My Heart Aches!

Why does my heart ache? Are you hearing the song by Bonnie Tyler yet? It's a Heartache?

Back to why my heart aches. My heart aches because we are aging! I am in my mid 50s and nothing can be done to change that. But what aches me more is that we are no longer regaled by the talented Lat!

Who is Lat?

This is Lat.

This is the story about Lat. https://komkupedia.fandom.com/wiki/Lat

I don't need to repeat his story. It can be read at the link above. But why do I miss him? These are some of his work.

Lat's depiction of Anwar Ibrahim and Mahathir

He will always have something cute to add to any of the current events happening in Malaysia. The beauty of his work is that he can be critical without being offensive. He can comment without being political. He is loved and accepted by all Malaysians. No one is offended by him at all, no matter what he says through his caricatures.

I miss that. I think we Malaysians miss that.

These days nobody is as clever as he is. They will turn out to be political, offensive, and often divisive. They try their best to emulate him or be like him, hoping to be apolitical but many fails. Someone, somewhere, somehow will get offended. And in this present woke generation, where everyone's made of cotton wool, some of their favourite past time is too waste the police's time with irreverence and irrelevance reported in the media most likely because it's another slow news day.

And with the advent of social media in the last 10 years, such tripe will be shared in the blink of an eye.

Newspapers, physical newspapers were sought after because we wanted to see what's new with Lat. His collection is much sought after and often remains relevant despite years have passed. I too sometimes hope to see something new and fresh from Lat since the new crop of these cartoonist are often disappointing.

Lat's genius lies in his caricatures and his words. His words are absolutely perfect for the latest drawing. The latest depiction. His interpretation of the latest national development. For that this national institution is much missed.

Somewhere are my complete collection of Lat's books. I even have his notebook, various souvenirs and even a t-shirt.

Because of that my heart aches. As I age, as we age so will Lat and because of that he has stopped drawing for a while now. I am quite sure he will have something cute to say about the latest fiasco with our beloved Malaysia Airlines or the latest development with the DNAAs or the various elections and by-elections. But it's no longer possible for him to draw.

Want to know what is Malaysia? What makes Malaysian, Malaysians? Just read Lat from start to finish. They are an honest depiction about us Malaysians. Some hits home hard but that's Lat.

And I am definitely a fan even as my heart continues to ache.