Alipay taps SEA artists to shed light on local digital life via illustrations

Alipay has tied up with a group of up-and-coming women artists in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, to launch a series of artwork depicting local digital life through an artistic lens. This comes as recent research by Deloitte found that Southeast Asian consumers enjoy rich depth and breadth of daily life scenarios supported by digital technology.

According to Deloitte, their top four favourite mobile apps covered digital entertainment, eCommerce, daily life services and financial services. Its research also identified Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia as digital life leaders, leading the race across digital infrastructure and digital life scenarios.

Singapore

Singapore's robust digital infrastructure and variety of apps for all areas of living and working add to the richness of digital life, Deloitte said. In Singapore, Alipay tapped on freelance designer Diane Ng Rose and visual artist Marina A.

Both artists wanted to highlight the use of digital tools such as mobile apps and the cloud, as well as leveraging technology to gain access to products worldwide.

Malaysia

Malaysian illustrator and content creator Gan Yi Qing said during the pandemic, she loved watching live-streams of beauty gurus sharing their product reviews, and videos of local chefs poromoting their dishes and sharing cooking tips. Hence, she decided to bring these experiences to life in her illustration.

"Digital platforms bring us closer together, unhindered by distance, language and time. I wanted to celebrate this through my work," Gan added.

Deloitte's research said that Malaysia is an attractive market for eCommerce in the Southeast Asia region. According to Criteo, Malaysia saw the highest increase in indexed sales during Singles' Day this year at 600%, while there were consistent upward surges in retail sales across Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Singapore saw a 248% increase in indexed sales for Singles' Day this year.

Indonesia

Ranked alongside Singapore and Malaysia as digital life leaders, Deloitte said that the number of online shoppers in Indonesia is expected to double in the coming years. Going digital has been one of the key ways that small businesses and freelancers have survived the pandemic, Indonesian illustrator Kathrin Honesta said. Another freelance illustrator Erin Dwi Azmi also emphasised on the eCommerce growth in Indonesia through her drawings.

Thailand

Thailand has some of the keenest social media users in the region, with users clocking in a daily average of close to three hours on social media, Deloitte's study said. This trend was what inspired Thai artist and illustrator Manasawee Rojanaphan. "Many famous museums around the world went online during the pandemic, which allows people who would never have the chance to visit to enjoy the virtual museum experience from their own homes," Rojanaphan said.

Meanwhile, freelance illustrator Visansaya Loisawai and graphic designer Titiporn Klintachote depicted social commerce, online shopping and the usage of online platforms during the lockdown in their illustrations.

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