Dr. Cheah Thien Soong is a renowned contemporary ink-painting artist in Malaysia. These paintings of birds are a delightful combination of graceful stylization and naturalism. Dark washes of ink construct the basic forms, and the artist captures the vitality of birds immersed in their natural habitat, illustrating a serene and calm scene. Dr. Cheah Thien Soong is known for his Nanyang Style combination of the Chinese spirit and Western compositional aesthetics, with the inconspicuous padi-bird as his mascot. His mentors at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) in Singapore included Chen Wen Xi, Cheong Soo-pieng, Chen Chong Swee, Xi Xiang Tuo and Georgette Chen, and he was given the NAFA Alumni Association ‘Creative Award’ in 1989. He taught at the Malaysian Institute of Art from 1990 to 2002. In 2003, he famously painted on the Jingdezhen porcelainware. In 2015, he held a major solo, Cheah Thien Soong: Nanyang Ink Painting, at the National Art Gallery Malaysia. Dr. Cheah is the chairman of the Negeri Sembilan Art Society. He is also the founder-chairman of Cao Tang Men Eastern Arts Society.