Scenes of Malaysian Life

Template:Infobox comic strip

Scenes of Malaysian Life (also known as Lat & Easy from 2002 to 2014) 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.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The comic strip, which ran for 40 years, from 1974 to 2014,Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". illustrated the common way of life of the multicultural Malaysia.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Some of his cartoons in the series also compiled in his comic books.

Background

In 1973, Lat, who was then a crime reporter at the New Straits Times,Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". submitted his comic strip for the Hong Kong-based Asia Magazine with the traditional life culture as the main subject where he drews a cartoon and provide the dialogues about a traditional Malay Muslim ritual, the circumcision.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". It drews attention from the-then New Straits Times editor-in-chief, Lee Siew Yee, who later offered him a permanent column cartoonist role in the newspaper.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Lat then taking that position specially created for him by the newspaper's then editor, Abdul Samad Ismail.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". This gave birth to the Scenes of Malaysian Life series where his first job is to highlighted the daily lives of Malaysian multiracial culture and current affairs.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". He described it as a "something very innovative at the time".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

The first cartoon that Lat drew in the series is the "Perak Wedding", which was published in March 1974.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". After returned to Malaysia from his 4-month study at the St Martin's School of Art in London,Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Lat changed the format of Scenes of Malaysian Life into an editorial cartoon series. In 1984, partly from a desire to step away from the public limelight, Lat resigned from the New Straits Times to become a freelancer,Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". but continued to draw Scenes of Malaysian Life for the newspaper.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In 1995, Scenes of Malaysian Life absent briefly from the New Straits Times as Lat decided to take a sabbatical for a year. The series resumed publication the following yearScript error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". until it finally ended in 2014.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Reception

The comic strip was well-receivedScript error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". and propelled Lat's work to a greater heights.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In the 2000s, the series ran three times per week in the New Straits Times.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Some of his works in Scenes of Malaysian Life also have been compiled into comic books which proven to be successful and well-received.

Ilham Gallery describe the series as "a truly Malaysian narrative and perfectly pictured the life of a nation".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".