19 Facts About Sarkasi Said

Sarkasi bin Said, best known as Sarkasi Said and known by the artist name Tzee, was a contemporary Singaporean batik artist known for abstract batik paintings and his use of unconventional wax-resist techniques.

Sarkasi Said's artworks have been internationally exhibited in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, and the US, and his works can be found in public and private collections, including the National Museum of Singapore collection.

Sarkasi Said has designed several batik shirts for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to wear during national events.

Sarkasi Said promoted the technique of Malay batik painting by holding various art workshops, volunteering as an art teacher at a drug rehabilitation centre.

Besides visual art, Sarkasi Said was involved in acting in Malay dramas and films.

In 2020, Sarkasi Said was awarded the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual art in Singapore.

Sarkasi Said would be raised by his grandparents as his parents had separated when he was three years old.

From 1946 to 1948, Sarkasi Said studied at Tanglin Tinggi Malay Primary School, later attending Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah from 1948 to 1949, and Duchess Primary School from 1950 to 1951.

Sarkasi Said sold his paintings in the Bartley and Gilstead areas of Singapore, his works becoming popular with the expatriates living there.

In 1970, Sarkasi Said established the shop Tzee Creations in Singapore with four other partners, creating batik designs for clothes to be sold there.

Batik-print dresses were sold at Tzee Creation, with Sarkasi Said expanding his batik designs to shirts, scarves and other products that were sold locally and overseas.

In 1974, Sarkasi Said would be awarded Pingat APAD.

Sarkasi Said's design, incorporating a batik painting of an orchid, was one of four designs chosen.

In 1993, Sarkasi Said started conducting classes as a volunteer art teacher at the Khalsa Crescent Drug Rehabilitation Centre.

In 2003, Sarkasi Said created a 103-metre batik painting which set a Guinness World Record for the world's longest batik painting.

Sarkasi Said would be a board member of art committees such as the National Arts Council, Singapore from 2006 to 2008, Singapore's Modern Art Society, and the Malay Museum Committee, being appointed the Chairman of Public Affairs and Education at the Malay Heritage Foundation.

In 2020, Sarkasi Said was awarded the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual art in Singapore.

Sarkasi Said died on 14 October 2021 due to kidney failure.

Some panels were initially mounted upside down, but Sarkasi Said corrected the panels' alignments.