BHL Bank cover artwork

Recently, I came into temporary possession of the Annual Reports of Ban Hin Lee Bank from 1972 to 1982 and from 1984 till 1999 (the Annual Report for 1983 is missing), the latter year being the last time that the bank held its annual general meeting before its merger with Southern Bank. I thought that it would be interesting to display all the cover designs through the ages.

Until 1979, the design was very staid, uninspiring and undeviating. In 1980, I came into the picture, so to speak, when I was transferred to the Banking Department of the Head Office which allowed me to introduce some creativity into the cover artwork. Not much, mind you, bearing in mind the conservative nature of the bank's management. But it was a start. Many years earlier, I had gotten to know the Art Director of an advertising company known as Lee Advertising and Hor Kwei On, that's his name, got along very well with me. He submitted two cover designs to me, I presented them to management and got one of them approved. And that was how the 1980 Annual Report became a refreshing change. Eventually, full colour crept into the whole of the Annual Reports. I was transferred to commence on the bank's ATM project in 1986 and stopped working on the covers from then on. But the work had already begun and it just continued from there, improving at every stage of the way, right until 2000.

By the way, all remaining vestiges of a conservative past flew out the window when the bank was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1991. Almost overnight, the 1990 Annual Report became totally different from its predecessors. The financial reports increased in detail and there were more to write about the bank's achievements and activities. As a result, the Annual Reports grew thicker and thicker. The 1972 Annual Report was a modest 28 pages inclusive of the covers and the 1989 Annual Report was 58 pages, but the 1990 Annual Report increased to 74 pages. By the time the last Annual Report was released in 2000, it was a monstrous work of 144 pages. 😲