Using the format of traditional Chinese scroll paintings, Cheong Soo Pieng sought to capture the vibrancy and unique quality of daily life. Creating depth and perspective within a narrow, vertical field, Cheong's ink works display an elegant synthesis of Western aesthetics of cubism and semi-abstraction within the Eastern medium. Market Landscape with Palm Trees depicts the iconic Singapore Satay Club in its heyday. Bright blocks of colour create a sense of dynamism and bustling activity, and draw our attention to the various characters on the scene. Trees and foliage are framed in a series of vignettes across the centre of the painting, and the variety of daily life is encapsulated between land, sea, and sky.

In At The Kelong, Cheong has left out the figurative elements of composition, in favour of focusing on the simplicity of geometric forms to depict the floating fishing villages which are characteristic to the region of Southeast Asia. The repetition of the kelong structure as it recedes into the distance serves to abstract its form - evolving into a series of bold lines and accents of colour against the water surface -and is testament to his desire to adapt a distinctively modern perspective to traditional themes and images.