The World of Tai Tai

I finished two portraits in two days, with mixed results again. The first, a young Orang Ulu man, was decidedly more well-built than that of the original photo. Unfamiliar with tattoo, I could not reproduce the swirling patterns on the man's shoulders. His neck was also somewhat thicker and his Adam;s apple was not really showing.  My initial plan had been to show some wooden poles and part of an Attap roof as the background, but my brush was too wet, making me unable to show their texture well. So I made do with some shadows, hoping they could conceal the flaw. But one pole on the left was beyond redemption. As for the basket-carrying girl. It was hastily done, with too much emphasis on the face, less on the arm and the basket.  The arm appeared broken up to the elbow, giving the girl a handicapped look. Part of her ear was painted over by the hair colour too, and hence the same incompleteness.

Isn't the girl talented? At the age of ten, she can use the brush and mix the colours so well.

Having not painted for nearly a month, I was glad to return to my art class at the Young Artists' Studio and paint with all the kids.   Before the class started I painted a picture of trees and their reflections. I was so-so in my effort and the ripples looked quite unnatural.  I would paint more pictures of the like to grasp the shape and flow of ripples. Alan, one of the tutors, taught a boy how to sketch and shade a vase of flowers.  I was impressed by the sample he had sketched, which looked so real and artistic. Not good at painting flowers but felt compelled to attempt it, I surfed for the photoS of flowers and settled for a bottle of sunflowers.  I struggled to capture the soft petals of the flowers and made a botch of it. The bottle was also far too small. Despite my being over critical about my painting, the kids liked it a lot. When Mary Anne Vaz came, she taught the kids how to colour the picture of two girls.  She demonstrat...

                             Lim Jin Ee and his family The countdown chant has started. Voices rise in crescendo as the hands of the clock tick, inching nearer and nearer to the anticipated double digit. The lanterns, hung in a diagonal row from the porch beam, illuminating every one’s face with a red glow and lending the atmosphere a festive mood. A restless soul has struggled up onto his bed and looks out the window through the gap in the curtains, curious to see what is going on next door. When the clock strikes twelve, everyone erupts into tumultuous cheers. A string of firecrackers is lit, and with an ear-splitting whiplash of popping sounds, the fire sizzles its way up, reducing the little red tubes of gun powder into flying debris in its wake and filling the air with sulphurous smoke. At the same time, fireworks rocket into the sky an...

It's now 2016 and the past is history. Nevertheless, I achieved several things in 2015, which are as follows:   1. Read 29 books. 2. My article on Hunan was published in New Sarawak Tribune. 3. I spent ten days in Beijing. 4. I got my promotion, now DG44, but my pay increased very little. 5. I have lived through another year. 6. I have written 93 blog entries, short stories and articles. 7. Joined Mary Anne's interesting art class. 8. Went to Bario 9. I received the Holy Communion for the first time after eighteen years. 10. Interviewed two people in Bario 11. Fell in love with Kelabit food. 12. Spoke to Maritess, an online friend for the first time on the phone. 13. Minimized PT3 failures in the English subject

One more article of mine was published in New Sarawak Tribune on 3rd January 2016.  It was about my trip to Bario in late March 2015 but the editorial team had adjusted the date.  I don't know if I should be happy or not.  If you look at the caption of the first picture, you will find the apostrophe s missing after the noun Stephen. What travesty! Honestly speaking, that was not my error. Click the following link to read the article. A Rustic Homestay in Highlands