As soon as the fishing boats returned from the sea, many buyers gathered around the beach to unload the baskets. The trading of fish occurred on the beach, and the catch was sold through competitive haggling of prices. A variety of trees add visual interest and establish scale. Nai Tong’s poignant rendition of a village landscape allows insight into the sustenance of the village folk. Nai Tong did this drawing in preparation for painting a huge oil on canvas by the size of 5 x 9ft (as shown on lower right). Nai Tong returned to Malaysia and had his first solo at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur in 1964, the year he won 2nd Prize in the Chartered Bank mural design competition. He furthered his studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des BeauxArts (1967-1968). The 1980s saw him winning several awards including the Shell Best Award (watercolour, 1981), Esso Best Award (1982) and Dunlop Best Award (watercolour, 1983). He taught at various art academies namely the Malaysian Institute of Art (1969-1980), Central Academy of Art (1982-1985) and the Saito Academy of Art (1986-1988) before he decided to go full time in 1992. In 2007, he had a major survey exhibition at the National Art Gallery Malaysia, called Odyssey. In 2009, he won the Asia Art Award in Seoul, South Korea.