These were days of legends when deities were summoned to help mortals. In the Ulit Mayang ceremony, no less than seven fairy princesses descend from their abode above the sea to heal sick fisherman. Islam, though, was adopted as early as the beginning of the 15 th century. Since then, the hours in “Terengganu Darul Iman” – the Home of the Faith-are marked by the call of the azan, and the years by the return of Ramadhan, the Fasting month.

From the 18 th century onwards, the Sultans in Terengganu, particularly Baginda Omar and Zainal Abidin III, encouraged the arts and crafts. Craftsmen and religious teachers from Pattani, Cambodia and Vietnam, belonging to the Muslim branch of the diaspora of the Champa Empire, settled in villages around the capital, Kuala Terengganu. They brought with them the elegant architecture of the north-east, the houses on stilts with their long roofts and slightly upturned ends, the carved balconies and brick and stucco walls. Merchants of Chinese descent, from Hainan, Fujian and Vietnam joined their relatives around Kampong Tiong and Jalan Bandar, forming a small but well-connected trading community. Junks and vessels from far away gathered in the harbour, unloading silks and ceramics, carrying away golden brocades, brassware and fragrant woods. Small Chinese groups settled further down along the rivers, following opportunities in plantations of areca nut or rubber and iron or gold mines.

As a child in his native Dungun, Fee Ming could not have been aware of the past that had formed the landscape and the character of the people that he would paint later. However, he could, walking back from school, catch glimpses of the sea between the blades of the mengkuang tree, follow the sail of a skuci boat as she rode over the waves, or answer the salute from the crew of the crescent moon-shaped perahu kolek. On land, there were timber houses, with their dark interiors, a refuge for the eyes, and, at the bottom of the stairs, water from the tempayan (jars) to cool the feet. There were green islands and the shadows of the coconut trees’ moving patterns on the ground.

Fee Ming and his family, who were of Hakka descent from South East China, lived among Malay villagers. With his friends, he would draw on the wet sand of the beach while fishermen came back carrying their catch. With his father, a goldsmith and a calligrapher, he went to the cinema. Those were the heydays of "the one-armed swordsman" who triumphed against all odds... and inspired the twelve-year old Fee Ming to compose a book full of sword-brandishing, robe-swirling heroes.