My fascination for ceramic art began back home in Malaysia at a tender age of 5 years old. As a child, I grew up with hyper active problem. My parents, simple folks from the country side were not aware of the syndrome, neither the cause of my regular outrageous outburst. My mother, who made pottery among other hand-crafts tried to get me involved in her daily activity in order to keep her eye on me at all time. Her endless efforts helped me through the hardest period of my childhood. It was like the first magic I felt when I first laid my hands on wet clay . It gave me such an extra-ordinary belief, comfort and calmed me down. It took me to my first step towards creativity and trusting myself.  According to her God created Adam from a handful of clay and then He gave him life. Therefore we were taught to appreciate clay as God's most precious gift. Her inspiration helped me to develop my  passion in ceramic at an early age and then later I decided to continue her passion and ambition. 

         My childhood was filled with activities from various kinds of traditional crafts and art forms as I grew up in an artisan family back-ground from both sides. My late father was active as a Mak Yong choreographer (a comprehensive theatre act combining dance, opera, drama and comedy). Besides dancing, he played rebab and flute  ( The rebab is the most important bowed lute in Malays folk music. It is the main melodic instrument in the  Mak Yong and is used to accompany storytelling). Sometimes when I am focused on my work, the memory and the melody of his music lingers in my head , as if I am drawn back to my past where I was surrounded with glorious inspiration. 

       He taught us to draw wayang kulit characters (shadow dance puppets). This art trained us to be alert of moving objects, even the slightest gesture so we could collaborate our movements for own performance.  At the same time we learned the value of life and appreciate what nature has to offer and to create the beauty out of it. From earth, pebbles, stones and sea shells to branches and roots of old trees. He reminded us that nature speaks to us and we can listen, learn and understand its message;  such as the power  when the wind blow, the rain fall and a fierce thunderstorm.

        Every sign is clear and never to be ignored;  we understand when  the ocean roars or when a stream flow rapidly. We capitulate the wonder of unfolding  sunset turned into red burning colour or when the rainbow appears from the sky. When we gaze at the stars — we indulge that  every setting we encounter comes to its own meaningful expression within us. Everything speaks an inner language.  And so we were taught to convey ourselves with our deepest emotion without using so much words, as understanding  and gestures speak more than a thousand words. Talent is a great blessing to hold on to, according to him; therefore  we ought to use it to the fullest advantage to add more colour to life.  As my late father always said, it's all about purity, focus and passion; either one has it or not. When I was first trusted with an opportunity for a solo show at the age of thirteen I knew that was the moment to grow, and since then I showed my work throughout the region and the country. As I now have managed to show my work internationally, I knew I have made him proud.

      As a young energetic teenager I was eager to explore performance art as well and took part in various competition of dance and drama events nationwide. I was nominated for best young actor in theatre when I was fifteen at a national theatre festival. I enjoyed the combination of art and performance tremendously. Dancing has  always been something  natural for us to express our deepest feelings such as joy, sorrow and even rage. It was a kind of a ritual to celebrate the spirit of living and to find inner harmony at the same time. Each step has its meaning and speaks a language of freedom,  gracious and all within control. Like working with clay, while dancing body and mind interact, so that a change in movement will affect total functioning. Movement contains a symbolic function and as such can be evidence of unconscious process.

         When I finished high school, I chose to pursue graphic design as I was very fond of  making modern art, illustrations and comic books. I was taken by the beauty of air-brush art which was very popular in Japan during that time and I was very keen to master the technique. At the same time I kept on dancing as part-time activity; for dancing remained a big part of my life and enriched my spiritual  and concentration level. I worked for a few years for an advertising agency in Kuala Lumpur as an illustrator. Later, when I  was offered work as a designer for an international  hotel, I was challenged to expand my work in  other art materials I least expected. I involved more in making sculpture than graphic art. I developed my sculpting skills  working with ice, butter, chocolate, and even fruit from the late Mr. Sunnie Chooi, my sculpture guru who devoted all his life for art. Since then I knew my true passion for sculpture and human movements. 

      To me the human figure is the most appropriate interpretation in the language of art to communicate about people and emotion. Therefore I never fixed myself with one particular style or brand as I like every other element that suits the mood and the genre of my creation; from abstract to classic, both have been invading my visual vocabulary.