Using the birdcage and figures symbolically, Nai Tong's canvases are a celebration of a peaceful life, portraying the joy of living in harmony with nature. The figures, two boys and a girl are painted expressively in delicate pastel colours. A songbird is gently perched on the boy's finger, surrounded with traditional birdcages. Tew Nai Tong received his early art education at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore (NAFA), graduating in 1958. He worked for a while to raise funds for his studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris (1967-1968). In the early years, he signed his work as 'Chang Nai Tong'. His first solo was at the British Council, Kuala Lumpur in 1964 and he had his retrospective at the National Art Gallery in 2007. He taught at the Malaysian Institute of Art from 1969 to 1980, the Central Academy of Art from 1982 to 1985 and the Saito Academy of Art (head of department, 1986-1988). He concentrated fulltime in art in 1992. His awards included Second Prize, Chartered Bank Mural Design Competition (1964); Shell Watercolour Award (1981); Best Award, Esso (1982); Dunlop Watercolour Award (1983); and Grand Prize Asia Art Award (Malaysia) in Seoul in 2009. He is the co-founder of the Malaysian Watercolour Society (1982-1983) and the Contemporary Malaysian Watercolourist Association (1994) and the now defunct Le Beaux Art Gallery.