Meet Chuan Kee泉记。

What are the chances of  you meeting a person who is a soya bean curd seller by night and a lantern maker by day? You would be wondering, probably one in a million.

Meet the 38 year old, Chua Siu Chuan from Seremban, fondly known as Chuan Kee泉记 and he is the one in a million that got us wondering.

His interest towards lantern making started out as a hobby but soon turned into serious business when people started looking for him as far as Ipoh and the Klang Valley.

At night he would make ends meet by selling soya bean milk, beancurd (Tau Fu Fa) and cincau/grass jelly drinks at pasar malam all over town.

A total makeover from scooping taufufa at night to making lanterns during the day. 

Husband and wife team selling all kinds of refreshments to the waiting pasar malam goers.

Mrs Chua hard at work helping out at the stall.  

Lots of takeaway as most of the crowd preferred to tapau the soya bean milk so that they can enjoy while strolling around the bustling night market.  

While most opted for takeaway but the best way to enjoy is at the stall. The freshly scooped tau fu fa straight into the bowl and nothing beats a hot and silky smooth bowl of bean curd with melted sugar cooked with ginger.  

I opted for something out of the norm, the Tau fu fa in melted gula melaka or palm sugar, this way I can enjoy the rich fragrant of the dark gold with the soft bean curd. 

"On a busy night we could sell 100 over bowls of taufufa from this giant stainless steel barrel but if the weather decided to take a turn, the rain would keep people away and many times we had no choice but to empty all the tau fu fa into the drain" said the gritty wife.    

Chuan Kee will be at these pasar malam all over town.

Every Tuesday at Rasah Jaya.

Bukit Galena on every Thursday. 

Monday and Friday at Seremban Jaya.

Sunday in Mantin town. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~

And here's what Mr Chua does during the day. He makes lanterns.

But how did he learn to make lanterns in the first place?

Firstly he has to be gifted; secondly he has to figure out how to learn a trade when nobody would be interested in teaching or learning. Thirdly he has to be bold and brave to seek out the knowledge that he yearned for. 

So off he went to Singapore Street (Jalan Siow Loong Hin) to the shops where they make paper offering replicas (zi zaat shop) and stood there quietly next to the sifu at work.

His eyes were fixated on the fast hands of the sifu, how to line up the bamboo sticks and tying it with thin strips of rice paper to form the desired shaped.

This went on for a few times and gradually he began to understand more and more. His eyes never left a minute, not even a second on the expert hands of the sifu weaving and tying bamboo sticks together and turning it into real life replicas.

And once he had seen enough he quickly got to work, he started by envisioning the replica in his mind and started to form it gradually. And after much trial and error he finally mastered the craft of lantern making in the year 2005.

And by 2006 he participated in his first lantern making competition and took home the grand prize and he has never looked back since. 

"If you can dream it, you can build it"

Tying the thin strip of rice paper onto the bamboo sticks may look easy but if you tie it too loose, it won't hold and if too hard it'll break or lose the desired shape so it requires absolute precision.

Explaining on the types of lanterns, Chua said "Basically there are 2 types of lanterns, one made with super thin multi-color glass paper (left) and the other one made with cloth on the right"

The one on the left is more traditional and best used indoors for decoration purposes and the one made with cloth (right) is suitable for outdoors because it is very durable and able to withstand harsh weather conditions. 

And as for the frames there are also 2 types, one made of bamboo sticks and the one other made of steel wires which require soldering. 

This is an example of a frame made with bamboo sticks but it has its limitations whereby it could not be bent into asymmetrical shapes like floral or intricate designs.
So he began trying his hands on steel wires to shape the designs that he desired.   

These are steel wires which can be bent according to the artist's will and something that could never be done with bamboo sticks. 

               And this has brought him to invest in procuring a soldering machine.

His newly bought 'toy' a soldering machine, with this there's no stopping on what he can do with his imagination and creativity.

Supporting her husband's work but there are drawbacks lamented by his wife "His work occupies the entire house and there's hardly any room for us to move around and it is hard to keep the children from stumbling onto the unfinished lanterns"

This is just one of his steel wired lantern which he is still experimenting with and nowadays the usage of LED bulbs are a norm as it is long lasting, cheap and extremely bright.  

Flashback to the year 2006

His first lantern making competition and he became the champion on the first attempt. Back then he was using multi-color glass papers but nowadays he uses cloth as it is more sturdy in outdoors where the effect is more vivid and best for photography purposes, here's why. Please watch the video below.

At night when you switch on the LED lights it shines really bright and it's great for photography activities.

These trophies are the testimonial of his success.  

There are numerous lantern competitions held in town from the recent one at the famous Pak Chok Dim Sum restaurant in Jalan Lobak and to the older ones held at Terminal 1. 

When asked about his latest creation he was reluctant to comment, keeping the cards close to himself because he's gearing up for 2 major lantern making competitions in town.

The first one would at the Terminal 1 Shopping Center Mid-Autumn festival 2017 touted as one of the biggest lantern competition and has attracted participants from all over the country. 

And if you are interested to join just walk-in to register at Terminal 1 office located on the Lower ground floor.  

And the second is at the famous Pak Chok Dim Sum restaurant in Jalan Lobak and to join kindly click on the link https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1194133137360085&id=768158653290871 or call 012-293 6682.

These are individual lantern replicas he has just created for a project at UTAR college. Clockwise, grandfather using a cane, the father, mother and daughter. It doesn't mean anything until you put them together.  

Clockwise below, once combined can you see the brother is helping his sister to tie her hair and the daughter helping to comb her mother's hair. 

Both daughters again helping her mother to do household chores by cleaning and sweeping and when you combine the grandfather holding a cane with the son, it can be pictured as helping the elderly to cross the road.    

Finally when you group all of it together and it tells you a story of family warmth, helpfulness and unity.

If you're interested to engage Chua's services he can be reached via his facebook page and group.

https://www.facebook.com/Lantern-Maker-%E7%87%88%E7%B1%A0%E5%88%B6%E4%BD%9C-1789318744428061/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/812376742251204/

Or be bold and brave like him by making your way to see him and buy yourself a bowl of soya beancurd at the pasar malam.