‘Painting from the Heart’, for families who need a hand
Supported by FMT, this exhibition brings artists together to raise funds for food aid, care and education for children with severe disabilities.
Read more: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/simple-stories/2026/10/08/painting-from-the-heart-for-families-who-need-a-hand
That is the kind of difference Free Food Society (FFS) and the Society for the Severely Mentally Handicapped (SSMH) are working to make – and the reason Yeow Teck Chai continues to pick up his paintbrush day after day.
At 76, Yeow is doing his part through “Art4Good: Painting from the Heart”, an exhibition raising funds for both welfare organisations.
The former deputy director-general of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) is its principal artist, contributing almost 100 of the more than 120 paintings that will be on display and available for purchase at Bangsar Shopping Centre from Oct 14-18.
With FMT as its media partner, the exhibition will also feature works by five other artists, including former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz. Rafidah, who will launch the event, has contributed eight paintings that are being sold through a silent auction.
Yeow has been painting every day since starting work on the exhibition late last year. Finishing a piece brings him pleasure; knowing its sale could help someone in need gives him even more reason to keep going.
Since his first charity exhibition in 2018, more than 400 of his artworks have been sold for good causes. This is his fourth exhibition.
“It’s very satisfying to be able to do this in my golden years,” he told FMT Lifestyle, grateful that a talent he enjoys can also make life a little easier for someone else.
His favourite subjects include scenes of kampung life – children swimming in rivers or playing outdoors – that take him back to his childhood in Kuantan, Pahang.
The eighth of 10 siblings, he grew up in a family of modest means, with a mother who worked tirelessly to care for them.
His painting of a woman washing clothes on a washboard is especially close to his heart. “It reminds me of my mother – she was so hardworking,” he said.
Today, Yeow uses what he has – time, talent and a paintbrush – to give others a little more room to hope.
For SSMH president and FFS executive committee member Fadillah Yakin, that generosity means a great deal, especially as fundraising has become more difficult since the pandemic.
“Buying a painting will certainly help us at SSMH to continue providing and improving our services to help parents with children who have severe disabilities,” she said.
At FFS, that support can help ease the pressure on families who are already stretched thin.
“The families in B40 communities are highly vulnerable to various social ills unless we help them break the cycle of poverty through food security and education for their children,” Fadillah added.
“It is our hope that with more funds, we can replicate our current success in more communities.”
FFS provides food aid twice a month to 85 households in Desa Rejang, Setapak. Many are single-parent families or have several generations under one roof.
Each delivery helps lighten the burden at home, while tuition classes led by paid university undergraduates give the children extra support with their studies and a little more confidence about what may lie ahead.
Meanwhile, at SSMH’s training centre in Petaling Jaya, progress can come in smaller steps – but each one matters. For some children, that may mean learning to hold their heads upright, swallow safely or sit without support.
Winsen Loke, who has global developmental delay and mild cerebral palsy, joined SSMH in 2023 unable to sit independently. Today, with the help of rehabilitative therapy, he can sit upright for about 15 minutes without falling over, has better balance, and can crawl for longer.
Art has also become part of Winsen’s journey: the eight-year-old is among the artists featured in “Art4Good”.
With his parents’ encouragement, he has previously sold his paintings and earned enough to buy a customised wheelchair. Visitors to this exhibition will have the chance to admire, and perhaps even bring home, his works.
Long after the exhibition ends, the need for food, lessons and therapy will remain. The artists have given their time and talent.
Those who buy their work can help carry that care forward.
‘Art4Good: Painting from the Heart’
When:
Oct 14-18 (Wednesday to Sunday), 10am-10pm
Official launch:
Oct 14, 7.30pm
Where:
Main concourse @ Bangsar Shopping Centre,
285, Jalan Maarof,
Bukit Bandaraya,
Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur
View the paintings here. For more information or to place an order, contact Aliza. For other exhibition enquiries, contact Fadillah Yakin (012-203 3920) or Mithila (012-203 0562).
Silent auction details:
- Auction dates: Oct 7-18
- Minimum bid: RM1,000 per painting
- Results: Oct 19. Successful bidders will be contacted directly.
To view Rafidah Aziz’s artworks, click here. To submit a bid, contact Aliza or email alizarozienimd75@gmail.com.
