This painting is one of Yau Bee Ling’s earlier works, made in the same year she graduated from the Malaysian Institute of Art at the age of 22. It anticipates some of the central themes of her later career, such as the complexities of family ties and responsibilities from the female experience. In this crowded family dinner scene, everyone has sat down to dinner except for one member. The food on the table remains untouched, as if everyone is waiting for him to take his place before they all begin. Dinner is served in a style typical of Chinese families, with multiple dishes for everyone to share. By distorting the perspective of the painting and the proportions of its figures, the artist evokes the tensions and claustrophobia of large families. Home Dinner II (Family Dinner) captures the struggle of establishing an individual identity within a large family, but also the reassuring comfort of family traditions where nobody gets left behind.