The bright side of life
Popular cartoonist Ahmad Hilmy Abdullah, better known as Mie, talks about how the world of comics can inspire and give hope during these difficult days.
AHMAD Hilmy Abdullah has a fond memory of how he started drawing cartoons as a child. As a budding cartoonist at his boarding school in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, he aimed high to get his works published in local cartoon magazines.
But being a school cartoonist and submitting works to a magazine are two very different things.
With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Hilmy or Mie, as he prefers to be called, sent a single print cartoon of a circumcision gone wrong to Utusan Radio & Television (URTV) magazine.
As fate would have it, his work was published; Mie had his first taste of fame at age 14.
“I remember buying the magazine and showing it to everyone at school. I thought I was already a very famous guy!” recalls Mie candidly. Now 59, he is a celebrated cartoonist in his own right.
“Since then, my friends and teachers pushed me to send my works to local publications,” he adds.
Mie grew up on a diet of local comic books and cartoon magazines such as Gila-gila, Bujal, Bambino and classic works by Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid, better known as Lat.
In fact, it was Lat’s Keluarga Si Mamat book (1979) that got Mie seriously interested in a professional career drawing cartoons. He added classic American satirical magazines such as Mad and Cracked to his influences as he entered adult life.
The father of three was awarded the Anugerah Tokoh Kartunis on April 1 by Kuala Lumpur-based Rumah Kartun Dan Komik Malaysia (Malaysia Cartoon And Comic House). Previous recipients of the award include Rossem (2017), Jaafar Taib (2018) and Aza (2019).
Mie, a trained architect with his own private firm, gathered a steady following among local cartoon enthusiasts. His simple and quintessentially “slice-of-life depictions of Malaysians” struck a chord, and there’s no shortage of satire, too.
He is also the co-founder of Malaysian Cartoonists Club, and admits to being inspired by his idol Lat’s career, which gave him the confidence to draw everyday Malaysians. Mie also mentions cartoonists Saadon Ishak (Don) and Hanafiah Ibrahim (Kerengge) as huge influences.
In his mostly B&W inked works, Mie beautifully captures life in Malaysia, with a series of childhood throwbacks, featuring a cast of day dreamers and their bittersweet moments as they struggle to come up in life.
Born in Kampung Salor in Kota Baru, Mie has a natural feel in depicting nostalgic Malaysia.
Maybe, it was because he and his family were periodically moving to different states in the country (including Perak and Terengganu) as his father was a policeman.
Through his cartoons, Mie gives those old memories new life.
“Showing the past in my comics is a way to introduce the younger generation to the olden days. There are history books written about wars and conquests.
“But there aren’t any books written about their parents’ childhood. So cartoons are a good way to document that. After all, cartoons are an easy way to remember history,” he explains.
He does admit some of his cartoons, featuring old traditions and vintage kampung life, might not be relatable to younger readers, who are not familiar with them.
“My art is a reflection of my generation. Some things might be too old for young people to understand. But I feel it is a nice way to document life ... like how people went to a market, how they cooked things, or how they had ceremonies,” he says.
“I try to put out what I remember ... from forgotten kampung kitchen utensils right to traditional games. Just normal things. If I don’t record them through my cartoons, I think people will eventually forget the past.”
Mie has seven books to his name and has been prolific since his first, Apa Cerita?, which was published in 2012. He has been concentrating on his Imbauan series since 2017.
His most recent book Imbauan 3, published by Bekazon, was launched at the Selangor Book Fair 2020, a few days before the movement control order (MCO) took effect on March 18.
When opportunity knocks
Mie’s professional breakthrough was an accidental one. It all started in 1984 when he was a final year student at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in KL. After proposing to set up a cartoon exhibition at his university’s open day, Mie was later asked to head it.
As a local comic book fan, he immediately approached the people at Batu Api magazine, who agreed to do the exhibition.
After the event, Mie dropped off some exhibition materials at the Batu Api office. The magazine’s bosses saw his potential and invited him to draw a series.
“From that moment on, I never looked back. My works were published fortnightly in Batu Api and the money that I was making was used to see me through my final year at university,” he recounts.
A year later, Mie was invited to be a resident cartoonist at Batu Api, a stint that lasted from 1985 to 1988. He also contributed cartoons to Mingguan Perdana (1987-1988) and Utusan Malaysia (1989-1992).
However, being a cartoonist comes with its own set of challenges. Even in the early days, Mie admits that juggling between
being an architect and a cartoonist was not easy.
“It is all about time management. You need quality time to concentrate on designing plans for a building. To sketch a cartoon, you need a spark of inspiration. To be an architect and cartoonist at the same time is not easy at all,” explains Mie.
When work and family responsibilities took priority, Mie had to hang up his cartoonist pen.
“I would draw my clients during boring meetings just to keep myself awake and at the end of it, I would give them the drawings,” says Mie with a laugh.
He spent 12 years concentrating on his architecture career and commitments.
He calls that period his “12 years of silence”. In 2011, he started to put out his works again. This
time, he posted cartoons on Facebook and they garnered positive feedback from his longtime followers.
Cartoonist at heart
What Mie did not know was that his life as a cartoonist was about to get a second act. A fellow cartoonist friend pushed him to compile all his new works and publish them in a book.
Mie wasn’t sure if the masses would be interested. But he decided to take a chance. A meaningful talk with Lat also helped ease Mie’s reservations.
Through a publisher friend, Mie managed to contact Lat in KL.
“For this meeting, Lat told me that he could only see me for an hour, tops. But we ended up talking for nearly three hours! He shared many things with me about being a cartoonist and told me to make some changes to my drawings,” Mie recalls.
After the meeting, he felt refreshed and motivated.
When Apa Cerita? was published by Berita Publishing, Lat was there to help him launch it in 2012.
The very next year, Mie published a sequel called Apa Cerita Pulak Ni? and collaborated with Lat on two books, including Citra (2016).
In late 2018, Mie was invited by Muzium Negara to hold a solo exhibition. The show called Nostalgia Anak Kampung in December 2018 and featured nearly 100 cartoon drawings. It was a chance to reconnect with old fans and build a new audience.
“The momentum has been good,
I have been busy with my cartoons and totally enjoying drawing daily,” says Mie.
“I also really appreciate that people – fellow cartoonists and comic fans – have taken such an interest in my cartoons through the years,” he adds.
Drawing under lockdown
Some of his best childhood memories revolve around Hari Raya Adilfitri celebrations back in his hometown.
This year, Mie will be celebrating Hari Raya Adilfitri with his family in KL. During these MCO weeks, he has been keeping himself busy by posting new cartoons on his Instagram page every day.
There is no shortage of source material for Mie. He has run through the “stay home” warnings, Malaysians flouting the MCO rules, panic buying, fasting month under quarantine and MCO extensions.
“This is my way of showing my cheeky take on the MCO,” says Mie, who has posted more than 50 online cartoons to date.
In fact, he reveals, there are plans to publish a book featuring these Covid-19 related cartoons.
Publishing deals or not, Mie admits the cartoon industry in Malaysia is not how it used to be.
“People don’t read any more and everyone’s lifestyle is different now. People are not rushing to newsstands to buy comics or cartoon magazines. That culture has changed.
“So cartoonists have to change and adapt and put up more works on social media and other online platforms.”
At his age, Mie can look back at an established career as a cartoonist despite the fact that he took a long hiatus. He was lucky to achieve success on his own terms.
He realised in the months or years ahead, things will be hard for publishers and cartoonists.
“The outbreak has reset many industries, including the cartoonist scene. Tough times cannot be avoided. But I don’t think people – young and old – should stop learning, or evolving.
“Always explore new things, every day. Most importantly, never look back. I didn’t and see where that took me,” concludes Mie.