SNACKING and swinging from an old tyre attached to a tree, Joe G laughs while welcoming visitors to Hin Bus Depot.
Elsewhere in and around the arts hub in George Town, he waves from behind a pillar and dangles from high up with his signature buck-toothed smile spread wide across his face.
The comic character who is always up for a cheeky adventure was created by the late Penang artist Azmi Hussin, who passed away on March 5 at the age of 40.
Azmi posing with his MBR certificate for longest coffee painting in 2019.
The Butterworth native collapsed after experiencing chest pains on his way back from a Ramadan bazaar during the holy month.
To celebrate his life and continuing legacy, a group of his friends and colleagues came together to organise “Living the Tanjong Life: A Tribute to the Late Cartoonist Azmi Hussin” memorial exhibition.
Desperate measures
Although Azmi had always loved art, he – like many others – had been convinced that it could never become a serious career.
Encountering the love of his life early while working in a factory, Azmi got married at 22 and worked hard at a variety of jobs to provide for his family.
He tried his hand at everything from serving food to collecting trolleys at a supermarket.
He was also a warehouse assistant, concrete technician, mee goreng seller, auxiliary policeman and bicycle mechanic.
In 2013, Azmi hit rock bottom.
“That was the hardest time in my life,” he recalled during a 2019 TED talk delivered in Bayan Lepas.
“I had just lost my motorbike, my car was in an accident, my children were sick and my wife was pregnant with our third child.
‘Kampung Nasi Lemak’ by Azmi depicts two huge packets of Malaysia’s favourite breakfast dish in a village setting.
“I was totally broken. I borrowed money from my mother and friends.
“I ended up sitting at the Esplanade scrolling through my phone searching for someone else who would lend me money. I only had RM2.50 in my pocket.”
The Esplanade is an open field located on the northern shoreline of Penang island, where Fort Cornwallis sits.
Taking note of the busloads
of tourists stopping at the fort, Azmi was struck by inspiration and hurried home for his long-abandoned art supplies.
He set up under a tree outside the tourist spot and offered to draw caricatures for RM10 a piece.
His skills rusty from disuse, Azmi looked back in gratitude to his first few customers who walked away with drawings that hardly resembled their images.
“In my mind (I thought), if I can get RM10, that’s enough. I can buy dinner for my kids and wife,” he recalled.
Azmi’s first customer was an elderly Frenchman who spent half an hour sitting for the drawing.
“Definitely, he was regretting it. After I drew him, I showed it to him.
“It was totally different from his face! But he laughed and gave me the RM10 (note) which I still keep. That RM10 felt like RM10,000.”
Azmi drew 21 caricatures on that first, fateful day when he became a professional artist with thousands of faces drawn on paper in the years after.
Dreaming big
With professional art classes beyond his means, Azmi bought books to improve his skills and said YouTube was a great learning tool.
He began to think past caricatures and started to draw comic strips.
Azmi’s large body of work was on display during the memorial exhibition at Hin Bus Depot.
Eventually, Joe G was born. A proud Penangite with two, huge front teeth and a bowl-fringed haircut, Joe G loved nothing more than showing off the rich heritage, art and culture of his hometown.
Azmi went from publisher to publisher and was rejected over a dozen times.
Persistence and, perhaps, fate paid off when he was introduced to Rosalind Chua from Clarity Publishing – a small, independent publisher based in Penang.
“As soon as I opened his e-mail and downloaded his images, I had to call (Clarity co–founder) Patsy (Yap) over to my workstation,” said Chua.
“We both looked at his ink drawings and said ‘yes!!!’ straight away.
“I think this is one of the very rare times we both agreed immediately,” Chua recalled.
She said after meeting Azmi in person, she knew he was someone she wanted to work with – an intent that resulted in a long-standing relationship with the publisher putting out three of his books.
“He was just so friendly, humble and down-to-earth.
“Over the years, I learnt that he was full of surprises as well.
“He’d always say he was working on something but would never give too much away until we met up and he brought out his sketchpad, blowing me away with his ideas.
“He was like a comet passing over the earth and illuminating everyone; his art really had the power to touch people’s hearts,” added Chua.
(From left) Ivan speaking to Marjanah together with her children Nur Aniqah Shahzanani, Muhamad Aswad Ariff and Muhamad Asnawi.
National icon
Following his first book entitled Tanjong Life that was launched in 2015 by his cartoonist idol Lat, Azmi released The Little Mamak the following year.
Exploring the roots of the Indian-Muslim community through the eyes of a young boy, the book was selected by the National Book Council of Malaysia (MBKM) as one of the “50 Best Malaysian Titles” for the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2016.
The Little Mamak: Lost in Bagan followed in 2017, the same year Azmi fulfilled a childhood dream of getting on an airplane after he was invited to be a part of the Penang Trishaw Entourage, a nationwide tourism project by Penang Global Tourism.
Two more books followed: Tanjong Life: The New Norm in 2021 where Joe G explored how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected life in Penang and Malaysia and Tanjong Life: Back to the 90s in 2022 with Joe G reliving all the good bits of growing up before the age of the Internet.
Aside from caricatures and comics, Azmi also expanded into drawing murals and his creations can now be seen beyond the northern region.
From a Hikayat Seri Rama battle inspired by Kelantanese wayang kulit covering the entrance of the Malay Heritage Centre in Singapore to Joe G
selling limau Tambun (pomelos) at the Tapah Street Arts Mural Lane in Perak, Azmi’s creations adorn spaces both big and small from places like Johor Baru and Jerantut.
In his home state, his drawings that pay homage to Penang’s greats cover the walls of the City Stadium and line Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, while his heritage-
inspired art can be seen everywhere from the Patani Road Market and the Beach Street Fire Station to the Penang Port Terminal.
In 2017, Azmi achieved his first Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) accreditation for the most number of caricatures (320 faces) drawn in a 24-hour period.
Two more MBR feats followed, one in 2019 for the longest coffee painting (101m) and another in 2021 for the longest comic strip (151m) created in the country.
For the latter, entitled SAGA Kami, he chose the country’s first national car as the main character, with the comic following a Proton Saga as it changes hands between Malay, Indian and Chinese families.
Azmi’s signature drawing style that was able to blend humour, history and empathy in a straight-forward manner made his creations memorable and relatable.
In August 2024, he achieved another milestone, holding his first solo exhibition at the Hin Bus Depot.
“Cari” was the culmination of Azmi’s artistic work for over a decade and featured a life-sized comic section, a live caricature session and showcases of his many drawings, comics, caricatures and coffee art as well as a large mural from his Tanjong Life book.
Down memory lane
In many ways, the “Living the Tanjong Life” memorial exhibition was reminiscent of the artist’s sole solo exhibition.
Like “Cari”, a snoozing comic security guard greeted visitors at the entrance of Luma, a creative studio housed within Hin Bus Depot hub.
A cutout of a sleeping security guard welcoming visitors to Luma where the main portion of his memorial exhibition was held in George Town.
Inside, two large art pieces that captivated audiences last year drew visitors once more.
“Kampung Nasi Lemak”, depicting a scene where two, huge nasi lemak packets fill the centre of a village, was on display, loaned from the private collection of Khai and Annie Lee, while a signed print of “Ferry From Hollywood”, drawn with 100 iconic movie characters, had been borrowed from the Hin Bus Depot collection.
Both pieces are the favourites of Azmi’s widow, Marjanah Shammoon Rali.
She, along with other members of the late artist’s family and a number of his close friends,
was given a private tour of the memorial exhibition.
“He drew so many kecik-kecik (Malay slang for teeny tiny) details in those two pieces.
“I really liked that. When he was drawing it, I didn’t disturb him but after he was done, I asked him about all the tiny characters.”
Marjanah added that she felt happy that people had come to the exhibition to remember her husband.
“Being surrounded by his art makes me feel that he is still with us,” she said.
Azmi’s love of drawing also lives on in his three children, who were present for the tour.
Eldest son Muhamad Asnawi Mohd Azmi, 17, said it was awe-inspiring seeing so many of his father’s creations in one place.
“One or two of the pieces, I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Muhamad Asnawi said while his father had gravitated to drawing people, his own preference was creating Islamic calligraphy art and 3D-appearing art.
Azmi’s second son, Muhamad Aswad Ariff Mohd Azmi, is said to follow after his father’s style the most.
He has created his own comic character named Skull, which appears in his collection of work displayed on Instagram.
“All of us have skulls. No one is higher or lower than anyone else,” the 15-year-old said.
Nur Aniqah Shahzanani Mohd Azmi – the youngest in the family at 11 – has been bitten by the anime bug and likes drawing cute characters like Anya Forger from Spy x Family.
Ivan Gabriel, who curated both “Cari” and “Living the Tanjong Life”, recalled Azmi’s dream of holding a solo exhibition at the venue.
“In January 2014, Azmi walked into Hin Bus Depot wanting to do a solo exhibition.
“In fact, he told his eldest son, ‘One day, ayah (father) will have a solo exhibition here.
“It was crazy that it took 10 years, but it was a very successful show that opened on Merdeka Day last year,” he said, after leading the family on the private tour.
“The (memorial) show here is a way to continue his legacy,” Ivan added.
The exhibition was put together by a group of Azmi’s friends and industry colleagues led by Ivan, Luma head Goh Choon Ean and George Town Festival (GTF) director Jack Wong in time to coincide with GTF 2025.
Held from Aug 5 to 17, it consisted of four stops in and around Hin Bus Depot.
A large copy of Azmi’s “Crossing Tanjong Street” was displayed at the main entrance.
Also on display at Luma, a pre-war house located within Hin Bus Depot, were more works from his private studio.
The exhibition also included a screenprinting session by printlab Dirty Donuts and a colouring gathering using Azmi’s Warna Warni George Town colouring book, with all proceeds going to the artist’s family.
Guided walkthroughs for visitors were offered with noted faces in the art and heritage scene like Lefty Julian, Chan Yoke Pin, Dr Ang Ming Chee, Haryany Mohamad and state tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai among those attending.
Luma also held a recording session where those who knew Azmi could come and share their memories.
These will later be compiled with interviews from family members for a documentary
that is planned for release during GTF 2026.
