Batik years in retrospective

Two women washing, April'85

Paddling upriver, April'85

Three doves, circa '86

 In my mature years, I  did considerable work in batik.  During the years 1985-1986 I did many batik paintings with culture, native girls and music as the subject matter.  All of these batik pieces shown here were done in Bintulu.  These were done during my free time during normal days and weekends.  It was  a means to earn additional income since batik pieces were greatly demanded due to its Malaysian or local identity and there were no other artist doing batik in Bintulu at that time.  Later in 2002 my creative urges in batik were channeled into nature study especially plant life. These creative urges were associated with my contracting business since 1992 especially those works involved in the landscaping of Bintulu.  I did little work on buildings or architectural subjects.   Two paintings in particular are of interest.  One is done in 1990 showing the Plaza hotel.  This painting was sold to the hotel and given as a gift to the Chief Minister of Sarawak when doing the official opening of the hotel. Another painting was based on a picture from a Venezuelan friend of her hacienda.  Doing batik was a  money making hobby for me because almost all the batiks I produced were sold.

Kelabit girl with flute,uly'86

Kelabit lass, circa '86

Ethnic by design, circa '86

Kelabit dancer and boys on sapeh, circa'86

Feeding hornbill, circa '86

Kelabit girls, circa'86

White water lilies, may'02

Bintulu Plaza Hotel, July'1990

Lily pond, October'02

Nature study, June'02

Plant study, May'02

Traveller's palm,September'02

Venezuelan hacienda - a study, June'02

( Note: The above story is a re-posting from my blog 'Being MY (3rd. Ed.) and the link is here.

A glimpse of Bintulu public garden in 1961

( Note: The above pix is taken from the 1961 Bintulu Centenary Celebrations souvenier programme book, pg.50)

In the very early 1960's I used to frequent the only public garden in Bintulu at that time.  It was situated at Somerville Road as shown in the picture above.  As a young kid I used to pass the garden everyday on the way to school.  In the afternoon after school hours me and my friends from nearby kampungs played football at the open spaces next to the garden.  There is an interesting Singapore connection regarding the garden and how in later years I was involved in the landscaping of Bintulu with the introduction of the Tabebuia rosea trees to Bintulu using the Singapore connection.  The full story is  here.