Lat 1951-(Mohamed Nor Khalid)

views updated

Lat 1951-(Mohamed Nor Khalid)

PERSONAL:

Born March 5, 1951, in Kota Baru, Perak, Malaysia; married; children: four.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Malaysia.

CAREER:

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, cartoonist, 1974-84; freelance cartoonist, 1985—; comics include "Tiga Sekawan" and "Keluarga Si Mamat."

AWARDS, HONORS:

Awarded the Malaysian honorific "datuk," 1994.

WRITINGS:

CARTOONS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

Let's Lat, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1978.

Lat, the Kampung Boy (memoir), Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1979, published as Kampung Boy, Tête Rock (Paris, France), 2004, First Second (New York, NY), 2006.

Keluarga si Mamat, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1979.

With a Little Bit of Lat, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1980.

Town Boy (memoir), Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1981, First Second (New York, NY), 2007.

Lots More Lat, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1982.

It's a Lat, Lat, Lat, Lat World, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1985.

Entahlah mak …!, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1986.

Lat and Gang, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1987.

Lat with a Punch, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1988.

Better Lat Than Never, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1989.

Lat as Usual, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1990.

Lots of Lat, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1990.

Be Serious!, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1992.

Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today (memoir), Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1993.

Lat 30 Years Later, Kampung Boy (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia), 1994.

Lat Was Here, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1994.

The Portable Lat, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 1998.

Mat Som, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 2004.

Dr. Who? Capturing the Life and Times of a Leader in Cartoons, Berita Publishing (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), 2005.

The author's works have been translated into Portuguese and Korean.

Lat's cartoons appear in the New Straits Times and other periodicals.

ADAPTATIONS:

Kampung Boy was adapted for an animated cartoon by Matinee Entertainment, broadcast in Malaysia.

SIDELIGHTS:

Best known by the name Lat under which he writes, Mohamed Nor Khalid is, according to a contributor for Asian Month online, "one of Asia's representative cartoonists." The same writer went on to comment: "Drawing cartoons based on the lives of average people in Malaysia, Lat has established himself by creating cartoons that mock the contradictions of society." Lat (meaning "round," a nickname given to him as a toddler), creates cartoons that range from political satire of the antics of Malaysia's two main political parties to reminiscences and gentle memoirs. Examples of the latter include Kampung Boy and Town Boy, early graphic novels that fondly recall the village life of his childhood and youth in Malaysia and the characters who made up his large extended family. Humor, sometimes of the slapstick variety, is at the center of all of Lat's work. One of the major characters of his comic strips is the playful youth Mat, a village lad whose misadventures have appeared in Malaysia for more than a generation.

In 2006 Lat's Kampung Boy was published in the United States as a graphic novel. Featuring Lat's alter ego, Mat, the book details events in the boy's village—or kampung—life. The cartoonist writes of such ordinary events as attending a Qur'an reading class, fishing and swimming with friends, and Mat's circumcision ceremony at the age of ten. The story ends as Mat prepares to leave for boarding school, for he must be educated to inherit his father's rubber plantation. American critics responded warmly to this work. Kliatt contributor George Galuschak predicted that "younger readers will like Lat's cartoon-y style, which emphasizes facial features and movement." A Publishers Weekly writer called Kampung Boy a "down-to-earth account," further noting that "with humor and affection, Lat makes the exotic kampung feel familiar." Similarly, for Booklist reviewer Francisca Goldsmith the book presents "a story of boyhood that encompasses both universals and the specifics of a time and place." High praise came from School Library Journal contributor Dawn Rutherford, who declared the book an "international classic."