Klang-born Tew Nai Tong had already shown early promise, as can be attested by these three early drawings of classical statues and one from life, a portrait, probably of a classmate who bore a little resemblance to him on the top half, done when studying at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art in Singapore in 1957-1958. These drawings are 60 years old! Nai Tong returned to Malaya, and had his first solo at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur in 1964, the year he won 2nd Prize in the Chartered Bank mural design competition. He then decided to further his studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts (1967-68). The 1980s saw him winning several awards including the Shell Best Award (watercolour, 1981), Esso Best Award (1982) and Dunlop Best Award (watercolour, 1983). In 2009, he won the Asia Art Award in Seoul, South Korea. He taught at various art academies namely the Malaysian Institute of Art (1969-1980), Central Academy of Art (1982-1985) and the Saito Academy of Art (1986-1988) before he decided to go fulltime in 1992. In 2007, he had a major survey exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, called Odyssey. In 2009, he won the Asia Art Award in Seoul, South Korea.