The Kampung Boy

Last updated

The Kampung Boy
The Kampung Boy (1979).jpg
Front cover of the 1979 first print
Author Lat
Country Malaysia
Language Malglish, a pidgin form of English
Genre Autobiographical comics
PublisherBerita Publishing
Publication date
1979
Media typePrint
Pages144 pp (first edition)
OCLC 5960451
741.59595
LC Class PZ7.L3298
Followed byTown Boy 

The Kampung Boy, also known as Lat, the Kampung Boy or simply Kampung Boy, is a graphic novel by Lat about a young boy's experience growing up in rural Perak in the 1950s. The book is an autobiographical account of the artist's life, telling of his adventures in the jungles and tin mines, his circumcision, family, and school life. It is also the basis for the eponymous animated series broadcast in 1999 and a musical theatre staging in 2011. First published in 1979 by Berita Publishing, The Kampung Boy was a commercial and critical success; its first printing (of at least 60,000 copies, 16 times) was sold out within four months of its release. Narrated in English with a smattering of Malay, the work has been translated into other languages, such as Japanese and French, and sold abroad.

Contents

The book made Lat an international figure and a highly regarded cartoonist in Malaysia. It won several awards when released as Kampung Boy in the United States, such as Outstanding International Book for 2007 and the Children's Book Council and Booklist Editor's Choice for 2006. The Kampung Boy became a franchise, with the characters of The Kampung Boy decorating calendars, stamps, and aeroplanes. A Malaysian theme park is scheduled to open in 2012 with the fictional characters as part of its attractions. The Kampung Boy is very popular in Southeast Asia and has gone through 16 reprints. A sequel, Town Boy , which followed the protagonist in his teenage years in the city, was published in 1981 and a spin-off, Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today, in 1993. The latter reused the setting of The Kampung Boy to compare and contrast the differences between Malaysian childhood experiences in the 1950s and 1980s.

Plot

The Kampung Boy tells the story of a young boy, Mat, and his childhood in a kampung (village). A graphic novel, it illustrates the boy's life in pictures and words. Aside from being the protagonist, Lat is also the narrator. The story opens with his birth in a Kampung in Perak, Malaysia, and the traditional rituals surrounding the event: the recitation of blessings, the singing of religious songs, and the observance of ceremonies. As Lat grows older, he explores the house, gradually shifting the story's focus to the comic activities of his family outside their abode. [1]

Lat starts the first stage of his formal educationreading the Qur'an. At these religious classes, he makes new friends and joins them in their adventures, swimming in the rivers and exploring the jungles. Lat's parents worry over his lack of interest in his studies; he acknowledges their concern but finds himself unmotivated to forgo play for academic pursuits. When he reaches his tenth year, he undergoes the bersunat, a ritual circumcision. The ceremonies that precede the operation are elaborate, with processions and baths in the river. The circumcision proves to be "just like an ant bite!" [2] [3]

Sometime after recovering from the circumcision, Lat trespasses on a tin mine with his friends. They teach him how to gather the mud left in the wake of the mining dredges and pan for valuable ore. The activity is illegal but often overlooked by the miners. Lat brings the result of his labour back to his father, expecting praise. Instead, he is punished for neglecting his studies and future. After overhearing his parents' laments and being shown the family's rubber plantation, Lat finds the will to push himself to study. He is rewarded for his efforts, passing a "special examination" and qualifying for a "high-standard" boarding school in Ipoh, the state capital. [4]

Rushing home to inform his parents, Lat discovers his father in negotiations with a tin mining company, which is surveying the land. The company will offer a large sum of money for the family's properties if they discover tin on it. Other villagers are hoping for similar deals with the company. They plan to buy houses in Ipoh if their hopes are realised. The day for Lat to depart the village has arrived and he is excited, but as he is about to depart, sadness washes over him. He acknowledges the emotions as his love of the village and hopes that the place where he was born will remain unchanged when he returns and see it changed. [5]

Conception

The Kampung Boy is an autobiography. Its author, Lat, grew up in a kampung and moved to the city after graduating from high school. He worked there as a crime reporter and drew cartoons to supplement his incomea hobby he had started at the age of nine. [6] Lat became the column cartoonist for his newspaper after impressing his editors with his cartoons on the bersunat. [7] [8] He was sent to London to study at St Martin's School of Art [9] and on returning to Malaysia in 1975, he reinvented his column, Scenes of Malaysian Life , into an editorial comic series. [10] It proved popular and as Lat's fame grew, he began questioning his city lifestyle and reminiscing about his life in the kampung. Lat felt he and his fellow citizens had all forgotten their village origins and wanted to remind them of that. He got an idea for the graphic novel after he made his visit to the United States where he find that not many people there knew about Malaysia. [11] He began working on The Kampung Boy in 1977, conceptualising and drawing the scenes when he was not drawing Scenes of Malaysian Life. The book cover is a watercolour painting that Lat made while he resides in Lucky Garden, Bangsar. [12] His labour came to fruition in 1979 when Berita Publishing Sdn. Bhd.—the then-wholly-owned book publishing subsidiary of New Straits Times Press (NSTP)—released The Kampung Boy on the Malaysian market. [13]

Art style and presentation

The style of Kampung Boy does not follow that commonly found in Western graphic novels. [14] A page can be occupied fully by a single drawing, accompanied by text. The image either presents a scene that stands on its own or segues into the next, forming a story sequence that flows across two facing pages. [15] The story is told in a local dialect of English, simpler in its grammatical structure and sprinkled with Malay words and phrases. [16] Deborah Stevenson, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , found that the narration invokes a sense of camaraderie with the reader, and carries an "understated affection for family, neighbours and village life." [14] Mike Shuttleworth, reviewer for The Age, said that Lat often achieved humour in this book by illustrating the scene contrary to what was described. [17] Stevenson agreed, highlighting a scene in which Mat spoke of how his mother tenderly fed him porridge; the illustration, however, shows her irritation as the toddler spits the porridge back at her. [14]

Kevin Steinberger, reviewer for Magpies, found Lat's layout made Kampung Boy an "easy, inviting read." He said that Lat's pen-and-ink drawings relied on the "strong contrast between black and white to create space and suggest substance." [18] Lat drew the children of Kampung Boy as "mostly mop-topped, toothy, bare-bottomed or sarong-draped" kids, [2] who are often "exaggeratedly dwarfed" by items of the adult world. [14] He explained that the way the boys were drawn was partly due to the influence of comics he read in the 1950s; "naughty ones with ... bushy hair" were prominent male protagonists in those books. [19] The adult characters are easily distinguished by their exaggerated clothing and accessories such as puffed out pants and butterfly glasses. [2] "Short and round" shapes make the design of the characters distinctive. [20] These characters display exaggerated expressions, particularly when they are drawn to face the readers. [15]

Francisca Goldsmith, a librarian and comics reviewer, found Lat's scenes to be "scribbly", yet "wonderfully detailed". [2] Similarly, comics journalist Greg McElhatton commented that The Kampung Boy was "a strange mix of caricature and careful, fine detail." [15] These two views lend support to Muliyadi's assertion that Lat demonstrated his strength in The Kampung Boy; his eye for detail extended to his characters and, more importantly, the surroundings. Lat's characters look, dress, act, and talk like real Malaysians would, and they are placed in environments that are readily identifiable with local jungles, villages, and cities. The faithful details impart a sense of familiarity to Malaysian readers and make the scenes convincing to others. [21]

Adaptations

New Straits Times , the newspaper Lat was working for in the 1970s, was published in English; its directive was to serve a multi-racial readership. Redza commented that Lat understood Malaysian society and the need to engage all of its racial groups. [22] The Kampung Boy was thus written and published in English. At Lat's request, Berita Publishing hired his friend, Zainon Ahmad, to translate the graphic novel into Malay. This version was published under the title Budak Kampung. [23] By 2008, The Kampung Boy had been reprinted 16 times, [nb 1] and translated into various languages such as Portuguese, French, and Japanese. Countries that have printed localised versions of The Kampung Boy include Brazil, [24] Germany, Korea and the United States. [25]

United States adaptation

The United States adaptation, which dropped the definite article from the title, was published by First Second Books in 2006. [23] The book is in a smaller format (6 inches by 8 inches) and sported Matt Groening's testimonial"one of the all-time great cartoon books"on its cover. [26] According to Gina Gagliano, First Second's Marketing Associate, the publishers left the story mostly untouched; they had not altered the contents to be more befitting to American tastes. They did, however, change the grammar and spelling from British English (the standard followed by Malaysia) to the American version and lettered the text in a font based on Lat's handwriting. [27] First Second judged that the original book's sprinklings of Malay terms were not huge obstacles to their customers. [28] Most of the Malay words could be clearly understood from context, either through text or with the accompanying illustrations. [29] The clarity of the language left the publisher few terms to explain to North American readers; the few that remained were explained either by inserting definitions within parentheses or by replacing the Malay word with an English equivalent. [30]

Animated television series

The success of The Kampung Boy led to its adaptation as an animated series. Started in 1995, production took four years to complete and was an international effort, involving companies in countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United States. [31] [32] The series uses the characters of the graphic novel, casting them in stories that bear similarities to The Simpsons . Comprising 26 episodes, [33] Kampung Boy features themes that focus on the meshing of traditional ways of life with modern living, the balance between environmental conservation and urban development, and local superstitions. [34] [31] One of its episodes, "Oh! Tok", featuring a spooky banyan tree, won a special Annecy Award for an animated episode of more than 13 minutes in 1999. [35] Although the pilot episode was shown on television in 1997, the series began broadcasting over the satellite television network Astro in 1999. [36] Aside from Malaysia, Kampung Boy was broadcast in other countries such as Germany and Canada. [33]

Theatre staging

A theatre staging adaptation, titled Lat Kampung Boy Sebuah Muzikal co-directed by Hans Isaac and Harith Iskander and was staged at the Istana Budaya on 16 March to 3 April 2011. [37] The theatre was co-produced by the Malaysian Institute of Translation & Books and Tall Order Productions. The cast members included Awie, Jalil Hamid, Atilia Haron, Rahim Razali and Douglas Lim. [38]

Reception and legacy

According to Lat, The Kampung Boy's first print60,000 to 70,000 copieswas sold out in three to four months; by 1979, at least 100,000 had been sold. [39] The Kampung Boy is regarded as Lat's finest work and representative of his oeuvre. [40] After being published in the United States, Kampung Boy won the Children's Book Council and Booklist Editor's Choice award in 2006. It was also awarded the Outstanding International Book for 2007 by the United States Board of Books for Young People. [41] The book along with Town Boy were released in special edition in conjunction with the Lat Kampung Boy Sebuah Muzikal theatre at Istana Budaya beginning 16 March to 3 April 2011 and has been sold 1,000 copies. [42] [43]

The Kampung Boy was successful due to its realistic presentation of Malaysia's cultural past. Many Malaysians who grew up in the 1960s or earlier fondly remembered the laidback lives they had in the kampung upon reading the book. [33] [36] Stevenson said that The Kampung Boy's portrayal of the past would resonate with everyone's fondness for a happy experience in his or her own past. [44] Those unfamiliar with the ways of the kampung could relate to the "universal themes of childhood, adolescence, and first-love". [45] According to Stevenson, the illustrations help to clarify any unfamiliar terms the reader might face and the narrative force of Lat's story depends more on the protagonist's experiences than on the details. [14] The book's appeal to both children and adults lies in Lat's success in recapturing the innocence of childhood. [17] [18]

Malaysian art historian Redza Piyadasa said that "The Kampung Boy was a masterpiece that was clearly designed to be read as a novel." [46] He compared the graphical depiction of childhood experience to Camara Laye's novel The African Child and viewed The Kampung Boy as the "finest and most sensitive evocation of a rural Malay childhood ever attempted in [Malaysia], in any creative medium." [46] Steinberger had the same thoughts, but compared The Kampung Boy to Colin Thiele's autobiographical novel Sun on the Stubble , which expounds on the fun and mischief of early childhood. [18]

Lat's success with The Kampung Boy created new opportunities for him. He set up his own companyKampung Boy Sendirian Berhad (Village Boy private limited)to handle the merchandising of his cartoon characters and occasional publishing of his books. [47] [48] Kampung Boy is partnering with Sanrio and Hit Entertainment in a project to open an indoor theme park in Malaysia by the end of 2012. One of the park's attractions is the showcasing of Lat's characters alongside those of Hello Kitty and Bob the Builder. [49] [50] The distinctive characters of The Kampung Boy have become a common sight in Malaysia. They are immortalised on stamps, [51] financial guides, [52] and aeroplanes. [53]

Sequel and spinoff

Town Boy

Town Boy is the sequel to The Kampung Boy. Published in 1981, it continues Mat's story in the multicultural city of Ipoh, where he attends school, learns of American pop music, and makes new friends of various races, notably a Chinese boy named Frankie. Mat capers through town and gets into mischievous adventures with his friends. He and Frankie bond through their common love of rock-and-roll and playing air-guitar to Elvis Presley's tunes above the coffee shop run by Frankie's parents. As Mat grows into his teens, he dates Normah, "the hottest girl in Ipoh." [54] [55] Town Boy's story is a collection of Lat's reminiscences about his teenage days in Ipoh, an account of "the days before [he] moved to the capital city to venture into life as an adult... and later a professional doodler." [56] The cartoonist wanted to publicise his knowledge of music and write a subtle story about friendship. Frankie is representative of the diverse friends Lat made in those days through a common love of music. [39]

The book's layout is more varied than The Kampung Boy's, [55] featuring "short multi-panel sequences with giant double-page-spread-drawings." [57] Comics artist Seth commented that Lat's drawings are filled with "vigor and raw energy", "entirely based on eccentric stylizations but grounded with an eye capable of wonderfully accurate observation of the real world." [57] At certain points, crowd scenes spread across the pages of the book, [55] filled with "Lat's broadly humorous and humane" characters. [58] Comics journalist Tom Spurgeon said after readings such scenes: "There are times when reading Town Boy feels like watching through a street fair after it rains, everyday existence altered by an event just enough to make everything stand out. You can get lost in the cityscapes." [58]

The Asian characters occasionally speak in their native tongues, their words rendered in Chinese or Tamil glyphs without translations. Goldsmith and Ridzwan did not find the foreign words to be a hindrance in understanding and enjoying the work. Instead, they believed the non-English languages aided Lat's construction of his world as one different from a dominantly English-speaking world. [55] [25] Lat's depiction of Mat's visit to Frankie's home transcends culture, portraying realistically the experiences most children feel when visiting the "foreign but familiar staleness" of their new friend's home. [57] [58] Mat and Frankie's growing friendship is a central theme of the book, [59] and their bond as they enjoy rock-and-roll together in Frankie's house has become a notable scene for readers such as journalist Ridzwan A. Rahim. [25] Their friendship marks a shift in the story of Mat's life from a focus on his family in The Kampung Boy to a focus beyond. [55] As the book revolves around Mat's friendship with Frankie, it ends with the Chinese boy's departure to the United Kingdom from the Ipoh railway station. [57]

As of 2007, Town Boy had been reprinted 17 times. [nb 2] It has also been translated into French and Japanese. [60] [61] Reviews of Town Boy were positive. Librarian George Galuschak liked the book for its detailed crowd scenes and its diverse cast of charactersboth animal and human. [62] The "energy" in Lat's drawings reminded him of Sergio Aragonés and Matt Groening. [62] Laurel Maury, a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times , likened the book to a Peanuts cartoon, but without the melancholy typical of Charles M. Schulz's work. She said that Lat delivered a "rollicking" world and that his characters' interactions made the story unpretentious and heart-warming. [54] Although Spurgeon believed any single scene in Town Boy was superior to any book from a lesser cartoonist, he preferred the narrower scope of The Kampung Boy; he felt the tighter focus of Lat's first book gave a more personal and deeper insight into the author's growth as a young boy. Town Boy, with its quicker pace, felt to him like a loose collection of heady first-time experiences that failed to explore all possibilities of the encounters. [58]

Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today

John Lent, a scholar of comics, described Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today as Lat's "crowning achievement". [39] Published in 1993, Yesterday and Today returns to Lat's roots as a kampung child as described in The Kampung Boy. It explores in greater detail the games played by Lat and his friends and the lifestyle they had in the 1960s. However, Yesterday and Today also compares these past events to similar occurrences in the 1980s and '90s, contrasting the two in a humorous light; [63] the opposition of the two time frames is further enhanced by rendering the portrayals of contemporary scenes in watercolour while those of the past remain in black and white. [39] [56] Lat's goal for this book was to "tell his own children how much better it was in the old days." [39]

Kampung Boy - Today by Lat.jpg
Kampung Boy - Yesterday by Lat.png
Yesterday and Today contrasts scenes between two time periods such as how a child learns to swim in the 1990s (left) and the 1950s (right) as humorous commentaries.

Like in The Kampung Boy, the scenes in Yesterday and Today are presented in great detail. Lat shows the children playing with items constructed from simple items found in the household and nature. He also illustrates the toys' schematics. He compares the games with their modern counterparts, lamenting the loss of creativity in modern youths. [39] [36] Other comments on societal changes are in the book. A child is taking a swimming lesson in a pool, intently watched by his parents who have a maid in tow with various items in her hands. While the parents gesticulate wildly at their son, the lifeguard and instructor calmly sit by the pool, watching the boy's smooth progress. This scene is contrasted with Lat's own experience at the hands of his father, who casually tosses the terrified boy into a river, letting him either swim or flounder. [39] Such details, according to Muliyadi, invoke a yearning for the past and help readers "better appreciate [the] cartoons". [36]

University lecturer Zaini Ujang viewed Yesterday and Today's comparisons as criticisms of society, putting forth the question of whether people should accept "development" to simply mean discarding the old for the new without regards to its value. [64] Professor Fuziah of the National University of Malaysia interpreted the book's ending as a wakeup call to parents, questioning them if they should deny their children a more relaxed childhood. [65] Lent agreed, saying that Lat had asserted the theme from the start, showing him and his childhood friends "not in a hurry to grow up". [39] Redza hinted that Lat's other goal was to point out the "dehumanising environment" that Malaysian urban children are growing up in. [66] A Japanese edition of Yesterday and Today was published by Berita Publishing in 1998. [60] As of 2010, the book had been reprinted 11 times. [nb 3]

Notes

  1. Specifics of reprint: The Kampung Boy (Sixteenth reprint ed.). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Berita Publishing. 2009 [1979]. ISBN   978-967-969-410-9.
  2. Specifics of reprint: Town Boy (Seventeenth reprint ed.). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Berita Publishing. 2007 [1981]. ISBN   967-969-402-X.
  3. Spesifics of reprint: Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today (Eleventh reprint ed.). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Berita Publishing. 2010 [1993]. ISBN   967-969-307-4.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Razak Hussein</span> Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1970 to 1976

Tun Haji Abdul Razak bin Dato' Hussein was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1970 until his death in 1976. He also served as the first deputy prime minister of Malaysia from August 1957 to September 1970. He is referred to as the Father of Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lat (cartoonist)</span> Malaysian cartoonist

Datuk Mohammad Nor bin Mohammad Khalid, more commonly known as Lat, is a Malaysian cartoonist. Winner of the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2002, Lat has published more than 20 volumes of cartoons since he was 13 years old. His works mostly illustrate Malaysia's social and political scenes, portraying them in a comedic light without bias. Lat's best known work is The Kampung Boy (1979), which has been published in several countries across the world. In 1994, the Sultan of Perak bestowed him the honorific title of datuk, in recognition of the cartoonist's work in helping to promote social harmony and understanding through his cartoons. Lat also works for the government to improve the city's social security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. Ramlee</span> Malaysian singer, scriptwriter, actor, songwriter, and film director (1929–1973)

Tan Sri Datuk Amar Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh, better known by his stage name P. Ramlee, was a Malaysian actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer famous in modern-day Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. Born in Penang, Malaya, he is regarded as a prominent icon of Malay language entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudirman (singer)</span> Malaysian singer and songwriter (1954–1992)

Dato' Sudirman bin Haji Arshad, DSAP, JMN, AMN, AMP, known mononymously as Sudirman, was a Malaysian singer and songwriter. His singing career kicked off after winning the Bintang RTM singing competition on 11 August 1976. His career defining moment came after he was awarded winner of the "1989 Asia's No. 1 Performer" title during the ‘'Asian Popular Music Awards'’ competition held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 19 March 1989. Throughout his career, he was known as the "Singing Lawyer", the "People's Singer", the "Patriotic Singer" and the "Elvis Presley and Claude François of Malaysia" in his native country. Apart from being a renowned singer from Malaysia he was also a trained lawyer, a composer, writer, cartoonist, canned drinks entrepreneur and an actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokhtar Dahari</span> Malaysian footballer

Dato' Mohd Mokhtar bin Dahari was a Malaysian professional footballer. He played for F.A. Selangor for most of his football career. He is considered a legendary footballer in Malaysian history. FIFA acknowledged his 89 goals in international matches and took his team to an World Football Elo Ratings of 61 in 1977. A prolific forward, he was nicknamed Supermokh due to his playing skills and strength. Mokhtar is the all-time top scorer for the Malaysian national team.

<i>Usop Sontorian</i> Malaysian television series

Usop Sontorian is a Malaysian animated cartoon series aired on TV1 from 1996 to 1997. The country's first animated series, it was created by Ujang and produced by Kharisma Pictures. The series was directed by Kamn Ismail, who was also the voice actor for one of the series' characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ampang, Kuala Lumpur</span> Place in Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ampang, or Ampang Hilir, is a ward and city district, in the eastern part of Kuala Lumpur (KL) in the Titiwangsa constituency. Its area in Kuala Lumpur can be identified as being along the Ampang Road and Ampang Hilir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur</span>

Kampung Baru or Kampong Bharu is a Malay enclave in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of the most valuable tracts of land in the capital, it has been estimated to be worth up to US$1.4 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziana Zain</span> Malaysian singer and actress

Siti Roziana binti Zain is a Malaysian pop singer and actress. Her music career began in the early '90s with her signature single, "Madah Berhelah" followed by hits like "Terlerai Kasih", "Setia Ku Di Sini" and "Puncak Kasih". In 1995, she was crowned Voice of Asia in Kazakhstan.

Ishak Haji Muhammad, better known as Pak Sako, was a Malaysian writer, active in the 1930s until the 1950s. He was a nationalist and his involvement began before independence and continued thereafter. He fought for the idea of the unification of Melayu Raya where Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei are united in one collective.

Karak is a small town in Bentong District, Pahang, Malaysia. Located at the foothills of Malaysia's Titiwangsa Mountain Range, it is well known as a rest town along the Federal Route 2 from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan and lends its name to the Karak Highway, or the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway linking it to the country's capital of Kuala Lumpur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ungku Abdul Aziz</span> Malaysian economist (1922–2020)

Ungku Abdul Aziz bin Ungku Abdul Hamid was a Malaysian economist and lecturer. He was the 3rd Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya from 1968 to 1988 and the 1st General Director of the Council on Language and Literature of Malaysia from 1956 until 1957. He was awarded the title of Royal Professor in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromok</span> Malaysian heavy metal rock band

Cromok is a Malaysian rock band. They are known to be the pioneers of Malaysian thrash metal music. Formed in 1987, original and current members consists of Shamsudin "Sam" Ali, Khairul Anuar "Karl" Shariff (guitarist), and Tarmizi "Miji" Mokhtar (drummer). The band best known for their songs "Misty", "Another You", "I Don't Belong Here" and has released 8 studio albums to date. Fans of Cromok were dubbed as 'Cromers'.

Scenes of Malaysian Life 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. The comic strip, which ran for 40 years, from 1974 to 2014, illustrated the common way of life of the multicultural Malaysia. Some of his cartoons in the series also compiled in his comic books.

<i>Kampung Boy</i> (TV series) Malaysian animated television series

Kampung Boy is a Malaysian animated television series broadcast from 14 September 1999 to 12 September 2000. It is about the adventures of a young boy, Mat, and his life in a kampung (village). The series is adapted from the best-selling graphical novel The Kampung Boy, an autobiography of Malaysian cartoonist Lat. Twenty-six episodes – one of which won an Annecy Award – were first shown on Malaysian satellite television network Astro before being distributed to sixty other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zulkiflee Anwar Haque</span> Malaysian political cartoonist

Zulkiflee bin SM Anwar Ulhaque, better known by his pen name Zunar, is a Malaysian political cartoonist. In 2015, he faced up to 43 years in prison for criticising the Malaysian government in a number of posts on Twitter and was charged under the Sedition Act 1948. The charges were dropped following the change in government at the 2018 Malaysian general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Lim</span> Malaysian actor, comedian, TV host and emcee

Douglas Lim is a Malaysian actor, comedian, television presenter and emcee. He is well known for his involvement in local television, theater and film and comedy show.

Hashim bin Aman was a Malaysian civil servant who served as the 7th Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia from 1982 to 1984.

Dato' Suleiman bin Abdul Rahman was a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of the Interior (1959–1961) and Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia from 1961 until his death on 6 November 1963. He was the eldest son of Abdul Rahman Mohamed Yassin, 1st President of the Dewan Negara (1959–1968) and the brother of Ismail Abdul Rahman, 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia (1970–1973).

References

  1. From the book, pp. 619.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Goldsmith 2006.
  3. From the book, pp. 20107.
  4. From the book, pp. 108132.
  5. From the book, pp. 133144.
  6. Willmott 1989.
  7. Gopinath 2009.
  8. Crossings: Datuk Lat 2003, 27:0527:23.
  9. Crossings: Datuk Lat 2003, 30:3531:15.
  10. Muliyadi 2004, p. 214.
  11. mStar Online, Dari komik ke realiti 2020.
  12. Tatler Asia, Lat: The Malaysian Icon 2021.
  13. Campbell 2007b.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Stevenson 2007, p. 201.
  15. 1 2 3 McElhatton 2006.
  16. Lockard 1998, pp. 240–241.
  17. 1 2 Shuttleworth 2010.
  18. 1 2 3 Steinberger 2009.
  19. Campbell 2007a.
  20. Rohani 2005, p. 391.
  21. Muliyadi 2004, pp. 161–162, 170–171.
  22. Redza 2003, pp. 88–91.
  23. 1 2 Haslina 2008, p. 538.
  24. Muhammad Husairy 2006.
  25. 1 2 3 Ridzwan 2008.
  26. Haslina 2008, p. 539.
  27. Haslina 2008, pp. 538, 548–549.
  28. Haslina 2008, p. 542.
  29. Haslina 2008, pp. 539–540, 549.
  30. Haslina 2008, pp. 541–542.
  31. 1 2 Jayasankaran 1999, p. 36.
  32. Manavalan 1999.
  33. 1 2 3 More than a Cartoonist 2007, p. 257.
  34. Muliyadi 2001, p. 147.
  35. Haliza 1999.
  36. 1 2 3 4 Muliyadi 2001, p. 145.
  37. Kosmo!, Komik ke muzikal 2011.
  38. mStar Online, Teater Muzikal Lat 2011.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lent 1999.
  40. Rohani 2005, p. 390.
  41. Azura & Foo 2006.
  42. Harian Metro, Jual 1,000 naskhah 2011.
  43. Berita Harian, 1,000 set edisi khas 2011.
  44. Stevenson 2007, p. 202.
  45. Cha 2007.
  46. 1 2 Redza 2003, p. 94.
  47. Lent 2003, p. 261.
  48. Chin 1998, p. 60.
  49. Satiman & Chuah 2009.
  50. Zazali 2009.
  51. Kampung Boy Graces 2008.
  52. Bank Negara Malaysia 2005.
  53. Pillay 2004.
  54. 1 2 Maury 2007.
  55. 1 2 3 4 5 Goldsmith 2007.
  56. 1 2 Campbell 2007c.
  57. 1 2 3 4 Seth 2006, p. 20.
  58. 1 2 3 4 Spurgeon 2007.
  59. Redza 2003, p. 87.
  60. 1 2 Lat's Latest 1998.
  61. Top 10 Influential Celebrities 2009.
  62. 1 2 Galuschak 2008, p. 32.
  63. Fuziah 2007, pp. 5–6.
  64. Zaini 2009, pp. 205–206.
  65. Fuziah 2007, p. 6.
  66. Redza 2003, p. 96.

Bibliography

Interviews/self-introspectives

Books

Academic sources

Journalistic sources

Online sites