A Little Bit Of Lat

Malaysia’s favourite cartoonist is seen as a national treasure, but Datuk Lat would be the first to tell you that he cares not for the title. In a rare interview, we have a chat with the famously reticent man about the recent elections, the way forward for Malaysia and what’s in the cards for the future.

- Mindy Teh

Datuk Mohamad Nor Khalid’s house in Ipoh is a source of pride, both for the revered cartoonist and his wife, Datin Faezah Ahmad Zanzali. Designed to resemble a traditional wooden kampong house and located in a quiet residential area away from the town centre, it is in fact replete with the comforts of urban living. There’s a computer table with a desktop by the sliding window, a large leather living room furniture ensemble, a small framed photograph of his four children when they were young on a side table, and a piano by the dining room. “Lat’s the one who plays the piano,” says Datin Faezah, a feisty, petite woman whose zingers come fast and furious even as she prepares a spread of roti jala and chicken curry for us. “He’s the musical one. I’m the total opposite.” It’s endearing that, even after years of marriage, she calls him by his nickname (truncated from ‘Bulat’, or round-faced, given to him as a child) rather than the one he was born with.

While the house harks back to a bygone era, it is certainly a far cry from Datuk Lat’s modest kampong house growing up. Yet, it is no exaggeration when I say that almost every Malaysian knows this particular house as well as Datuk Lat does, having been lovingly recreated in his graphic novel, Kampung Boy. His photographic memory has ensured that every square inch of the house has been recorded for posterity, albeit in its humble wooden form.