Every morning when I open the door, my dog Tangsanchai greets me with a yawn while he stretches his body. Then we will go out for a walk. Every morning I would see my neighbours who will greet us. The people you see in the painting are some of my neighbours.

During the time this work was being painted, the whole of Malaysia is bracing for its biggest street protest for fair election and demanding the Prime Minister to step down. For us in Malaysia, this is all we are taking about, all we are thinking about for a few months now.

After the demonstration, Tangsanchai will still greet me the same way, blissfully oblivious of what had happened. My neighbours will still greet us when they see us, but maybe they have changed, maybe I have changed, and changing still, but in the painting, Tangsanchai stays inside an aquarium looking through the glass into the real world.