When Tay Mo Leong returned from art studies in Taiwan in 1960, he was taken in by the huge popularity of batik painting. He picked up the art by himself, studying the techniques and improvising, and experimenting with commercial dyestuff from Germany, Switzerland and Hong Kong, and by 1965 (his first solo was at Chin Kang Association, Penang, in 1961), had his first all-batik exhibition at the British Council, Kuala Lumpur. Since then, he had produced many innovations including a glazed stain-glass effect and the double-resist technique in 1982. He also studied tapestry in Paris in 1968-1969. The other big fascination is the paradise island of Bali, which he first visited in 1972. This resulted in several batiks of Balinese dancers in glittering costumes and traditional gear, and the ordinary women folk carrying totemic offerings on their heads. Tay Mo Leong was conferred the Dato'ship in 2009, the year the Penang State Art Gallery honoured him a Retrospective. He graduated from the Taipei Normal College in 1960, and had a stint at the Art Centre in Longboat Key, Florida, in 1970. His awards include the Osaka Government Award in 2003, and the Nippon Modern Art Association's Foreign Minister Award (Osaka, 1997). Apart from solos in Paris (France) and Miami (United States) in 1967, he was also included in the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1969, the travelling Malaysian Art exhibitions in Australia and New Zealand in 1970, and the Bale Salon Switzerland in 1975. He was also in the Penang State Art Gallery's board of trustees from 1982-1990, serving as chairman in 1989-1990. He co-founded the Penang Watercolour Society in 1985 and had served as secretary in the Penang Art Society for more than a dozen years. Together with his wife May Liang, he founded the Gallerie de Mai, which also doubled as an art-supply shop.