Kok Yew Puah, as he is more popularly known with his surname pushed behind, plays on the ironic juxtapose and contrast of Tradition and Change, and the inroads of development on ordinary life. From the 1980s to 1990s, the artist translated his observations of the rapid modernisation and environmental impacts into surreal landscapes painted in the hard-edge style with high contrasts of colour. Rendered with one point perspective, a red-coloured pathway flanked by trees lead towards one of the artist's favourite motifs, soft clouds floating amidst the bright blue sky. On the left, a traffic sign placed by the road could be deciphered as a symbol of warning, a gentle reminder to pause and reflect on the journey ahead. Kok Yew Puah studied Painting and Printmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia (1966-1972). His career with a solo at the Samat Art Gallery in 1973, looked promising with abstract Pop graphics using silkscreen, but he had to put his art in the back-burner to concentrate on developing the family chilli-sauce business. A decade and a half later, he made a comeback painting figures with environmental issues and notions of identity, in an exhibition simply entitled, Kok Yew Puah: 1985-1993. He had bad news and good news in 1994. His business failed, but his entry for the Philip Morris Asean Art Awards was adjudged 2nd in the national final, with the Asean finals being held in Singapore. He was one of the five Malaysian winners again the next year, with the Asean final held in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1997, he held his second and last solo, Klang And Beyond. Ilham Gallery organised Kok Yew Puah: Portrait Of A Malaysian Artist from October 2021 to April 2022.