Born in 1923, Lim Tze Peng is largely a self-taught artist. In his oeuvre, ink paintings and calligraphic works feature prominently, although there is a small number of oils, watercolours and drawings. He created a unique style of ink painting using rich brush and tonal details, and this approach is often regarded as a manifestation of the Nanyang Style in the ink medium. Lim, a school principal until his retirement in the early 1980s, was awarded the Cultural Medallion by the Singapore government in 2003.Besides painting streets scenes, Lim also painted trades and lifestyles that were fast vanishing due to changing times. This painting shows ‘samsui’ women, in their characteristic red hats, panning for raw materials. These women hail from the San Shui (three rivers) county of Guangdong and have arrived in Malaya since the early 19th century to seek a new life, often working as labourers in the construction and mining industries.
