Foreword

 

         My ancestors had settled down in Sarawak in the late Ming dynasty, having left China by sea on a junk. In the ensuing years, the family produced six generations of scholars. My brothers and I were all born in Sarawak. The boys received an English education locally, with the exception of me and another brother, both of whom were sent to Dabu (Guangdong province in China) to study Chinese, in accordance with the wishes of my grandfather. For the next six to seven years, I recited passages from the Three-Character Classic and other texts. But I had no interest in books and spent all day doodling. I didn’t do well in my studies and returned to Kuching when I was 16.

At 17, my uncle Wen Jin purchased a set of art tools for me from England, and the course of my destiny was set. Drawing to me was such a precious undertaking, and I would practice it daily. When I was 20 years old, I reckoned that there were better job prospects and growth opportunities in Malaya. And so together with a few friends, I went to Singapore first, but left for Penang not long after.    

      In Penang, I found work as a shop assistant at Tong Wen Bookshop on Lebuh Pantai. During my free time I would carry my art tools on my back and wander about in nature, either alone or in the company of a few likeminded friends. Later, with the help of my artist-friend Huang Senrong, I opened an art studio that also offered photography services, which provided me with more opportunities to pursue art. In those days, I would submit a work or two, mostly watercolours, whenever an art exhibition was held. Later on, I picked up oil painting, an art form which I have pursued for some thirty years.       

        -- Yong Mun Sen, in an interview with Ci Ming, a Penang journalist with Nanyang Siang Pau, as published in the article “Charting Mr Yong Mun Sen’s Art Practice Over Four Decades”

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1. An Obsessive Pursuit Amidst the Hustle and Grind of Life

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           Yong Mun Sen (1896-1962) was born Yong Yen Lang (杨延龄) but later changed his name to Yong Yin Leng (杨印冷) and Yong Mun Sen (杨曼生). The excerpt above provided insights into the circumstances that led to his relocations and experiences with art in his early years. In his youth, he had the opportunity to pick up calligraphy when he was sent to his ancestral hometown of Dabu to receive a traditional Chinese education at a private school for several years. An example of his calligraphic prowess can be found in his painting Orchids, which was inscribed with a poem by Qing dynasty scholar-artist Zheng Banqiao. In 1910, Yong returned to Kuching, where he chanced upon the Japanese manager of a rubber

plantation sketching with watercolours one day. He was so thrilled by the encounter, which marked the beginning of his lifelong pursuit of the medium.   He never had the opportunity to study at an art academy or visit museums to view their rich collections on display for creative inspiration.  For several decades, he was obsessed with painting and explored art relentlessly, seeking his own path. With talent and hard work, he succeeded in establishing himself as a highly respected artist in the watercolour community of Singapore and Malaysia…[read more in NAFA publication]

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1 Nanyang Siang Pau, 3 August 1953, p. 10.