Meet POG. An arcade game machine fashioned in black, grey and white, POG believes that to be the best, you have to compete with no one but yourself.
To her, the goal is trying to be a better version of yourself than the previous day and that, she views, is how you achieve the play of the game.
Created by artist Kangblabla, POG is one of over 480 wooden toys created in the Kebab Toys collection.
Born in Sitiawan, Perak and now calling George Town, Penang home, Kangblabla – a nom de plume chosen by Julius Raja Manickam after a little known 1970s slang word meaning “anything and everything” – has come a long way from his days of redrawing personalised versions of Power Rangers.
A full-time artist for seven years now, Kangblabla quickly discovered after college that the corporate graphic design route was not his calling.
Through drawing, painting, pixel art, comics and now toys, Kangblabla is taking it one step at a time in finding out who he is, where he fits in and where he’s heading to in the world of art.
The early days
Like many artists, Kangblabla uncovered a love for art at a young age.
“My earliest memory as a child is of me drawing on a Sunday afternoon, aged five, and I remember it very vividly.
“I would draw characters, especially my own versions of Power Rangers which I dubbed ‘Crash Rangers’, and I would often ask my father to draw me their Megazord that they would usually pilot to defeat the monster at the end of the show.
“My father never failed to draw every time I asked and that to me was the first sign of support I felt from my parents, ” says Kangblabla.
Later on, comic magazine Gempak and and pioneer local artist Michael Chuah’s comic Gengkey introduced Kangblabla to the term “character design” and opened his eyes to the professional possibilities of art.
“I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist, a character-based artist. That began my journey of trying to develop my own drawing style, ” he says.
During his studies at the Malaysian Institute of Art, Kangblabla tried his hand at every art medium he could find including graffiti, which introduced him to the art collective The Secret Hideout.
A short stint in the rat race after graduation left Kangblabla disheartened and after his resignation, the artist found himself in Penang as he tried to figure out his next step.
“I have a fellow artist friend Bibichun, who I had met during graffiti sessions in KL. He had just moved to Penang and said if I wanted to visit, I could crash at his place.
“It so happened Bibichun was working on a mural project the week I was there and he offered to have me work under him and help him finish his project. I accepted as I had nothing else planned for life and that one-week break in Penang ended up becoming six weeks, ” he says.
Artist survival mode
The life of an independent artist is hardly as glamorous as the name suggests.
But for Kangblabla, Bibichun and their like-minded counterparts, expression and creativity trumps everyday stability and security.
“I came to enjoy the process of this reality that Bibichun was living – surviving through his art.
“For the next two years, I would be roped in mural projects with artists from The Secret Hideout and also projects with Bibichun that made me go back and forth between KL and Penang. In 2015, I made a decision to move to Penang. It had a new blossoming art scene with the boom of street art and the influx of artists coming over.
The frenetic art revolution in George Town has since cooled but Kangblabla hasn’t looked back since his move.
“Penang has been a tremendous place for my artistic career. It is also true that we do lack buyers for art in Penang," he says.
Kangblabla uses social media to make a name for himself among niche toy collectors, who keep up-to-date with his offerings online.
“I get to create here and sell my work worldwide.”
The journey of an artist is often fraught with obstacles, some that end up defining their work.
After some time living in Penang, Kangblabla hit a deep creative impasse.
“I wasn’t able to draw or paint at all. Nothing I did satisfied me and it was scary times. Art was my only means of expression and losing it was a big worry, ” he explains.
During that period, Kangblabla was living with fellow artist friends in a rented townhouse on Lebuh Melayu in the heart of the state’s heritage capital.
He says his housemates were collecting all sorts of things for their art projects and one of those materials was wood.
“I began collecting some pieces of wood too and did paintings on them as I had no money to buy canvases.
“Not being able to create, I stared at all the things hoarded in the house and saw the wood."
A thought came to his mind that maybe he could make sculptures instead.
“To me, it felt logical as it was still doing character design but instead of a flat 2D surface, it was now 3D, ” says Kangblabla.
The irony of getting over a mental block with a literal block of wood was not lost on Kangblabla who threw himself into this new artistic realm.
“Not being trained in any woodworking skills and coming from a naive perspective, I enjoyed the process of creating these sculptures.
“It was raw but it sparked something and also lifted my art block and I could draw and paint again, ” he shares.
After a year of knocking on wood, Kebab Toys was born.
Eco-friendly wood toys
Kangblabla’s wooden creations cross species, themes and even universes.
Aptly sparked by “anything and everything” as his moniker embodies, each toy is created with a name, a personality and a backstory.
“They are reflections of the world I live in; my reality. It’s like they are calling out to me to be created. I just learnt to listen and follow.
“As their form starts to take shape, their personalities become clearer and from there, I see where they fit in the multiverse of characters that I have created, ” he says.
Adding that all the creations are one-off pieces, Kangblabla explains that the toys are a channel for him to express his thoughts and emotions.
“No one is the same. Each character I make is unique and individually their own person, ” he says.
Into his third year of making Kebab Toys (named loosely after Kangblabla’s initials of KBB), the collection now has three series: The Classics, The Kebab Minis and most recently, The Articulated Series.
“The most common ones are the standard pieces – The Classics – which are the staple of the bunch. The Kebab Minis are small pieces that just increase in cuteness and are priced at a lower rate, suitable for new collectors to start their collections.
“The latest range I have is The Articulated Series – ones that can be posed and moved.
"I was thinking of ways to increase the ‘playability’ of these characters and articulations is key for that, ” says Kangblabla, showing how the hands and legs of characters in this series can be rotated or moved.
The toymaker also from time to time designs playsets, the latest of which is themed after new pandemic norms.
The Social Distancing Playset houses eight characters – Ghostina, V.A.L, Weenie, Yaxvox, Reptilia, Fry, Stump and Potted – who get their choice of 16 safely-spaced squares in a 17cm playbox.
Those hoping to grab this adorable set are, however, out of luck as it has been quickly snapped up and Kangblabla politely declines requests to recreate any particular creation.
“I, myself don’t like repeating characters. I do feel it takes away from the significance of their existence.”
He mentions he does get requests to recreate a character that a customer might have missed out on.
“But I convey this idea of why I don’t repeat them and offer to create a similar-looking one, yet still being an individual with their own back stories and purpose, ” says Kangblabla.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit everyone acutely and differently, with the arts community being dealt a body blow and Kangblabla acknowledges that the year has been tougher than he imagined.
“I began this year with a lot of hope and big things planned but the pandemic hit and all these plans went down the drain.
“All through the first three months of lockdown, I spiralled down into a dark place and had no hope for anything really. But I managed to crawl back up and had to realign my mental state to not give up, ” he says.
Collaborating with woodcraft maker Nick Pereira, Kangblabla managed to host an exhibition right before the the second state-wide conditional movement control order (CMCO) hit Penang and most Peninsular Malaysia states on Nov 9.
Entitled Kebab Toys X Woodsmen Makerspace and held at Hin Bus Depot, the joint effort was the first time Kangblabla’s toys had gone almost life-sized.
A total of eight pieces including Tee Ann Bee, a character with the deadringer of an electrical feeder pillar, and Ta Li Pon, an alien disguised as a public telephone booth, were on display.
On the future, Kangblabla is vowing to stay positive and committed to his goal of hitting the 1,000-character milestone for Kebab Toys.
“On occasions, I do get commissions for murals or graphic works but my main source of income has been from my toys.
“I get to do what I love and it is able to sustain me. As long as my rent and bills are paid, I’m satisfied, ” he says.
Kangblabla also looks at the evolution of the toy market in the country with optimism.
“The art toy or designer toy scene in Malaysia is relatively new and steadily growing. The number of artists and designers making their own toys have increased, as well. (But in the end) I don’t compete with anyone but myself.
“I am choosing to remain hopeful and positive and being productive with my toy creations does help a lot. I just stay in my own lane and run my own race, ” he concludes.
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