang has always been bothered by the inaccessibility of lengthy, jargon-ridden academic essays.\u00a0\u201cWhen I think about my parents who didn\u2019t go to university, I know people like them are not going to read this stuff,\u201d they say, highlighting that their decision to choose comics as a medium to reach the average Singaporean was highly intentional and driven by this fact.\u00a0\u00a0Led by their passion to fill glaring gaps in Singapore\u2019s current discourse, Mx Pang represents the voices of many marginalised groups in the largely heteronormative and top-down country.\u00a0TheHomeGround Asia chats with the vivacious yet humble personality about their unorthodox journey as a Singaporean comic artist, how they value their craft, and how they seek to reshape Singapore\u2019s often problematic narratives \u2014 one comic at a time.\u00a0Mx. Rachel Pang draws behind this lovable and iconic avatar. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Pang)TheHomeGround Asia (THG): How did you begin your journey in drawing comics?Rachel Pang (RP): I\u2019ve always liked drawing since I was a kid. But, you know, this is Singapore. Who would encourage that? It\u2019s not like my parents or society promoted the arts as a viable career option. So I let it fall to the wayside growing up. It was only when I went to university that I had a professor who encouraged me to draw comics again. She told me that my voice matters, and that it was especially important for marginalised groups of people, [like myself], to share our stories. They\u2019re not usually represented in mainstream media, and the people in power are not usually from these backgrounds, so the stories can really make a difference. That\u2019s how I started drawing again.\u00a0But it was not until 2018 when I returned from the US. There was some stuff going on in the world then (like the Brett Kavanaugh saga), that I began sharing my comics publicly. I was very upset about it, but at the same time, I thought that the way people were discussing it wasn\u2019t really make sense to me. So I began to put my comics out there. I wanted to share my viewpoint as a sexual assault survivor, and how the whole thing was affecting me. I drew a comic and posted it on my private Instagram account, and my friends said, \u201cwell, this is really good! You should create an account for it!\u201d That was when I created @RachelPangComics (RPC), and the rest is history.\u00a0THG: Were you inspired by anything in particular during your childhood?\u00a0RP: When I was in primary school, they used to print diaries for us every year. I remember one year, there was a comic done by a senior talking about climate change, and I thought it was so cool. I often wonder where the person is now. Perhaps I should look them up. When I was young, my mum also ran a bookshop for a while. So I was quite fortunate to be surrounded by books.\u00a0THG: Did you expect your account to grow this much? How do you navigate the fame?\u00a0RP: Definitely not! I think I need to figure out a way to make sure that it doesn’t go to my head, like what I shared in my latest comic, \u201cpower causes brain damage\u201d. In this day and age, having a large online following is definitely a form of power. So I need to make sure I keep my ego in check! Regarding \u201cfame\u201d, when I\u2019m putting out content, I try not to think whether people will like it or not, and focus on what resonates most with me.\u00a0THG: What is it about this particular art form that appeals to you?\u00a0RP: It\u2019s interesting that you asked this. When I was in university studying Political Science and American Studies, most of my friends wrote long academic essays to share their thoughts. But I felt like this form of writing was rather inaccessible. In political science especially, I found the writing to be very pompous and overly chim (Hokkien for profound), and I hated it \u2014 don\u2019t come for me please, political science majors; it\u2019s not you, it\u2019s me!\u00a0\u00a0When I think about my parents who didn\u2019t have a university education, I know people like them are not going to read this stuff. So whenever I think about what I\u2019m doing, my thoughts always go to those who are going to read it, or whether they are able read it. I thought that comics is probably one of the more accessible ways to communicate. You look at a nice little picture, and there are words to explain it. It was quite a conscious choice to go with comics instead of essays or pure abstract art to communicate my views.\u00a0THG: Where do you draw inspiration for your content?\u00a0RP: I guess I write primarily from my own personal experience. Obviously, I care a lot about social issues and they are what I discuss more on my platform. These include current events or things that are happening in Singapore \u2014 usually what provokes a response are things that make me feel a bit buay song (Hokkien for angry or unhappy about), like, \u201cthis is bad\u201d and sometimes also \u201cwhy is no one talking about this particular part of the issue?\u201d\u00a0For example, when migrant worker Tofazzal Hossain was killed in a lorry accident in April this year, we knew it\u2019s bad, a terrible thing. Many activists for years have been advocating for safer transport options for construction workers. I wanted to add on to this advocacy and make a comic to draw attention to this issue, and point out that it\u2019s a systemic one that can be solved with policy change. I wanted readers to think about who exactly we would accept being transported in the back of a lorry, why that might be the case and what can be done to change this status quo.\u00a0THG: How long does it take, on average, for you to make a comic?\u00a0RP: Usually the words will come to me first. I\u2019d be hanging out with my friends, having lunch, or alone in bed and then bam, I\u2019ll think of a line like \u201cthe future is not fixed\u201d, and then I\u2019ll write it down first in my phone. The next day, I’ll turn on my computer and I will expand from the words that I had penned.\ufeffIf I\u2019m drawing for my own Instagram, it would usually take a rather short time for me to finish a comic \u2014 about two to three hours. But recently, a magazine asked me to draw a comic for them, and that took hours because I wanted every line to be perfect, since it would be in print! I think it really depends on where it\u2019s being published.\u00a0THG: You touch on so many issues in your work. Is there any topic that you are particularly partial to?\u00a0RP: People tend to categorise people, like, \u201coh, this person is an advocate for gender issues only!\u201d But for me, all issues are connected. There\u2019s no way you can only talk about one. If you are a specialist with deep knowledge on one topic, that\u2019s cool. But I guess if you try to artificially separate the issues, then we will miss the bigger picture, which is that many of these are systemic, caused by the same root problems. This is why whenever I talk about a matter in question, I try to bring it back to the larger system. Everything is connected and because of this, I don\u2019t think I can narrow it down to one or even a few topics that I\u2019m interested in.\u00a0THG: Are there issues that are harder for you to discuss then?\u00a0RP: When I talk about personal trauma, it can be hard because I have to relive it. As much as I have been trying to heal and going for therapy, there are some things that are still unresolved \u2014 healing is lifelong after all!\u00a0In a way, making art sometimes feels like a necessary part of the healing process. For my comic on the Raeesah Khan saga, for example, I tried to ignore what was going on at first. But then it got to a boiling point where the media circus truly eclipsed the original issue of gender inequality and police handling of sexual assault. I couldn\u2019t look away anymore. Even as I was creating the comic, I was in pain and fuming. But I think after I crystallised my thoughts and I shared what I created with the world, it became a form of release.\ufeffTHG: Would you call yourself an artist?\u00a0RP: This is going to sound really strange, but I\u2019m not really a visual person. When I first started, adding drawings felt a bit like a means to an end to make the message more accessible. My first drawings started out as stick figures!\u00a0At first, when people called me an artist, I\u2019d laugh and say, \u201chaha, no la!\u201d I had a bit of imposter syndrome. But now, I\u2019ve accepted it because I have redefined what being an artist means. To me, an artist is someone who acts with intention \u2014 and in that way, everyone can be an artist. If you cook a delicious meal, then that meal is your work of art. Based on that definition, if you\u2019re living an intentional life, then you are an artist.\u00a0But I think everyone can do what I do as long as they have the intention. And after having drawn comics for the past three years, I definitely feel more \u201cartsy\u201d, being more calculated with space and improving my control of the movement of drawing.\u00a0THG: How, then, do you value your craft?\u00a0\u00a0RP: \u201cValue\u201d is a very tricky word. I do my comics for a number of reasons. One, because it\u2019s a way for me to process my emotions. Two, I think as humans, expressing ourselves and being validated by other humans is very powerful. To see that others actually resonate with my experiences or sentiments helps me a lot. Thirdly, I do see the value of my work in filling certain gaps in our current discourse, be it rethinking certain structural issues or trying to introduce the perspectives of certain marginalised groups \u2014 such as LGBTQ+ folks or sexual assault survivors.\u00a0Actually a lot of other people have said the things I\u2019m saying but in many other forms. They might be a lot less accessible. For example, in academia you\u2019re encouraged to use jargon, to distance yourself from the subject matter to remain \u201cobjective\u201d. Many academics think that if you write about yourself, then you might be biased. But to me, everyone is biased about something. It\u2019s just that dominant discourse has been made invisible so it appears \u201cneutral\u201d or \u201cobjective\u201d, when in reality, it\u2019s still a subjective and political way of looking at the world.I embraced this subjectivity when I decided not to pursue any form of academic writing. Now, when I talk about an issue, the entry point is usually myself and my own experience. I try to get people to engage by showing them how I, an average person, experience and view a certain topic and in the way that every single person in the world, not just me, has a unique point of view. I guess one \u201cvalue\u201d of my work is its subjectivity.\u00a0THG: Which pieces of work are you most proud of?\u00a0RP: I submitted this comic for a competition by The Substation. It was a breakthrough moment for my artistic skill because I think before then, I hadn\u2019t tried anything quite so ambitious and abstract. I was pretty proud of that one, but not many people responded to it.\u00a0\ufeffThere\u2019s another comic which I found amazing and hilarious, but nobody \u201cliked\u201d it!\ufeffI constantly remind myself to not be too affected by social media. Validation of my human experience is important to me and I\u2019m lucky to receive that for many of my comics. But there are ones that I particularly like that fewer people tend to \u201clike\u201d. That\u2019s really fine. You can\u2019t control how people will respond to your work.\u00a0THG: What holds you back at times?\u00a0RP: I don\u2019t really feel constrained by wanting to get \u201clikes\u201d. What influences me more is being worried about upsetting the government with my comics. For example, during the elections last year, I was like, \u201cman, I want to talk about this, but I really don\u2019t want to get detained\u201d. In the end, I still talked about it. I did experience fear and will sometimes self-censor. At times, I choose not to post about certain issues when I find that it\u2019s not worth the risk.\u00a0THG: What do you think of the ways we value artists like yourself here in Singapore?\u00a0RP: There is not much of a culture of giving artists money in Singapore. So actually, I have a Patreon account where my followers can support my craft financially every month. More than half of my patrons are non-Singaporeans, even though they only contribute to about 20 percent of my following on Instagram. It\u2019s interesting\u2026\ufeffWith the new FICA (Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act), it also raises questions for me about whether I have to stop receiving money from foreign patrons. Do I have to throw away my dream of being a full-time artist? That\u2019s an obstacle that Singaporean artists who make political work have to face now.\u00a0\ufeffTHG: Are there other comic artists that you love?\u00a0RP: There is this webtoon called Boyfriends, which is an LGBTQ+ series created by an Indonesian comic artist, @refrainbow, on Instagram. I really admire his work and it\u2019s amazing how he\u2019s a fellow Southeast Asian who has made it really big, being featured on Webtoons and the like.\u00a0THG: What do you have to say to budding artists like yourself?\u00a0RP: I think it\u2019s incredible when anyone starts doing any art at all! I would say that as long as you continue to find meaning in doing this for yourself, you should keep going and don\u2019t give up even if you feel like you\u2019re \u201cnot that good\u201d or that you aren\u2019t getting many \u201clikes\u201d.When I first started, I also felt my art was not great. Since I have been posting online for three years, whenever I look back at my earlier comics, I can really see turning points in my artwork where I showed some growth.\u00a0\ufeffFor example, if you look at my earlier comics, there was no distribution of space at all. It was very cramped. But one day, an artist friend messaged me with a \u201cchef’s kiss\u201d, saying “good job”, because she could see my improvement in terms of visual use of space. Finding community and people who can witness your growth and support you can be really helpful! Artmaking doesn\u2019t have to be a solitary process.\u00a0Join the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"In Conversation With: Rachel Pang, Creator of @RachelPangComics","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/in-conversation-with-rachel-pang-creator-of-rachelpangcomics\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]