At the age of nine, Lat began to supplement his family's income through his artistic skills, by drawing comics and selling them to his friends. Four years later, in 1964, the young cartoonist achieved his first published work: a local movie magazine—"Majallah Filem"—printed his comic strips, paying him with movie tickets. Lat's first comic book publication, "Tiga Sekawan" ("Three Friends Catch a Thief"), was published by Sinaran Brothers that year. The company had accepted Lat's submission, mistaking him for an adult and paying him 25 Malaysian ringgits (RM) for a story about three friends who band together to catch thieves. In 1968, at the age of 17, Lat started penning "Keluarga Si Mamat" ("Mamats Family"), a comic strip for "Berita Minggu" (the Sunday edition of "Berita Harian"). The series ran in the paper every week for 26 years. Although still a schoolboy, Lat was earning a monthly income of RM100, a large sum in those days, from his cartoons. His education finished two years later at the end of Form 5; his Third Grade in the Senior Cambridge examinations was not enough for him to advance to Form 6. Graduating with an education equivalent to that of high school, Lat started looking for a job and had his sights set on becoming an illustrator.