Pahang Artists Art Exhibition @ TV3

After almost a week from it's opening on 21st October 2009 that I managed to get to TV3's Sri Pentas to see the art exhibition by Pahang Artists. Since it was being organized by a fellow blogger Datin Mamasita of the famous blog Mamasita Mamamia, I felt compelled to attend the exhibition not only to lend support for her monumental effort but also to learn a thing or two about arts from the many works of the many fine artists of Pahang. I promised to attend the show on the previous day but a mini gathering of my classmates from the class of 1968 Sekolah Menenggah Sultan Ibrahim Pasir Mas at a friend's house somewhere in Ampang had consumed the better part of the afternoon leaving me with little time to visit the exhibition.
It was a blessing in disguise really as visiting the exhibition on Tuesday 27th. of October 2007 had better offerings than the previous day. For starters Datin Mamasita had promised that other fellow bloggers such as Dato' Jaffar Lamri of Jaff Points and Puteri Kamaliah of Kata Kama would be attending too. I was anxious to meet Dato' Jaffar as my last meeting with him was the first meeting at Kinokuniya KLCC where Awang Goneng had his GUiT book signing which was almost two years ago. Puteri did not attend today's event for some reasons or other, after all she had attended it earlier on the first day. Dato' Jaffar came to collect his precious Ayam Serama painting which he had purchased at his first visit on the opening day.
I was one of the early arrival for the afternoon and Dato Jaffar came shortly after. Here we posed for a photograph with Datin Mamasita being the organizer and one of the prominent artist from Pahang, Osman Limat.

From left to right: Pak Zawi, Osman Limat, Dato' Jaff and Datin Mamasita.

The lobby of Sri Pentas where the exhibition was held.


Dato' Jaff was taking his duly wrapped Ayam Serama to the car when I pleaded to see the painting before he took them home. Dato' Jaff he willingly obliged.


Such is the beauty of the painting of the pair of Ayam Serama which Dato' Jaff bought.

Another great piece at the exhibition was Melombong by Osman Limat or Pak Man as he is affectionately known.


Melombong carried a tag of RM15,000.00. It was later bought by The Malaysian Ambassador to the United States YB. Dato' Jamaluddin Jarjis.

Another exquisitely beautiful piece being displayed. I had requested another beauty from TV3 to pose beside it. See how they complemented each other.

A bit later another great painter by the name of Yusof Gajah came with his wife Puan Zakiah. We adjourned to the cafeteria for some teh tarik. I made the most of the situation to learn a thing or two from the master himself whose single painting could fetch a whopping RM100,000.00. I would be more than happy to receive one hundredth of that for my own painting, let alone RM100K!

Pak Zawi listening attentively from the master himself.

Datin Mamasita took care of Puan Zakiah, the wife of Pak Yusof Gajah. Puan Zakiah was the pillar of strength that supported Yusof Gajah's career as a painter. Read Mamasita's blog to learn more of her contribution to their success where Yusof Gajah had risen from the brink of failure.

The discussion between Dato' Jaff and Yusoff Gajah was so interesting that I had to bring myself closer to know what it was all about.


Dato' Arif Sabri of the popular Sopo blog Sakmongkol AK47 is Datin Mamasita's other half. Here he was seen holding court while Dato' Jaffar, Yussof Gajah and yours truly listened with interest. Dato' Sak as we affectionately called him was the man behind the exhibition as he was keen to help budding Pahang Artists to succeed.


My son Azrin who had been acting as my photographer had a shot of himself with such luminaries as Dato' Jaff, Dato' Sak and Yusof Gajah. Thanks to him because without him I would hardly have any pictures of myself.

At 5 PM we gathered at the entrance to the TV3 lobby to wait for the Bigspender in the form of the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States of America YB. Dato' Jamaluddin Jarjis who happened to be a close friend of Dato' Sak. They had grown up together in Pekan. It was at the invitation of Dato' Sak that Dato' JJ came to the show. Such is the influence of Dato' Sak, the man with the AK47.

Dato' JJ shaking the hand of Osman Limat, the painter of Melombong

Datin Mamasita doing her level best to get Dato' JJ to buy as many paintings as possible. She must have suggested that Dato' JJ buy the most expensive one as a gift for President Obama himself.

Azrin's hand must have trembled so much having to photograph the Malaysian Ambassador with the guests that the camera shook. He was so awed by the moment that a few other guests and even his dad were left out of frame.

Before leaving for another function at Sri Pentas, Dato' JJ mentioned about the possibility of holding a similar exhibition in the US! Wow, that will be great. That gave Datin Mamasita the idea of holding a similar exhibition for The East Coast Artists ( Pahang, Terenganu and Kelantan) in London at Malaysia Hall. Please pray for us all that it will materialize one day. We will need sponsorship from Malaysian Tourisms and other governement agencies of course.

Before I left the premise of Sri Pentas, Mat Noor, the host of Jejak Rasul passed by and I asked for a photo with him which he and his friend obliged. My wife Fatthiyah is also an avid follower of the Jejak Rasul series. Mat Nor is the host of Jejak Rasul.
I left Sri Pentas with a contented heart as on that day I had met so many fine artists from Pahang and learnt so much from Yusof Gajah, another world reknowned artist from Pahang.
The next blog will be about another visit to a private Gallery of En. Hilmi Yusoff, the son of the famous artist from Kelantan, the late Yusoff Abdullah. I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be allowed to visit the private gallery which I did on the previous Saturday in Shah Alam, courtesy of another blogger friend Wan Asmadi aka Sangkelate who is a cousin of Hilmi.

Blogging From Shah Alam

Many things happened since I came to Shah Alam on Wednesday 14th October. That day itself was my 59th birthday. My wife Fatthiyah celebrated it a day earlier and had a nice dinner on a floating restaurant by the name of Cerana at a place called Pengkalan Datu in Bachok Kelantan. It was really quite a romantic dinner. I should be doing it more often and I like the seafood served there. Though the place is in Bachok, it is much nearer to Kota Bharu.
Azrin picked me up at KL LCCT and he sent me to my other son's place in Shah Alam where I will be taking care of Adam Hakimi. Azrin and family was on his way back to his in law's place in Taiping. Anyway I wanted very much to view the semi D house that Azrin wanted to buy at Subang Alam. Since it was along the way to Shah Alam from Enstek Labu, it was quite convenient to stop and view and perhaps give an idea on whether the place is really worth the lifetime of repayment that he will have to endure.
Subang Alam is a new housing area being carved out of a former oil palm plantation. The developer had maintained the undulating landscape and not resort to flattening of the whole area as is sometimes the case. It was tastefully done befitting a medium end living. Houses in this twenty acres of low density housing area cost anything upward of RM800K.

The signboard infront of the sale office and the show house.

The house that Azrin is buying is the one in the middle.

The proud new owner to be.

Azrin was lucky in the sence he gets to buy a house in the almost completed phase. What happened was the original buyer didn't manage to secure the loan to buy the house and the sales manager of the project offered Azrin to buy the house instead of waiting for the completion of the houses in the next phase which is yet to be constructed. Even as it is the house is expected to be handed the CF sometimes in May next year.

Azrin had a bad experience before this when he bought a house in Bukit Jelutong where the previous state government had carved a section of the forested land adjacent to Bukit Cherakah and alloted the land to developers who had no license whatsoever to d0 a housing development. Things went haywire after the change of the state government and the development of the area came to a complete stop after only the earthwork was done. Even the individual land titles were yet to be obtained and yet the bank which approved Azrin's RM320K loan had disbursed RM200K. When Azrin didn't service the loan, the bank recalled the loan and asked Azrin to settle something about RM700K. Some Islamic loan! Later Azrin engaged the services of a lawyer and the bank meekly agreed to settle for just the amount disbursed plus the overdue interest and the total sum came to about RM240K with Azrin calling the shot on how much initial payment and monthly payment to be paid back. It seemed the bank had disbursed the money without adhering to the proper procedures. They were lucky as the matter was not reported to Bank Negara and were happy to get their money back. Azrin was lucky as his nightmare at last came to an end and not had to pay the RM700K as demanded. Hopefully he will recoup his money when the land title is obtained and the land sold. Now all potential borrowers just beware some Islamic loans offered by some banks could be worse than the non Islamic ones.

My first night in Shah Alam was a relaxed one as Azuan's wife Ijjah was still around.

The next morning we sent Ijjah to the place where chartered busses were waiting to send Ijjah and her colleagues to attend the induction course at Pangkor Island.

Immediatley after that Azuan took me to Sunway to buy some art materials especially canvass as I didn't bring any from home. There were all sort of sizes and grades. It was really fun buying art materials in KL. I bought various canvass sizes from 12" x 12" to 24" x 30". If they would accept credit cards, I would have bought even more as I didn't have much cash on me.

That Thursday evening my wife Fatthiyah flew in and Azuan picked her up at LCCT while I waited at home in Shah Alam. She will be here till Sunday and will fly back to Kelantan on the first flight on Monday. So for that few days I have an assistant to take care of Adam.

The next day Dalilah Tamrin aka Raden Galoh of One Breast Bouncing came with her husband Saiful to pick up her two paintings. We were very happy to play host to them. They couldn't stay too long as the time given to them to park their car at the taxi pickup point was just half an hour and when the half hour was consumed, the securities called on the intercom to remind us that our guest must leave. Parking is a big problem at this apartment and the securities are too happy to clamp your car should you breach any of the rules as it will mean a fine of RM50 to declamp. I guess it is time to sell this apartment and get my son to buy another better place to live.

Later that night we had Kerp of Let's Go Land came with his pretty fiancee. They will be getting married come March and Kerp invited me over for the reception. Kerp gave me an Italian cap knowing that I collect them.

Being wheelchair bound, the security people allowed Kerp to park his car near the entrance to the apartment. It was kind of thoughtful of them to have a soft spot for such disabled people. So Kerp and partner could stay longer at our place to chat.

The next day was a Saturday. The area near the Shah Alam Stadium had a carnival in the form of Sua Rasa being organized by TV9 and Celcom. Non of our family member bothered to go even though we could hear all the fanfare happening there.

From the balcony of the apartment we could see the goings on at the carnival. Even the singing was heard loud and clear.

When the helicopter hovered to take an aerial shot, I took a shot at it (with my camera of course).

When our two other children Azura and Azrin came with their families, they started litting up the candles on a cake to celebrate my birthday. The grandchildren cried "Wow! So many candles" My children gave me a set of leather belt and wallet as my birthday present.
The grandchildren were eager to blow out the candles and they did just that before going back to their PS2 games which Irsyad had just acquired using his duit Raya to pay part of the cost. They didn't even bother to eat the cake though it was bought from Secret Recipe. Well even the elders didn't eat up much.

The grandchildren just enjoyed singing the birthday song and blowing out the candles, after that it was the PS2 games for them.

After all that was done we crammed into Azrin's SUV and headed for Pantai Dalam for an Open house at Su's flat. Su is a close friend of my daughter Azura. After parking the car it rained heavily and we had to take shelter at the police's block of flats.

I can't resist taking the picture of five of my grandchildren sitting on a bench. Right across the road there was an Indian Resotoran with this peculiar sounding name. Hopefully somebody may not mispronounce it's name.

When the rain subsided, we walked over to Su's flat to enjoy the food served at the hallway of the flat which was abit cramped with the number of guests. Under the circumstances city flat dwellers will have to make do with whatever is available when you are 10 storeys above the ground.

Su in lighter shirt with my Azrin's wife Yanie in black T shirt.

While on the way to Su's flat, we noticed the beautiful murals on the walls of the flat starting from the lift. This is the work of one of the flat dwellers to cheer up the mood of the dwellers on that floor. With that kind of murals, vandals are deterred from defacing the walls with grafiti. The guy who did it must be a formidable artist.

Fatthiyah had her photograph taken with Azura, Lis, As and Irsyad with one of the beautiful murals in the back ground.

We returned to Shah Alam.

It was Saturday night and we were invited to yet another Raya open house at En. Termizi aka Pak Abu and his wife Puteri Kamaliah of the famous blog Kata Kama. The family lives at the Sri TTDI condo in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail not far from Shah Alam. We were abit late and the parking area was already full of cars. Since the function was held at the poolside area, it was easy to locate the place at it was immediately at the entrance to the condo.

Though this is my first meeting with Puteri and Pak Abu, they were such gracious host that we felt so welcome.

The family with Puteri Kamaliah.

Yours truly with Pak Abu in the dark red baju Melayu.

Kay Leeda of the blog Sembang At Kay's was the other blogger at the function. The others who had confirmed attendance such as Raden Galoh, Elviza and Jaflam were unable to do so due to reasons of their own. Elviza was having a Deepavali dinner with a client, Raden may not be feeling well and when I called Dato' Jaffar, he was having a sore throat.

Another picture of the guests at Puteri Kamaliah's open house.

Sunday morning in Shah Alam means Pasar Pagi near the Stadium Shah Alam. This Sunday's Pasar Pagi will be more meaningful and crowded as it is also the second day of Sua Rasa. Fatthiyah wanted to go to the Giant Supermarket next to the Pasar Pagi so we drove over and parked almost near the supermaket. As usual the pasar pagi was crowded with the added attraction of Sua Rasa. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The police showing their more powerful new cars, the Mitsubishi Evos. Hopefully they will be fat enough to catch the many snatch thefts that are occurring almost daily all over the country.
TV9 staff cajoling the crowd to join them for the poco poco dance. Many did and they seemed to enjoy themselves while having an excercise.

The power gliders hovering over the area.

A baby fast asleep while the mum was busy selling her wares.

That eveing we sent Fatthiyah to Enstek Labu. She will be catching the first flight back to Kelantan at LCCT on Mondayand had to be at the airport by 6.45 am the latest. Sleeping over at Azrin's place will be the best way to get her to the airport on time as it is a mere 15 minutes drive away.

While in Shah Alam, I did find time to paint. This is only possible when Adam Hakimi was having his sleep.

The first painting I did was of the white tulips for a friend's wife in Johor Baru follwed by the Flowers of Sanserveria. The second painting is on a 20" x 30" canvass and not meant for anybody yet. Any takers for this painting?

The painting of an autumn scene on the top of this post is a small painting of 12" x 18". It was done in preparation for a painting for Kak Teh of a Choc A Blog fame who promises to send the latest autumn picture of London showing all the golden hues imaginable.

Milik Siapakah Tulips Ini?

Who owns these tulips?

Sometimes it is hard to part with something that you create. Though it was created for someone else, you feel it is a part of you that you are giving away. No doubt you can create another one but a new creation will not be the same anymore.
The above painting was created for a friend who wanted me to do an abstract. My own understanding is that an abstract should only be done by a experienced painter who has done everything else other than abstract. After accomplishing all the other forms of paintings then the painter deserve to do an abstract. Pak Zawi is a new painter though quite old in age so Pak Zawi doesn't dare attempt an abstract, not just yet.
Now let us see the following paintings.



Do you like them? Can we consider the above creations as abstract paintings? Don't expect the painter to be able to tell anything about their creation as they are my grandchildren ranging in age from 2 to 5 years old with the youngest being Syakirah, elder sister Ayen who is 3 and half years old and eldest brother Irsyad. Maybe I should learn from them on how to do an abstrart painting as they seem to be very good at it.
Anyway I didn't do the abstract as requested but did a painting of the tulips. The first one is with the focus on a single flower while the others are blurred out. The painting was sent to the owner by courier today and hopefully it will reach the owner by tomorrow or the latest day after.
The next painting of tulips is done impressionist style. The earlier attempt was shown to the intended owner and he was very happy with it. Now with one oh his request done, there are two more to be done for him. This is a special project as he had requested for a bigger painting of 24" x 30" which is much larger than the usual 18" x 24" or the 20" x 24" as done for the tulips.
The painting below will be sent to the ultimate owner when the other two are ready.

Colorful Tulips.

Tulips are beautiful colorful flowers. There are so many hues and colors of tulips and newer varieties with a multitude of colors are being bred all the time. They have even managed to breed the black tulips.
Do we know that some tulips are being grown locally? They are grown on Maxwell Hills near taiping where the temperature is quite cool, but the bulbs are still imported from Holland though.
As to the owners of the paintings, I will reveal them in due course.

Nannying Duty In Shah Alam

Adam with his mum Ijjah.

Pak Zawi will be out of action from the 14th - 30th October 2009. It may not be totally out as I will still have the internet access since I will be staying at my son's place in Brunsfield Service Apartment in Section 13 Shah Alam. The action meant is from painting and gardening. They maybe slightly hampered and of course the gardening will be totally out.

The two weeks in Shah Alam will be spent looking after my 8th grandson Adam Hakimi, my son Azuan's first child. The reason is that his mum will be away for the duration to attend an induction course in Pangkor, Perak.

Pak Zawi being a pensioner, is the only person available for duty will do the job just like what Pak Zawi did for Balkis in Labuan when when her mum had to rejoin college full time. Only difference this time is Adam will be only 3 months old compared to Balkis being 4 months old.

Over the years of helping my sister with her first child and helping my own wife with our children, Pak Zawi has became adept at handling babies. So don't worry about whether Pak Zawi can handle the job of feeding, bathing and changing the nappies. Pak Zawi is an old hand at it.

While Pak Zawi is around KL, Pak Zawi would like to meet up with blogger friends who could make time to visit Pak Zawi in Shah Alam. Just give Pak Zawi a call at 0199125647 and Pak Zawi will come down to the lobby of Brunsfield Service Apartment (not far from Shah Alam Stadium) to meet up.

The Sunday morning market at Stadium Shah Alam is the best place to do your purchase of your kitchen's need. We could also meet up there for breakfast.

In a way Pak Zawi is happy to be going to Shah Alam because it will provide Pak Zawi with an opportunity to meet up with some blogger friends. On the other hand Pak Zawi feels sad to leave the other half all alone by herself which Pak Zawi had been doing for several years before retirement while working away from home. Leaving the small patch of the recently started vegetable gardening is unbearable too. As to painting, Pak Zawi will try to find time when Adam takes his sleep or simply paint beside him while he is resting in his crib or in his pram at the apartment's playing area. Of course Pak Zawi will be free when Adam's dad take over the nannying duty and he is not working.

OK my friends, lets meet. Pak Zawi promise you a cup of tea at least.

Paintings Available

The Sanserviera (Lidah Jin) (SOLD TO RADEN GALOH)

I have been working very hard to fulfill the request for paintings by my friends. Financial factor has made me broke my own ethics by not adhering strictly to the order of request. For that I unreservedly apologize to you my friends who has ordered paintings from me.
These are the list of people who had expressed their desire to have one or more of my paintings and I will refresh the list to show who have received their paintings and who haven't and the reason for the delay.

1. Zendra Hassan.
She wanted Pak Zawi's first painting and she got it.
2. Mek Yam.
Deferred delivery to January because she wont be back in New York till January.
3. Oldstock
Two paintings Delivered by courier. Should be receiving them today or tomorrow.
4. Zakrey Mohd Nor.
Collected when he came for Raya.
5. Wan Nordin (GUiKP).
Collected when he came to Raya.
6. Tuan Haji Ariffin Mamat (Pakpayne)
His 10 paintings are in KL to be displayed at the coming PESENI Kelantan's Exhibition at Balai Berita KL in November.
7. Dato' Jaffar Lamri.
Delivered.

The following people's request have yet to be fulfilled:
1. U Lee
2. Awang Goneng/Kak Teh.
Waiting for confirmation.
3. Aminah Harun.
4.Dilla Seri Kembangan
5. Zaiton Ghani (Zaitgha)
Still scratching my head on what to draw for an abstract)
6. Teoh Yew Aun.
7. HJ Angus.
Hope you can bear with me for awhile. All orders by my family members has been cancelled as they can wait until all other people's orders are fulfilled.

New orders:
1. Pakpayne - Traditional Kelantan Fishing Boat
2. Zainal Siwar (JB)
The order is for 3 paintings of sunset and flowers of 24" x 30". These size is much bigger than the usual paintings that I have done which are of 18" x 24" and lately of 20" x 24". Need to do new stretch frames for it.

The following paintings are now available. Those who are interested to buy the following paintings please email Pak Zawi at mohdzawi@gmail.com. I have problem in deciding who to offer the painting to. So just put in your request and Pak Zawi will consider who to give. As to the price, just offer whatever you can afford. This is not a an auction so there is no need to outbid each other. It is just a way for me to determine which painting goes to whom.
All paintings are of 20" x 24" except for Heliconia 3 which is 18" x 24".
All paintings will be accompanied by a brief note about it upon delivery to the subsequent buyer.

The Pink Lotus

Sunset At Likas Bay.

The Papayas.

Heliconia 3 (18" x 24")
The White Cockerel.

The Sanserviera
This painting is being framed as I want to use it for the coming exhibiton. It was earlier painted for my son Azuan. He has decided that I should sell it to fulfill some of my friends requests. Should there be a buyer for this painting, it must be agreed to allow it to be shown at the exhibition in November and the price must include an extra RM100 for the frame. Since it is being framed with a double frame, the cost of shipment to an overseas destination will be prohibitive and so only those who are residing in Malaysia is encouraged to buy this painting.

Recently Pak Zawi was given some oil paints by Tuan Syed Halim Jamalullail, a close friend of Pak Zawi. Tuan Syed Halim is also a painter. As a token of our friendship, Tuan Syed or Ayahku as I call him gave me 3 tubes of oil paint of the brand Rowney Georgian which was made in England. Ayahku had been keeping it for more than 2 decades since he bought it when he was living in Penang. He had also lent Pak Zawi The Book of Art to help Pak Zawi to produce an abstract painting for Zaitgha.

Ayahku, thank you for the oil paint.

Hopefully the above paintings can fulfill some of your requests.

This morning Tuesday 6, Pak Zawi has received a text message from Dato' Jaafar Lamri who has received his painting by Pak Zawi. Read about it at his blog Jaff Point.