Lat the Cartoonist

From wikipedia:
Mohammad Nor Khalid or Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid (born 5 March 1951) is a well known cartoonist in Malaysia. Also known as Lat, many of his cartoons appear in the editorial pages of the Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times. Lat was born in a village called Kota Baru in Perak, not to be confused with Kota Bharu the capital of Kelantan. He had a wonderful talent for drawing as a child and drew excellent comics. At the age of 9, his gifted talent began to yield his family income. His first real book was Tiga Sekawan, a story about 3 friends who banded together to catch robbers. The book was published in his sixth year at Jalan Pasir Puteh Primary School in Ipoh. His publisher paid him 25 Ringgit for his service. By 1968, Lat was earning 100 Ringgit a month from his work. He later moved to Kuala Lumpur to become a cartoonist. Lat later joined the New Straits Times as a crime reporter but he later became a cartoonist. His first book Kampung Boy, an autobiography of his life was published in 1979 and sold thousands of copies within 3 months. His cartoons have been published in several cartoon books in Malaysia. He is famous throughout Malaysia. One of his books Kampung Boy was published in France by a French publisher. His latest book is Dr Who?! which is dedicated to Mahathir bin Mohamad, the former prime minister of Malaysia and his wife Dr Siti Hasmah. An English-language edition of Kampung Boy was published by First Second Books in August of 2006. This was the first of his books to be published in the United States. His second English-language book, Town Boy, is scheduled for release in October 2007. His cartoons reflect his view about Malaysian life and the world.

We went to the library a few days back and I dont know why suddenly I remembered about Lat. I grew up reading his books/comics and can even remember some of them. The 'tin kosong' (empty can) game tht he played, the 'sunat' (circumcision), the move fr kampung to the city and etc. He captured his life as budak kampung and say it all in a simple drawings and words and yet, even if you're not a Malaysian, you would have no trouble understanding the story.

However, im ashamed to admit that I dont personally own any of his books. Yes, it is indeed embarassing since i just love his work. So, from now on, im going to commit myself in collecting all of his books for my own collection/reading pleasure and hopefully 1 day, I can share them with my children.