Depicted at the top left is St. Paul's Cathedral, London covered heavily in thick smoke. The Cathedral survived The Blitz German bombing campaign in December 1940; thus, images and photographs of the building became a symbol of resilience and courage. Its survival was deemed to be the effort of then Prime Minster Winston Churchill, who had assigned a group of firewatchers to protect the Cathedral. In works such as Chinese Theatricals and Mother & Child, the artist had taken interest in exploring his roots, where he depicted Chinese Opera performances, and tender scenes from childhood. He was living in a period where transformations were taking place, and these works reflect his artistic responses of a changing world. Dato' Tay Hooi Keat graduated from the Camberwell School of Art, London in 1952. On his return, he was made the Penang Superintendent of Art and then the Federal Inspectorate of Art in the Education Ministry when Malaya attained Independence in 1957. He was the founding treasurer of the Penang Chinese Art Club, and was chairman of the Penang Museum Art Gallery (PMAG) board of trustees from 1964 to 1989. He was the first artist to be awarded a Dato'ship in 1986. He rarely had solo exhibitions since his first at the Penang Library in 1947. In 1980, the PMAG gave him a tribute exhibition and in 1983 the National Art Gallery Malaysia honoured him with a retrospective.