Yong Look Lam explores the picturesque jetties where fishermen lay their fishing boats and stilt-house villages. His watercolour strokes and skills have vastly improved in the past decades, and it was not surprising when he was adjudged 2nd runner-up in the prestigious Malaysia UOB Painting of the Year in 2011 besides 2nd Prize in the Malaysian Landscape art competition organised jointly by the National Art Gallery and Public Finance in 1984. He was also one of the three major winners of the Malaysian Watercolour Society (MWS) Awards in 1987. He was a founding member of the MWS. He received a double Diploma from the Kuala Lumpur College of Art, of Painting in 1982 and Watercolours in 1983.