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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 9h

Inktober D15 Ragged

If i could have a favourite Chinese deity, this raggedy looking fellow would rank right up there. Zhong Kui #鍾馗 is a Taoist deity in Chinese mythology, traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings.

#inktober2025 #inktober2025ragged

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 1d

Inktober D14 Trunk

Writing out the migration story of the kopitiam fellow as he makes his way down south to Nanyang. Trunk and all. As he lands at the ports of South East Asia. Obviously trunk is the prompt for today!

#inktober2025 #inktobertrunk
#inktoberday14 #inktober2025trunk

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 2d

#Inktober D13 Drink

Linked with my South East Asian theme the prompt of drink 🥤 , I could only think of the infamous Raja Bersiong legend from here.

More tales are spun of his bravery & intelligence - and subsequent encounter with a bayam dish tainted with human blood.

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 3d

Inktober D12 Shredded

Somehow shredded in my mind reminds me of lamian - the hand-pulled noodles made by stretching, twisting, and folding a wheat-flour dough to create long, thin strands. Or cutting. Or shredding. Or pulling.

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 4d

I was surprised to learn that prompt for @inktober for sting is swindle or exorbitantly overcharge! Which is what’s happening to the Nyonya here.

Or at least what she thinks is happening here. Though the cloth seller is saying no!

#nyonya #peranakan #bajunyonya #babanyonya

Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 5d

Here’s Dayang Senandong happily singing through her chores. A lesser known tale of a princess who’s ‘cursed’ with dark skin and kicked out of her palace into a life of misery before.. well before a Prince rescues her.

And yes the prompt is #sweep

#Inktober2025 #Inktober

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 7d

Reckless indeed for a lady of her time!

But smuggling letters for prisoners of war in Changi Prison was only one of her accomplishments. Lim Beng Hong, or better known as B.H. Oon, was the first woman to be called to the Malayan Bar.

#inktober2025 #inktober

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 8d

He isn’t quite sure what to think of the new addition to the menu at his sotong bakar stall. Grilled squid 🦑 maybe but grilled starfish!

Not sure what to do with the starfish prompt though I’m sure Patrick from Spongebob would figure large on many.

#Inktober

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 9d

Mahsuri. A woman betrayed and scorned.

No deeper pierce than being wrongfully accused of adultery and executed with a stab through the heart. Only to be proven innocent as white blood gushed out.

#inktober2025 #inktoberpierce
#inktoberday6 #inktoberdaypierce

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 10d

It’s D5 for Inktober, the prompt is #deer.

Easy enough - and a bit of a segue to a mousedeer - since it’s linked to an origin story for Malacca. Of a runaway prince who rests under a tree only to admire the antics of our clever mousedeer.

#melaka #Inktober2025 #Inktober

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 12d

It’s her wedding day and our little Nyonya has a crown 👑 sitting pretty on her head.

For #inktober d3, Peranakan bridal attire features vibrant hues and intricate embellishments, replete with headgear and necklaces.

#inktober2025 #inktobercrown

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 13d

The prompt weave immediately brought to mind the pua kumbu.

The pua kumbu is a traditional hand woven warp ikat textile created and occasionally worn by the Ibans here in Borneo.

#dayak #inktober #inktober2025weave #dayakborneo #inktober2025

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 14d

It’s Inktober time and yes I’m following the official prompts @inktober ! Should be my 7th year doing this!

The prompt was mustache and I thought of the kueh seller with his amazingly manicured mustache, walking the streets with his freshly steamed kueh.

.

#inktober2025

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 16d

Not a common sight but we used to have buskers called lang ting tang man.

These old storytellers wander around the streets telling stories, while strumming their banjo 🪕. Sometimes they also tell fortunes as customers pick the metal plates tied to the end of their banjo.

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 26d

A while back at an exhibition placed in an old colonial hotel, I noted small little notebooks that turned out to be dance cards.

Simply put a dance card was used by women at formal dances from the 18th century to the 1930s to record the names of the gentlemen they planned to dance with!

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · 29d

Happy Malaysia Day! All thrills, spills and heels for Blossom Wong as she contends with malcontents during the celebrations!

With a particularly dashing helper this time from Borneo named Sigat!

#malaysiaday #HariMalaysia

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Sep 12

Once a year, hell takes a break as the gates of hell swing wide open during the Ghost Month #鬼月.
So here’s the two guardians searching for places to holiday in! The Ox-Head #牛头 and the Horse-Face #马面, the two infamous guardians of the underworld!

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Sep 10

One thing that has always fascinated me is the fortune teller. Many might not recall the fortune-telling practice using trained parakeets, to select cards from a stack for clients, with the fortune teller then interpreting the chosen card’s meaning!

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Sep 6

Good brothers 好兄弟 or ho hia di is a euphemism for the wandering spirits, particularly those with no living relatives to honor them, who are believed to roam the earth during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

#hungryghost #hungryghostmonth #hungryghostfestival #中元節 #中元节

Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Aug 25

Just a fun illustration of an itinerant hawker, open bright and early in the day!

Generally I get my inspiration from vintage photos from the past. Problem is most are somewhat discoloured and too small to notice the details. Which is where imagination comes in to fill the gaps.

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Aug 21

Not everyone was as handy with a needle in the past.

Which is how itinerant tailors / seamstresses would pop up with their trusty sewing machines right on the five foot way, hawking their ability to trim a hem or fix a button!

#tailor #tailorshop #seamstress #sewing #sewingmachine

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Aug 10

We’ve all learned how the geographical position and the shifting monsoons play such a big role in the region’s importance in international trade, especially farther back in the past when wins brought the sailing ships to our shores.

#traderoutes #monsoonwinds #tradewinds #sg60

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Aug 4

Exhibition time at a local bookstore! Check out Tsutaya Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur for some of works!

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Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Jul 28

Just had my regular dose of scalded cockles this week and couldn’t help coming up with a quick sketch. The old hawker sitting on a stool with his ingredients all around, adding chilli and lime to the sauces.

#sataycelup #market #satecelup #scaldedcockles #cockles

Paulitical @pauliticalart.bsky.social · Jul 23

If you’ve walked through the streets of South East Asia, you’ll be thankful for our covered walkways that shield us from the blistering tropical sun and also the monsoon rains!

Known over here as the kaki lima! Or five foot way!

#fivefootway #kakilima #五脚基