The unusually clear azure blue waters is beguiling as the sky is overcast with greyish overtones, indicating a storm brewing. A shaky tree with a thin stem juts out on the low sandy rocky promontory for a dash of green, balanced by a small shrub on the right. A slightly top-down view reveals two wooden flat-bottomed sampan and a sparing hull, used perhaps for only small fishing trips not too far from the shore or light passenger travel. But it’s not safe to venture into the waters, even keeping to the fringe. In 1956, it was still the manual push-and-pull of the oars to propel the boat forward, not yet outboard boat motors. A heavy downpour is impending. Artist-politician Abdullah’s biggest claim to posterity is to have two short roads in Air Itam in Penang named after him. He was also a Penang city councillor, in the Jelutong district (1955-1957). Self-taught, he was one of two locals accepted into the Penang Impressionists coterie of expatriate artists. As an artist, he had solos in the United States – Mint Museum and Ownbey Hall in Charlotte (1954) and the Malayan Embassy in Washington (1955). He taught Art at the Anglo-Chinese School (now Methodist Boy School) in Penang for six years before he quit to set up Ariff Advertising (1955). He also contributed cartoons for the Straits Echo (later renamed National Echo) newspaper (1945-1947).