Since 1971, I have been involved in quite a number of painting and photography exhibitions in the country and abroad.
The first one, namely in our 1971 batik painting exhibition in The British Council, Kuching was a group show comprising eight Saratok Secondary School students. Leading the exhibition list was our senior, a Form Five boy Yu Kim Tee @ Ah Bong who only sent a few of his batik paintings. My cousin the late Dr Edward Chendang, then in Form Five also sent some pieces too. The rest of us namely Mulok Saban, Nanang Tayai, Kendawang Ita, Andin Brooke, Banyi Beriak and yours truly happily made the trip to Kuching and were given accommodation at the St Thomas boarding house. Our Arts teacher Joshua Jalie Linggong, my distant cousin, was tasked to be the teacher-in-charge who actually became our chaperon.
Most of our paintings were sold on the first day of the two-day exhibition. All my three paintings were sold at 50-ringgit each. Pathetic even by 1971 standard but having an extra RM150 made me a new person with expanded ego.
Having spent the whole of 1961 in Miri, I was probably the only one who was more familiar with the town ways, especially how urban dwellers walked. During our trip I tried in vain to correct our ‘jungle walk’ and in the end miserably failed. Ironically, two years later Andin enrolled at St Thomas for his Lower Sixth and so did Mulok a year later.
In 1979 I arguably became the first and sole Sarawak son to graduate with a Fine Arts degree from any Malaysian university whereas Mulok was number two on the honour list. He later became the State Printing Department Director. I was posted to Rejang Teachers College (MPR) in Binatang (later Bintangor) upon graduation but only taught Arts Education for a few months before being promoted to head a secondary school. As head of the MPR Humanities and Social Science Department, one of my charges was Joshua Jalie, my former Arts teacher in Saratok.
We also held one school exhibition in 1972 at Saratok Sec School in conjunction with Inter Secondary School Sports Meet where my 7B pencil portraits of Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard took centre stage and were sold faster than the 800m Boys A record for the 1972 Sports Meet of 1 minute 54 seconds. Our batik pieces did not enjoy brisk sale due to lack of purchasing power among students and teachers who were the main patrons of the one-day exhibition. I earned some extra bucks because the pencil portraits of my two idols only sold for RM5 per piece. The six or seven pieces were mostly purchased by students from Simanggang and Betong two of whom became my regular correspondents later.
In 1974 while attending Upper Six Arts at Methodist Secondary School Sibu, I was tasked to do a one-man art exhibition and as such was given the privilege to do my batik painting during school hours at the house of an art teacher, Augustine Hwang.
Within the two weeks I produced 28 pieces which were framed and ready to be exhibited. Apart from the 28 batik pieces I did at least five pieces on the spot to demonstrate the latest trend in batik painting and all were snapped before they were fully done – at RM100 per piece and were not included in the official list of sale and as such I pocketed all.
After the three-day exhibition, 23 pieces of the framed batik pieces were listed as sold with the prices ranging from RM150 to RM350. School Board Chairman the late Datuk Ting Lik Hung purchased the most expensive piece at RM350 that depicted a longhouse at the edge of the jungle. Most of the purchases were made by the school teachers and public members. Batik painting was then new to Sibu and it was probably among the first if not the first batik exhibition ever to be held in Sibu. So there were purchases by teachers who came from India, Britain, Canada, US, New Zealand and Australia, as well as locals. My earning totalled over 2k after deducting unpaid school and boarding fees. I was on cloud nine.
Two of the paintings were later sold to a Canadian tourist Lloyd Jones who was also a former teacher in Simanggang. We met at the Sarawak Hotel where he stayed. He later sent to me by registered mail C$200 which was the equivalent of RM520. In fact, thanks to facebook I am now in contact with Lloyd, 84. He was in town (here in Kuching) for a few days starting from last 13 April but I could not meet him.
While being a Fine Arts student in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Penang from 1975 to 1979, I had the privilege to join a few exhibitions, mostly painting (oil and emulsion but no batik) in Penang Museum and the National Arts Gallery (NAG) in Kuala Lumpur of 1976, 77 and 78 but sold none. Nevertheless, letters of acknowledgements were issued. In 1976 my photogram ‘Dance of the Immortal 1’ was entered for the Asia Photography Contest and Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan. I won ‘Special Mention’ that came with a certificate and cash prize.
While spending three months in Kuala Belait of Brunei Darussalam from Sept to November 1997, I managed to come up with 20 framed batik paintings and held a one-day exhibition at Seria Shell Office lobby, thanks to a friend who was head of the Shell Petroleum Engineering Section. I managed to sell 14 paintings to Brunei Shell personnel who came from countries all over the world. Capitalising on the longhouse scenes and Iban daily life, the paintings were prices between B$300 and B$500. For the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) 2000 in Bandar Seri Begawan I sold 24 pieces of unframed mini batik pieces (measuring 24 inches x 12 inches) depicting mostly Iban traditional tattoos and designs as well as longhouse scenes. Priced between B$100 and B$150, the pieces were from APEC countries the world over. I remember a few were purchased by a South Korean official. Other buyers included local Brunei officials as well as those from the Philippines, New Zealand, Peru, US, Chinese Taipei and other APEC countries. For me it was really a moment to savour. My colleague in Brunei Press Antonio Alabastro came in handy by persuading his kabalayan (countrymen from the Philippines) to purchase a few pieces. Some were given discounts towards the end of the one-week programme that kicked off the new millennium.
I continued doing batik painting in the sultanate till Feb 2002. A number of my ‘pak haji’ buddies gave me generous commission to paint some exotic images for their eyes only, pieces that are best kept in the bed room.
Now and then when the mood is right I still paint. My last painting – commissioned by a special friend some years ago – now adorns their palatial home somewhere in the city here. The painting makes her stay forever young and ageless, she said, just like Monalisa with one exception – Monalisa keeps her assets hidden.
At the end the numerous art exhibitions were just figures and with little cash reward. However they helped to bring my paintings for collection all over the world. I have to tell and blow my own trumpet to justify my existence in the art world. However it matters a little whether I am counted in or out.
