An honor to have made an acquaintance of a 75 year old master painter , educator and a although a humble and gentle man yet a very solid individual whose art works were celebrated at the Penang State Art Gallery today. The retrospective exhibition of Dato' Tan Hon Yin's paintings more than 70 of them covered two galleries, works that span over the years of his career and what a career it has been for this mild mannered gentleman. Ever since I first met him some year ago I felt his warmth and friendliness towards everyone he dealt with, Chinese malay or Indians. This to me is a man who is truly a Malaysian at heart and it is felt by most who has had anything to do with him. I rarely am easily taken to admire a man without finding some small fault to gripe about and very few in my life measures up to my expectation, my fault, not theirs, however Dato' Tang won my admiration. He is an inspiration and I am honored to have met this artist in my own backyard.
Most of my peers as an artist I find promotes their art in every which way they can and selling their works is a mark of success, perhaps they are right. It is my fault perhaps that i do not do enough to sell myself and make my name through making a good living as an artist and as a result i am as I am financially in need. Dato' Tang Hon Yin is one person that I know of who keeps a very low profile of his talent and great accomplishments which to me is one facet of his life that I admire; he lets his works does the promotion themselves. This is what i admire in great masters like Hokusai and the likes of him. I raise my hat to this gentleman for his lifelong accomplishment and his humility towards those who benefitted from him.
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