'It's like a living funeral': 31-year-old Singaporean with terminal cancer holds art show

SINGAPORE - As a graphic designer, Mr Pow Jun Yang's lifelong dream was to stage his own art exhibition.

This became an item on his bucket list, when the 31-year-old bachelor was told recently by doctors that he has about three months left to live.

Diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in early 2023, he has since exhausted all treatment options, including several cycles of chemotherapy.

He has stage 4 urachal cancer, which arises in the urachus or its remnants. The urachus connects the umbilical cord to the bladder in a foetus, and usually closes before birth.

While shocked, Mr Pow initially thought he could overcome the cancer, given his young age.

But all the cycles of chemotherapy and operations he underwent to tackle the cancer failed to bring good news.

Around May 2024, his doctors told him that he probably had a lifespan of around six months left.

He has since outlived those six months. "I just tell myself to take each day at a time," he said.

Around November, his doctors gave him a three-month prognosis. That spurred him into action - to try to turn his dream of holding an art exhibition into reality.

His sister contacted Ambulance Wish Singapore (AWS), a charity that grants the wishes of terminally ill patients with less than a year's prognosis.

In less than a month, the charity, with the help of its partners and sponsors, organised a solo exhibition for him. Titled Canvas Of Memories - Jun Yang Pow, the event is being held at Suntec City from Jan 3 to 5. 

Speaking to The Straits Times, Mr Pow said: "I enjoy showing my art to my peers, and I'm gathering my family, friends and colleagues to go to my exhibition. So my exhibition is like a living funeral.

"It's like my last ditch at life."

Mr Pow is the youngest of three children. His father is a retired construction manager while his mother is a housewife.

Mr Pow has enjoyed drawing and art since he was a child, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in design and visual communications from the Glasgow School of Art Singapore, in partnership with the Singapore Institute of Technology.

His exhibition will feature 56 pieces of his art, such as digital illustrations and photographs of his travels.

They include his blue and white series, which are inspired by ink-washed paintings of blue and white porcelain tableware, of iconic scenes and places in Singapore.

Some of his illustrations have been made into merchandise, such as T-shirts, mugs and prints, to raise funds for Art Outreach, a charity that promotes art appreciation in Singapore, among other things.

This is a cause Mr Pow believes in.

He said he is deeply grateful to AWS for helping to fulfil his wish.

The charity's partners and sponsors played a key role in making the exhibition a reality, said AWS executive director Marya Malek.

Since its founding in 2019, AWS has granted 300 wishes, she added.

Some categories of wishes that people have involve organising a gathering with their loved ones, visiting a place of personal significance in Singapore, or attending their children's wedding before they die.

For example, the charity arranged for a 69-year-old bedridden man to go on a yacht cruise with his family around Singapore. He suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which causes loss of muscle control over time.

It also made it possible for a 72-year-old man, who was hospitalised, to attend his only daughter's wedding. The daughter brought forward her wedding to fulfil her father's dying wish to see her tie the knot.

AWS arranged for the tea ceremony to be held in the hospital, and also ferried the man to the wedding venue in an ambulance. The man, who had end-stage pancreatic cancer, died two days after the wedding.

Another category involves photo shoots, such as with loved ones. 

Ms Marya said: "For some patients, having a photoshoot is significant for them because they have not taken any or many photos, be it individually or as a family, when they were well."

Other types of wishes include meeting favourite celebrities, or giving back to loved ones or society, such as in the case of Mr Pow, who is donating proceeds from his exhibition to charity.

Some AWS beneficiaries have met celebrities such as actress Zoe Tay, actor Marcus Chin and football icon Fandi Ahmad.

Ms Marya said: "Some patients also take the opportunity to give something to their loved ones, such as a personal scrapbook or legacy album to give to their loved ones or future generations, or even a home makeover to brighten up their homes for the ones they leave behind."

She added that the fulfilment of wishes has given the dying people some joy, peace or comfort, and provided opportunities for family bonding.

Other charities that do similar work include Make-A-Wish Foundation (Singapore), which grants wishes to children with critical illnesses.

Among the visitors to Mr Pow's exhibition on Jan 4 were President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Ms Jane Ittogi.

Mr Pow said he has "more or less accepted his diagnosis".

Even so, he added: "But I still have a slight hope - and slim chance - that a miracle may happen."

Cliche as it may sound, he wants to tell others not to waste their time, given the frailty of life.

He said: "I wish everyone will savour the time to find out what their passions are, even if they are really small, and try to achieve it." 

The exhibition, which is free for the public, is on till Jan 5, from 11am to 8pm, at Suntec City. It is being held at the walkway between Uniqlo and H&M at Suntec City's West Wing.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.