Young Malaysian artist Lee Wei Heng, 22, has opened his first solo exhibition titled "Ananas" at Artas Gallery in Petaling Jaya. The show features 17 oil paintings that document the grueling lives of pineapple farmers in Pekan Nenas, Johor, where his grandparents worked as laborers. Lee, who studied fine arts and worked part-time in the plantations during school holidays, captures the farmers' daily struggles—from cutting thorny fruit under the sun to praying for protection against wild animals. His works, such as the monochromatic "Old Farmer," use motifs like the parang (machete) to symbolize both the farmers' hidden identities and their pain.
This exhibition matters because it preserves the fading heritage of Malaysia's pineapple farming communities, particularly in the Pontian district, once one of the country's largest production regions. By translating his grandparents' oral histories into visual art, Lee gives voice to an overlooked labor force whose backbreaking work sustained families but is now being discouraged by the older generation. The show also highlights the tension between nostalgia and the harsh realities of agricultural life, offering a rare, intimate perspective on rural Malaysian identity through contemporary painting.