The trademark mop of hair may have gone but, with his ebullient smile and glasses, cartoonist Mohammad Nor Khalid (better known as Lat) is one of the most recognisable faces in Malaysia.
His drawings capture the idiosyncrasies of Malaysia's multiracial mix with warmth, humour and a keen insight. And in a career spanning more than three decades, Lat has fans ranging from local security guards and tycoons to expat executives and Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
A prolific artist of 22 books, two of which were recently released in the US, Lat made Malaysians laugh at themselves and with each other. Everyone seems to have a favourite scene or story, whether it's his take on the Aussie accent ('bet two hairs' for 'about two hours'), his impressions of the public baths in Tokyo or deeply personal memoirs of growing up in a rural village in northern Malaysia.
Fans never tire of hearing him talk about his childhood experiences or first forays into cartooning, which is why, despite being in semi-retirement - he relocated from the bustling capital Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, a quiet town in northern Perak state, a decade ago - the 56-year-old still receives requests for speaking engagements.
Lat (short for bulat, a nickname given by his grandmother to describe his round head) displayed a talent for drawing as a child. 'I've always drawn things that are funny, whether they were of my teachers or friends,' he says. His father encouraged his drawing, and the teenage Lat would submit his cartoons to local movie magazines.
He still recalls vividly the first time his work was published in 1964. He was 13 and payment was in cinema tickets. 'I was shivering as I held the page, looking at my cartoon,' he says. 'The accolades I received years later paled in comparison to the feeling I had seeing that first cartoon in print.'
