Billy Sing - Legacy

Legacy

The Queensland Military Historical Society set up a bronze plaque at 304 Montague Road, South Brisbane, where Sing had died. In 1995, a statue of Sing was unveiled with honour in his home town of Clermont. In 2004, an Australian Army sniper team in Baghdad named their post the 'Billy Sing Bar & Grill.' On 19 May 2009, the 66th anniversary of Sing's death, the Chinese Consul-General, Ren Gongping, along with Returned and Services League of Australia officers and community leaders, laid wreaths at his grave. Ren said, "Billy Sing is a symbol of the long history of Chinese in Australia, and the great role they have played in your nation's past ... It also reminds us that China and Australia were allies through both world wars, and that we have a long and proud shared past."

Sing's life was recounted in a chapter of Laws and Stewart's book, There's always more to the story (2006), and in greater depth by Hamilton in his book, Gallipoli Sniper: The life of Billy Sing (2008). Hamilton's book includes a detailed account of how snipers worked at Gallipoli and their contribution to the progress of the campaign. Reviewer John Wadsley wrote that "Hamilton is able to bring together a range of sources to create the story, and while at times, you get the feeling he is padding it out to make up for the lack of direct material about Billy Sing, the book works."

A television mini-series, The Legend of Billy Sing, is being produced as of 2010; it is based on Hamilton's book. Although Sing and his father were partly Chinese and fully Chinese, respectively, they are being portrayed by actors of European ancestry. The director of the series, Geoff Davis, has been criticised for this decision. Politician Bill O'Chee, a member of the Billy Sing Commemorative Committee, said, "When a person dies, all that is left is their story, and you can’t take a person’s name and not tell the truth about their story." Davis has said, "Whatever genetic background, his culture was Australian. To me, he's very representative of every Australian whose parents were not born here. ... A lot of people are sitting at the back of this bus attacking the driver. A lot of people feel they own the story of Billy Sing. But they've probably got more resources than me—if they want to tell that story, then tell it."

Hamilton characterised Sing as "a cold-blooded killer ... a man with a sense of humour ... the Anzac angel of death," and Laws and Stewart described him simply as "one of many Australians of Chinese descent who served with distinction in the Australian forces during World War I." Around 400 people of Chinese descent served in Australia's military forces during the 20th century.