Kampung Boy Unveiled

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - The caricatures of Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid, or better known as Lat, have tickled the funny bones of Malaysians for decades.

“When I started my career in the 60s, we never heard of the term cartoonist,” says 57-year-old Lat. “People draw cartoons as a hobby. I was lucky I started during a time when people needed some local humor.”

He quickly made an impact with his cartoons but admits that over the years, they have undergone some changes.

“When I first started, the dialogues and the captions used were long,” he says. “As years went by, we went straight to the point so less dialogue was used. I think some the best works are the ones without dialogues. That way the readers pay more attention to your drawing.

“My aim is to take the readers away from all the bad news – from natural disasters to crimes – just for a little while and to bring out their smiles.”

Lat first became a professional cartoonist in 1964 when his comic book Tiga Sekawan was published. Three years later, his cartoons began appearing in Malay dailies such Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian. He was ultimately taken in as a reporter with Berita Harian and later moved to the crime desk at New Straits Times. But he admitted honestly that he was not a good reporter.

“I didn`t like being nosy,” he says. “I was covering crime and you have to really poke your nose into other people`s affairs. The worst thing was when they are facing a tragedy. For example their house is on fire, people are crying and you have to find out their names and how the fire started,” he recalls.

He remembers another funny incident that took place when he was a journalist. “As a crime reporter, I was stationed in the hospital and a nurse mistook me for a mortuary attendant and asked me to remove a dead body,” he says. “I can`t blame her for the mistake as I in full white attire.”

He was also in the hospital when P. Ramlee passed away and remembers that the hospital was crowded with local stars and fans.

“P. Ramlee was the first person I wanted to meet when I became a journalist,” he says. “The moment I got my press tag, I made an appointment to see him and we talked about his films.”

Being a newspaper reporter helped Lat to overcome his shyness and gave him the opportunity to meet all kinds of people. It helped to broaden his horizon and improved his drawing.

In 1974, his column “Scenes of Malaysian Life” was published in the New Straits Times and it shot him to stardom as a cartoonist. As a leading Malaysian cartoonist, he traveled widely and had even participated in the Hiroshima Conference of Asian Cartoonist in Japan; was a guest speaker at the Asian Research Centre for Animation and Comic Art at the Communication University of Beijing, China; and gave a talk on the life of a cartoonist at the Asian House in London, United Kingdom.

Lat created the animated TV series Kampung Boy for Astro in 1988. One of the 26 episodes won the best animation award at the Annecy Animation Festival in France in 1999. The show was even aired in Germany and Canada.

Music also plays an important role in Lat`s life. In fact, he had wanted to become a pianist.

“I remember taking lessons where I was the only adult in the class,” he says. “The other children would give me strange looks.”

After a few months, however, he had to stop because of a lack of funds. But music has always been a part of his life. “I always have music on whenever I draw,” he says.

Lat will also be collaborating with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) to present the symphonic scores of Lat`s Window to the World, where his cartoons will serve as visuals for the performance.

The show is loosely based on his life and tells about a cartoonist who grew up in the village and went to town to continue his studies and eventually got to travel and see the world.

The performance will be conducted by the charismatic conductor and composer, Carl Davis, who is known for creating soundtracks for Hollywood movies.

“It is a collaboration between East and West,” Lat says.

Lat`s Window to the World will be staged at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas on May 1 and 2. For tickets, call 03 20517007. Bissme S.

Source: http://www.thesundaily.com (30 April 2009)

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