The central philosophy or attitude in my approach towards art-making lies in the sense of experimentation and research that I do, pulling from the great traditions of Western and Oriental art, and from the various fields of scientific, philosophical and spiritual thoughts that I encounter. It is drawn also from my experiences of trading in the financial markets, and the analytical thinking brought to bear on them (not to mention the continuous and oftentimes fruitless attempts in trying to understand their inner workings). Another source is that of the experience of living in an extended family environment in the multicultural and cosmopolitan city of Singapore. I have chosen painting to work out my inspirations, rather than any other obviously newer process or medium, because I want to be able to see where my body of works stand, in relation to the six hundred years of history of Western art as well as the more than a thousand years of Chinese painting. To crystallise the new synthesis of art, I imagine myself to be a computer parallel processor doing a "black box" simulation. With my varied painting techniques, I simulate or create initial "chaos" conditions, representing multifarious art styles and their interactions, before applying my imagination on patterns recognition to pull out structure and forms from the milieu, adjusting and interpreting the result into the final painting.

To the myriad techniques in Western painting from the preparation of art materials to the physical action of actually making marks on the canvas and manipulating the oil paint, I shall mention only the significant variations and differences in the techniques of painting in oil which I have appropriated and adapted from Chinese ink painting.

A traditional Chinese painter does not "paint" in the usual sense of making first a sketch before adding or blocking in the colour oil paints. The basic element of a Chinese painting is in the use of drawing or calligraphy strokes from start to end. Thus, the process of painting is no different from writing and, in fact, painting is often called "writing one's intention". Since the expression of one's feelings or energy state is so essential, the process of painting requires a composed state of mind, regulated (as opposed to agitated) breathing and a rooted, standing posture.

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