A calm atmosphere pervades the scene marked by enchanting tree branches around the temple, as testament to methods in which Balinese architecture strove to be in harmony with the surroundings. The distinctive architecture is influenced by the people's way of life and traditional philosophical concepts regarding forms and spatial division. Working with the medium of oil paints, the artist's subjects often include the people and landscapes of Southeast Asia. A versatile Singapore second-generation artist, Koeh Sia Yong is known for his paintings of figures (portraits), landscapes, Singapore river scenes, street scenes and still-lifes. Koeh Sia Yong is one of the few surviving stalwarts of Singapore's cult Equator Art Society (formerly Chinese Research Society) which had a huge impact with its Social Realism narratives, and Koeh particularly for Persecution (1963) and murals for the Sentosa Wax Museum on the atrocities of the Japanese Occupation. He graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, specialising in Western Painting in 1958, and worked as graphic designer, illustrator, newspaper cartoonist and movie billboard painter for Shaw Brothers. He is also known for his dossier on the Bukit Ho Swee squatter settlement fire (May 25, 1961). The Koeh Sia Yong Art Museum in Singapore features around 200 of his works.