When I Was a Kid, funny memoir about growing up in Malaysia

Cheeming Boey is an animator, best-known for drawing on disposable coffee cups. His new book, When I Was a Kid (published by our friends at Last Gasp), is a revealing memoir of his childhood.

Told in a series of one- and two-page comic strips, Boey describes his life growing up in Malaysia: finding a condom in his parents' bedside drawers, "fishing" for his dogs by tying a biscuit to a string and dangling it off a stick while standing on his balcony, making a tiny matchstick kite with his dad, fighting with his sister in the backseat of the family car while his mother reaches back to try to pinch their legs to make them stop, learning how to use a plastic bag to catch spiders, crying until his mother retrieves his favorite (but worn-out) pillow from the trash where she'd tossed it, falling out of love with his He-Man doll when he gets his first computer, and and dozens of other funny and sometimes poignant slices of life.

The art is simple, but effective, and I finished the book hoping he'll do a sequel. Read a sample story below.


When I Was a Kid