In the nomenclature of figure-types in Southeast Asian art, Yuen Chee Leng had etched her own from the various models: Cheong Soo-pieng, Dato Chuah Thean Teng, Eng Tay, Khoo Sui-hoe, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Le Pho. And if music be the food of love, play on! As president and co-founder of the Conservatory of Fine Arts (CFA, from 1987 until her death in 2015), music was integral in her work repertoire. And there is nothing like placing charming, rustic-looking women in the open natural scene, what more with musical instruments in hand, like a private blissful cavort, and even reminiscent of Chen Yi-fei’s orchestra performed b porcelain-faced beauties, but much much more sophisticated. Yuen’s Figures – men don’t exist in her painted world – have these recognizable attributed: Pan-Asian looks, well-rendered eyes Bosomy, oval faces with prominent nose ridges, long stick arms like crab’s. long figure-hugging dresses, colourful cloth head scarfs: in this featured work, the bright orangey-yellow scarf of the one in the middle shines like the sun. However rotten the world around her was, she only looked for the beautiful in her characters’ projection – in appearance, spirit and soul. She had said: “Art is a passage to infinity. My paintings move along with the rhythm of life, the people and the places that change with the evolution of time and space. The continuing exploration into the unknown future remains the most exciting and rewarding experience.” If you look at Yuen’s unwavering artistic development, she was the Real McCoy, having done non-figurative works, batik, nudes, sculptures (synthetic marble) besides all kinds of paitning. In Education, her credentials were: A Creative Art Certificate from Universiti Sains Malaysa (1985), and later a PhD, BFA (1983) and MFA (1985) from the University of the Philippines, and her years there mentored by the great Professor Virginia Flor Agbayani. As an activist, she was the International Women Artist Council president, Galeri Art Point director, Her Presence In Colours founding president, and she was listed in the Dictionary of the Achievements of World Chinese Artists (Great World Publishing, Hong Kong, 1995). Yet, in her rare auction appearance at Masterpiece, KL, on Oct 18, 2015, she scored only RM2,240 for her Chinese brush work.