All the Smiling Faces at Little Penang St. Market

It was a hot day on Sunday and i decided to hang out at the Little Penang Street Market after dropping off my daughter at her work place at "China House," I am glad that i did. It has been awhile that I last dropped by and enjoyed the Market and it was cool to see familiar faces and listen to live music being performed by young and old.

As usual there were visitors from all over and these two gentlemen were from Singapore and i think both were teachers. The USM Orchestra group performed for the audience while I sketched. 

I doubt that these couple ever missed a day of the Street market since its inception  and that there is Mr. Eddie Choong the Malaysian Badminton Superstar during his younger days. Was it seven times all England champion?
 

They definitely looked happy and having a blast soaking it in.

It is sad not to see other races involved in this kind of group activities, why is there no Malays or Indians participating?

And Mac!! With the Nikon round his neck!

The Babas and Nyonias at Little Penang St. Market.

Baba Byonya (Peranakan, the term used popularly for descendants of early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region, including both the British Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang, and the Dutch controlled island of Java among other areas, who have partially adopted Malay customs in an effort to be assimilated into the local communities. 

Add caption

The word of Peranakan, is also used commonly to describe Indonesia Chinese. In both BM & Bahasa Indonesia, Peranakan” means descendant. Baba refer to the male descendants and Nyonya the female. Most Peranakanare of Hokkein ancestry, although a fair denomination of them are of the Teocheww or Cantonese descent. The language of the Peranakan, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a dialect of the Malay Language which contains many Hokkein works.

The Nyonya Baba were partially assimilated into the Malay culture, especially in food, dress and language used, while retaining some of the Chinese traditions and culture, like religion, name, folk medicine and festival celebrations, thereby creating a new kind of mixed culture of their country of origin with local, among those, like “Nyonya cuisine “ has developed the spices of Malay cuisine, examples are curry recipe cooking, Inchi Kabin, Chicken Kapitan, fried or cry chicken & sea foods, with local spicy & spicery. Wearring the Baju Kebaya. Most of the Peranakan are not Muslim, but have retained the ancestral worship tradition of the Chinese, especially of their wedding ceremony is largely based upon the Chinese tradition.

Article taken from ; jonker 88.com

I used to watch one of my aunties sew these brocades that  is worn on the  sleeves of the  "Kebayas' that the ladies are wearing and it was an art in itself.

On a personal note, I feel that these group of people who graced the Little Penang Street Market with their presence were a very lovely and charming and not to mention friendly people I have met. Being among them I could not help help but felt truly fortunate to have been born in this country of mixed cultural heritage.

This is what I would call ageing with grace and beauty. 

Having a Bubble of a Time! at MGTF

When not stargazing or leading a group of students all over the galaxies through his lectures in astronomy, Dr. Chong can be found launching  large plastic coke bottles into the skies and thus far i am sure hundreds of students have created  and launched their own rockets under his tutelage. 

Dr.Chong is doing his thing with the kids again today and this time he is the 'Bubble master" as he conjured up huge bubbles to mesmerize children and adults alike. It is all his own creation including the content of the soap that he ingeniously  blended together to get just the right consistency for it to work.

I admire this man for his untiring zest to share his enthusiasm  with whoever is interested in whatever that he  has to offer. His knowledge on the cosmos is vast and insatiable. He is like a mobile encyclopedia when it comes to the planets and whatever that lies out there in the final frontiers or SPACE!

A Few of my Latest Oils

Samurai Rumble

The Japanese are precise especially when it comes to cutting and dicing up their opponents and they perform the act with such detachment that it is almost mechanical. But in the art of sword fighting I believe none is more graceful than the Way of the Samurais. 

What captures my interest when viewing the Samurais in action is the choreographic motion of their movement which reminds me of an intense ballet performance. I enjoy sketching the folds in their clothing which accentuates the motion of their bodies.

Continued Studies of the Female forms