Kampung life is so simple in the early days, without all the modern distractions and not even a mirror. The chequered floor tiles, however, seems the only concession to modernity. While the girl in a red bikini top and sarong preens her hair, the other in midriff and obviously younger and back to viewer, just kneels by the side and watch. An overhanging cloth on top loaded with bird’s seeds sees two birds sharing the food despite one being white and the other black. Puah Kim Hai was one of the early batches of students studying at the Malaysian Institute of Art, graduating in 1972. His forte was in Chinese ink painting although he had done batik painting for a spell. In Chinese art, Kim Hai is trained under the Lingnan master Yang Sheng-shan in Hong Kong in 1980. He had won the Silver Prize in the International Shui-Mo Art Competition in 1992. He is president of the Malaysian Lingnan Art Society, treasurer of the Selangor/Kuala Lumpur Shui-Mo Art Society, and adviser to the New York International Chinese Art Association.