PETALING JAYA: National icon, Lat, is almost set to open the doors to his time capsule childhood kampung house lovingly featured in his masterpiece graphic novel ‘Kampung Boy’.
Mohamed Nor ‘Lat’ Khalid has shared with FMT a striking picture of the replica home he lived in during the early 1960s at Kampung Lalang, Kota Bahru, near Batu Gajah in Perak.
He self-financed the construction of the replica of the traditional wooden home and built it from memory.
The cartoonist is pictured with his wife Faezah Ahmad Zanzali and friends in front of a spanking new, yet modest, reconstructed Rumah Lat that artfully harks back to a bygone era.
Another picture shows Faezah in the compound outside the gallery that will celebrate Lat’s life story and showcase his personal effects, memorabilia and his family’s old possessions.
Lat (short for ‘bulat’ – round) said his family members also contributed pre-World War II furniture that have been refurbished, cutlery, kitchen utensils, home decorations and other household items used during his formative years in the village.
He said he felt like being in his old house again in Rumah Lat, which is close to his present house near Sungai Rokam, on the outskirts of Ipoh.
The only difference from the original house where he was born on March 5, 1951, is that Rumah Lat is sparkling because he expects a steady stream of visitors.
Lat, 70 next year, told FMT he hopes Rumah Lat Dan Galeri can open by year end “as I want to show everybody what it was like to be living in a kampung and how we can all enjoy our cultural uniqueness and lifestyle.”
“We have to remain true to our roots so that others, especially the younger generation, can relate to it,” said Lat adding there were similar houses in smaller towns or villages on private property.
The works of the influential cartoonist have covered virtually every basic social value and national identity, encouraging Malaysians to focus on their similarities rather than their differences.
Lat is internationally recognised as a cartoonist, who with a few strokes of a pen, sums up a complex situation in a single powerful image.
When Rumah Lat Dan Galeri opens, visitors will get an insight into his astute ability to capture the experiences of vibrant cultures that make Malaysia a nation of many faces, beliefs, and ways of life.
Lat said his wife, two brothers and two sisters will help to give visitors a rundown on daily goings-on in their house then, as well as the stories behind the cartoons, its characters, and the fun in their lifestyles.
His chemistry with Malaysians is profound as he crisply portrays the characters in his cartoons in a humorous and innocent manner, making people appreciate different cultures without hatred or bias.
In a period of racially charged politics, he drew, for instance, Hakka and Sikh wedding ceremonial rituals but no one took offence at the satirical look of their own cultures.
It was a reminder of the nation’s multiculturalism and faiths and the importance of preserving them, an appreciation for which is presently clouded by racism and bigotry.
It’s no wonder that every Malaysia Day, his message in a cartoon of being together hits everyone in the face.
It features a group of children from various ethnicities under a Jalur Gemilang-fashioned umbrella fielding off a torrent of hostile words like ‘racism, intolerance, racist remarks and disunity’.
“I am pleased that the cartoon I drew decades ago still resonates with the people, and hopefully it will sink in and invoke a spirit of togetherness,” said Lat whose rib-tickling social commentary in a conservative and political context is inspirational.
His punchlines never fail to make an interview lively. Like the story he told FMT about one of the first English words he learned – ‘civilian’.
When his late father, 5th Malay Regiment clerk Mohd Khalid Mohd Noh – who bought him second-hand British comics such as The Beano and The Dandy at Ipoh’s weekly night market – took him as a boy to an army parade, he asked his mother: “Why isn’t dad with the soldiers?”
She replied: “Because he is a civilian.”
The father of four might have a way with words as he does with line drawings but he bristles when friends tease him for naming his firstborn Junaidah, a sweet name for girls.
A visit to Rumah Lat Dan Galeri will leave one with the tale of how Lat as a former crime reporter with Berita Harian and The New Straits Times (NST), on an assignment to the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital in 1970, got the idea to sketch ‘Bersunat’ – a circumcision ceremony Malay boys have to undergo.
He tickles everyone’s funny bone with his take on his primary school teacher, the infamous ‘Mrs Hew’, on whom he modelled his Chinese auntie caricature with the beehive hair and horn-rimmed spectacles.
His recollections about her and everyone else who had encouraged him are a study in decency.
He came up with his first 24-page comic strip in 1964, ‘Tiga Sekawan’ (Three Friends) while in Standard Six at Jalan Pasir Putih English Primary School, a year after he left Kampung Lalang for Sungai Rokam where his father bought a low-cost flat.
Lat described it as the “golden age of Malay comic books before TV came” when the leading lights were Rejab Had, Raja Hamzah and Halim Teh.
He said letters between him and Sinaran Brothers in Penang, who bought his comic book for $25, and on other deals with the company will be on display at the gallery.
There are also letters from Rejab Had, a soldier, who wrote Lat words of praise and later became his mentor.
With decades of cartooning under his belt, an internationally acclaimed TV animation series and a movie and musical based on his life, Lat is a consummate storyteller.
His more than 20 volumes of cartoons including Kampung Boy (1979), Town Boy (1981), Mat Som (1989) and his 1979 cartoon compilation Keluarga Si Mamat (Mamat’s Family), have struck national consciousness.
His book Lat: My Life and Cartoons, co-written with former NST group editor Syed Nadzri Syed Harun, includes rare glimpses of his first published comic books.
It also highlights Lat as a musician, performing with his multicultural rock band KD Possum and The Flying Fox, and of him drawing ‘Kampung Boy’ on the floor of his unfurnished marital home in Kuala Lumpur.
Lat credits The Beatles and vintage Malay and English movies as influences on his art since he was 13.
He was also a member of the Batu Api group that comprised his former journalist colleagues, Salehuddin Othman, Ruhanie Ahmad and graphic artist Jerry who performed at charity events.
With hair combed back with Brylcreem, collars up and dark sunglasses, their signature song was P Ramlee’s ‘Kwek Mambo’.
With a treasure trove of stories, Rumah Lat Dan Galeri has the lift of a trumpet blast, a potential asset to promote understanding, progress and happiness. - FMT
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