Sculptor draws from mining town Taiping

Liu Cheng Hua's Malay States Guides (powder-coated metal, 2016) is based on the Sikh military force that had its barracks in Taiping. A nod to their occupation, the sculpture takes the form of a crossbow and shield. Photos: Junyu Teoh

Firsts are irrationally special, perhaps due to their unrepeatable nature. For the town of Taiping in Perak, its role as a tin mining boom town and British administrative centre in the 1800s ensured it many firsts – from the nation’s first railway line and station (1885) and museum (1883) to its first police station (1879) and post and telegraph office (1884).

For Taiping-born artist Liu Cheng Hua, these firsts have been a source of great pride and now inspiration for his second solo exhibition Raw, which is currently showing at the Museum of Asian Art, Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur till Dec 23.