Tan Chooi Leng
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Title: Park
Title (Original Language): 公园
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “Last time there was a park at our settlement, it was called T.H.Tan Park. I always walked around there. My friend, Han Chooi and I loved to go there to see beautiful flowers when we were free. At the park, there were many indoor plants, a fountain, an office, and a farming tool store. Many ladies liked to take photos at the park. However, I didn’t like to take photos, so I didn’t have any photo taken there. ”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Tan Chooi Leng
Copyright: Tan Chooi Leng
Title: Football Field
Title (Original Language): 足球场
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “Previously we had one football field at the settlement, i.e. the current parking area in front of the guard house at the East Section, the parking place ofmotorcycles at the Communal Home. During that generation, our Council Team always had football matches with the external teams. As I can recall, the Kepong Football Team and Subang Football Team also came to our settlement to play against us in the district tournament. In the 1960s, our Council Team won in many matches. Our captains were Ng Ban Tong, Panjang (Indian), Phang Ah Hai and so on. They were very good in playing football. I never missed any of their matches because I was their loyal supporter. I never missed the annual matches. During that period, we had more than two thousands patients in the settlement. There were hundreds of us watching the matches. The annual football matches started from 5pm in the evening and ended at about 7pm. The entire football field was so crowded and it was so much fun. ”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Tan Chooi Leng
Copyright: Tan Chooi Leng
Title: Cinema
Title (Original Language): 戏院
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “There was a cinema at the settlement last time. There were free movies to be watched by everyone twice a week, i.e. every Monday and every Thursday. Multiple language movies such as Chinese movies, Malay movies and Hindi movies were rotated every Monday. On the other hand, English movies were shown every Thursday. We had P.Ramlee and Bruce Lee movies. I still remember there was one movie called “Air-Hostess” (Kong Zhong Xiao Jie), starring Roy Chiao and Grace Chang (Ge Lan). This movie was filmed at Mekong River, the storyline was about an air-hostess travelling around the world and she fell in love with the pilot, Roy Chiao. They had love affair in Thailand and it was a very nice romance movie. I remember many great movies, starring P. Ramlee, such as Ali Baba, Do Re Mi, Dajal Suchi and Madu Tiga. English movies include Viva Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley; April Love, starring Pat Boone; and Main Attraction, starring Nancy Kwan. All these were classic movies during that generation. During that time, we had to bring along a stool to grab a nice seat in order to watch the movies. There were people selling cigarettes, candies, peanuts and sunflower seeds. There was an old man from the settlement who opened a stall in front of the hall. There was also another stall opened by our patient. Everyone would definitely buy some snacks while enjoying the movies. My favourite movie is Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing.”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Tan Chooi Leng
Copyright: Tan Chooi Leng
Title: Stadium Merdeka
Title (Original Language): 国家体育馆
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “I never missed any Merdeka Cup last time. I would watch it every year. I rode my bicycle and parked it at Sungai Buluh Station. From there, I took the red Selangor Bus to reach the bus station at Jalan Raja Laut. The fare was only five cents. From Jalan Raja Laut, I walked to Stadium Merdeka to watch Merdeka Cup. It was the most wonderful moment in 1970s where our national football team was the top among Asian countries. All our national players were excellent. Do you know that our national team had appeared in the finals for many times and the team has ever defeated the top football teams from Korea and Japan? Our national players such as Soh Chin Aun, Mokhtar Dahari, Syed Ahmad, Namat Abdullah, Shaharuddin Abdullah, Wong Choon Wah, Santokh Singh, Chow Chee Keong, Arumugam, Isa Bakar, Shukor Salleh, Wong Kam Fook, Ong Yu Tiam, James Wong and Hassan Sani were the most famous players in Asia. All of them have been so great before but I heard many of them have passed away. From my point of view, 1970s was the most glorious moment for our national football team. I got to know from the newspaper that the King of Football was Abdul Ghani in 1959. I was lucky to witness Mokhtar Dahari and Isa Bakar. The best defenders were Soh Chin Aun, Namad Abdullah and Santokh Singh……Our Malaysia football team has got great achievement before. The team qualified for the Olympics final standing in 1976 and 1980. Other football teams in Asia were not our opponents at all. However, nowadays, the quality of our national football team has become poorer. I really miss the moment when I could go to Stadium Merdeka to watch Merdeka cup alone, it was my happiest moment…… ”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Tan Chooi Leng
Copyright: Tan Chooi Leng
Title: The World is Your Oyster
Title (Original Language): 整個世界可以任你遨遊
Year: 2017
Words in the Drawing: “I painted this to be presented to all young people. I find that the youths nowadays have brighter future because they have better education and there are more opportunities out there waiting for them. There are more opportunities for them to realise their dreams and pursue their ideal career. They have enough freedom and they can go wherever they want. Being young and energetic will definitely lead them to a brighter future. They will definitely succeed in life. This generation is totally different from the previous one. We can’t tell the young people that we are more experienced than them. Nowadays, those grandparents have to learn how to use mobile phones from their grandchildren. The world has changed! Last time, the elder people teach the younger people how to deal with things, and now, the young people are the ones who are guiding the elders, hence I wish the young generation to have a better future.”
Size: 17.5cm X 15.2cm
Location: The Valley of Hope Story Gallery
Owner: Tan Chooi Leng
Copyright: Tan Chooi Leng