Few know that Puah Kim Hai, an exponent in Chinese brush painting, had dabbled in batik painting. It was self-taught, which he learnt by trial and errors, but he had to give it up when he set up a family in 1976 because of the chemicals, though he used good German neptor dyes brought from batik doyen, Dato Tay Mo-Leong, who has substantial stocks. This work of two Malay women, seated cross-legged in the shape of a bean bag, enjoying durian, done in the early 1970s, is noted for the clear, clean tones and confident lines. People in traditional cultural setting, often rustic, is a perennial theme in Puah’s Chinese brush works. He was taught by Chung Chen Sun and the Lingnan master Catherine Kao, although formally, he studied at the Malaysian Institute of Art. It is no surprise that Puah is the president of the Malaysian Lingnan Art Society, besides being the treasurer of the Selangor Shui-Mo Art Society.