toy-maker szesze ong reimagines singaporean characters as LEGO mini-figures

singapore-based hobbyist szesze ong has every kids dream job — a toy maker. in his latest project, ong has created customised LEGO mini-figures resembling the people in her neighbourhood in singapore. some iconic characters from singapore’s history are also found in the series such as the early immigrants of the country, dating back to the 1800’s.

The early immigrants, people of Singapore. From left to right, the Sepoy, Ma-jie, Samsui woman, Policeman. From 1800s – 1970s.

as a tribute to the nation’s 52nd birthday on august 9th, szesze ong‘s figurines are pictured around various iconic parts of singapore.
 szesze  also challenged himself to re-create minifigures as other famous characters such as the sepoy, ma-jie, samsui women and policemen are all featured in ong’s project.

mobile hawkers used to flourished along these five foot ways before the 1980’s

early meetings in the neighbourhood before the marketing begins

iconic ah beng and ah lian look – the wayward youths from the 1990’s

the sunshine youths

kids playing in the common playground

tissue paper seller

the cardboard collector

the summons auntie, a traffic warden that tickets illegally parked cars

mr. and mrs. lee

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynn chaya | designboom