Born in 1950,he grew up in a city and enjoyed drawing.As a schoolboy,he yearned for practical things and felt out of place in classes.When he was a teenager,he secretly embarked on a discovery into watercolor paintings.He fell in love with it immediately.Despite the harshness of living a life as an artist,in 1970,he brushed aside more lucrative careers to follow his heart and passion.Since then, he has never looked back.He managed to support his family throughout the hard years when street artists were unsung,and their work unbeknownst by selling his art to tourists.

Today,Teong Beng is an accomplished artist with a collection spanning across three decades of Malaysian history.Most of his paintings depict "kampung"(villages) and the daily struggle of ordinary people.This self-taught artist is an icon among those who have found Penang and Malaysian life to be fascinating.