Scenes of boats and waterways are amongst the most finely rendered paintings of artist Teo Kim Liong. The subjects of Teo's paintings are widely varied, from natural wooded scenes to village streets teeming with people, places from his travels - the list continues. The artist is prolific in his output, although he began his artistic career in mid-life. Teo's approach to academic oil painting is based on both his early training at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts as well as his sojourns at two prestigious art colleges - the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, and the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Teo has a fine control of colour especially in capturing the effects of light, and deftly includes much detail in his compositions.

His work Rest Day in Quayside I - Singapore Port exudes the stillness of the boats docked in the blazing sun. The artist has captured these old twakows docked by the sea, resting from their ship to shore duties. Newer, larger vessels crowd the background and line the horizon, while bits of litter lie by the curb where the twakows are parked with their tarpaulins down.