Cartoonist Bijan sketches fresh start as eatery owner

KAMPAR - In the golden era of cartoon magazines in the 1990s, Bijan was a household name who had fans eagerly awaiting the latest issue of ‘Ujang’ comic to enjoy the works of the famed cartoonist.

More than three decades have passed since his involvement in the Malaysian cartoon scene, and now Bijan, 51, whose real name is Syahru Maizam Jamin, is happy to be known as the owner of a small eatery in Malim Nawar, near here.

Sharing his story with Bernama, Bijan, who hails from Kampung Sri Menanti, Muar, Johor, said starting a small business was one of the ways he chose to sustain himself after ‘Ujang’ magazine ceased publication in 2015.

"To continue making a living, I didn’t hesitate to go into business because as a child, I often accompanied my father to his small businesses. I’ve done various small-scale businesses to support my family as I had no expertise in other fields,” said Bijan, whose eatery is named ‘Warung Bijan’.

Starting with a roadside stall selling traditional snacks in 2017, ‘Warung Bijan’ now offers a variety of dishes, including nasi ayam panggang, laksa and mee jawa, and also accepts catering orders for events.

Reflecting on his involvement in the world of cartoons, Bijan said he began drawing while still in school before joining several friends including Sukun, Jering, Ubi, Duku, Halia and Sireh in the publication of ‘Ujang’ comics, with the first issue launched on Jan 1, 1994.

Bijan, famous for his comic strip ‘Bas Mini 222’, revealed that he left ‘Ujang’ in 1998 to join ‘Lanun’ comic, only to return to ‘Ujang’ in 2000.

"In 2008, I moved to Malim Nawar, my wife's hometown, and began sending my work by post before transitioning to email.

"I stayed with ‘Ujang’ until the publisher, MOY Publications, ceased publication on Aug 6, 2015.

"The closure of the magazine was a huge blow to us cartoonists, even though the production team tried to publish our work online. For fans, it was never the same. The 'death' of the magazine meant the 'death' of the industry," he said.

According to Bijan, the last time he was involved in comics was in 2016 when he worked on ‘Jenama X’ alongside 10 other cartoonists.

Reflecting on the heyday of ‘Ujang’ magazine, Bijan said the comic's founder Ibrahim Anon better known by his pen name Ujang, assembled a strong team of cartoonists, including Gayour, Nik and Aie, which allowed the magazine to achieve sales of over 200,000 copies per issue.

"Back then, Ujang (Ibrahim Anon) asked us to choose pen names that were easy to remember. That’s how we got our pen names," he said.

"Each cartoonist had their own role and responsibility to create characters or storylines, and we each had our own columns to complete. Every month, we had two issues to produce," he added.

Although he is no longer involved in the field, Bijan said many cartoonists still pursue it full-time.

"They have the potential to go far if they look hard enough for opportunities. Most importantly, they need to equip themselves with knowledge and keep abreast with social issues, culture, economics, politics and current developments.

This is because cartoonists are also writers; the only difference is in how we convey the message -- we do it through humour," he said.

Bijan also said he did not regret his decision to leave the cartooning world, which he described as perfect timing.

"We have obligations and responsibilities that we need to fulfill. Being a part-time cartoonist is not the same as being a full-time cartoonist with a monthly salary.

"Although I am no longer involved in the comic publishing world, I still draw whenever I have free time because drawing cartoons has become second nature to me," he added. - BERNAMA