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Scenes of Malaysian Life
Author(s)Lat
Current status/scheduleEnded
Launch date1974
End date2014
Alternate name(s)Lat & Easy
Publisher(s)New Straits Times

Scenes of Malaysian Life (also known as Lat & Easy from 2002 to 2014) is a comic strip series by Malaysian cartoonist, Mohammad Nor Khalid, better known as Lat and published in the Malaysian English-language daily newspaper, the New Straits Times.[1][2] The comic strip, which ran for 40 years, from 1974 to 2014,[3] illustrated the common way of life of the multicultural Malaysia.[4] Some of his cartoons in the series also compiled in his comic books.

Background[edit]

In 1973, Lat, who was then a crime reporter at the New Straits Times,[5] submitted his comic strip for the Hong Kong-based Asia Magazine with the traditional life culture as the main subject where he drews a cartoon and provide the dialogues about a traditional Malay Muslim ritual, the circumcision.[6][7][8] It drews attention from the-then New Straits Times editor-in-chief, Lee Siew Yee, who later offered him a permanent column cartoonist role in the newspaper.[9][10] Lat then taking that position specially created for him by the newspaper's then editor, Abdul Samad Ismail.[11][12] This gave birth to the Scenes of Malaysian Life comic strip where his first job is to highlighted the daily lives of Malaysian multiracial culture and current affairs.[9][13][14] He described it as a "something very innovative at the time".[9]

The first cartoon that Lat drew in the series is the "Perak Wedding", which was published in March 1974.[2][15] After returned to Malaysia from his 4-month study at the St Martin's School of Art in London,[16] Lat changed the format of Scenes of Malaysian Life into an editorial cartoon series. In 1984, partly from a desire to step away from the public limelight, Lat resigned from the New Straits Times to become a freelancer,[17][18][19] but continued to draw Scenes of Malaysian Life for the newspaper.[20] In 1995, Scenes of Malaysian Life absent briefly from the New Straits Times as Lat decided to take a sabbatical for a year. The series resumed publication the following year[21] until it finally ended in 2014.[3]

Reception[edit]

The comic strip was well-received[22][23] and propelled Lat's work to a greater heights.[24] In the 2000s, the series ran three times per week in the New Straits Times.[25]

Ilham Gallery describe the series as "a truly Malaysian narrative and perfectly pictured the life of a nation".[26]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Interviews/self-introspectives
News sources
Books
  • Muliyadi Mahamood (2003a). "Lat Dalam Konteksnya" [Lat in Context]. Pameran Retrospektif Lat [Retrospective Exhibition 1964–2003]. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: National Art Gallery. pp. 48–82. ISBN 983-9572-71-7.
  • Pameran Retrospektif Lat [Retrospective Exhibition 1964–2003]. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: National Art Gallery. 2003. ISBN 983-9572-71-7.
  • Muliyadi Mahamood (2004). The History of Malay Editorial Cartoons (1930s–1993). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Utusan Publications and Distributions. ISBN 967-61-1523-1.
  • Tim Pilcher; Brad Brooks (2005). The Essential Guide to World Comics. New York, United States: Collins & Brown. p. 125. ISBN 9781843403005.
  • Lat (1994). "Lat on Lat". Lat: 30 Years Later. Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Kampung Boy. p. 1–38. ISBN 983-996-174-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Academic sources
Journalistic sources
Online sites

External links[edit]