Category: Traditional Trades

Rubber trees stand tall and straight in neat rows, bright rays of the morning sun shine through the leaves. Madam Chong Sew Cheen stoops slightly to score a rubber tree with the pull-type rubber tapping knife in her hands, milky-white latex sap flow downward the diagonal cut. Madam Chong inserts a metal spout to allow the latex to drip into a collection cup held in place by a galvanized wire.

In the 20th century, there was a massive boom in rubber trade, Malaya became the world’s largest producer of natural rubber, which attracted swarms of British capitalist investors. As Malaya gained independence from British rule, plantations were divided and sold upon British capitalists leaving the country, several locals spent their hard-earned money to buy over and became smallholders. Mambau, where Madam Chong resides, was mainly consisted of rubber plantations. At eleven years old, she followed in her mother’s footsteps to tap rubber at a British-owned plantation. Over the next six decades, she moved around to work under different smallholders. 

The rapid economic growth since Malaysia’s formation led to urban sprawl, property developers acquired plantations in Mambau and surrounding areas to build new townships such as Seremban 2 and Bandar Sri Sendayan. In order to sustain a livelihood, Madam Chong had to work at remote Malay reserved lands, making daily trips alone via motorcycle for about twenty minutes, passing by residential and commercial properties which used to be rubber plantations, to reach her current workplace. 

The switching of workplace brought on changes to Madam’s Chong working mode, where she now rents rubber trees from the landowner for a fixed monthly fee, and she is free to arrange her own working hours and workload.  Due to the amount of latex sap produced by rubber trees being limited, she divided the six-acre plot into two patches to be tapped alternately, the downscaled working area means that she no longer need to rush to work before dawn, as it can be completed throughout the morning.

Around seven in the morning, Madam Chong arrives at the rubber plantation on her motorcycle, ties on her apron and headscarf, lights a mosquito coil to hang upon her waist, then goes around the rubber trees with her bucket of tools. A regularly used tapping knife, a spare one, some metal spouts, a parang to collect firewood, and spare spark plugs in case her motorcycle misfires. After completing her work around noon, she goes home to have lunch and rest, later in the evening she sharpens the tapping knives and gets ready for the next day’s toil.

Mambau’s rubber industry dwindled in line with weakening global demand, smallholders converted to palm or durian plantations. Local rubber tappers either change their jobs or retire, only a handful remain persistent lke Madam Chong. Big cities offer more opportunities, younger generations rather flock to urban areas than tap rubber. Nowadays rubber plantations face workers shortage, even in hiring foreign labour. Local Chinese rubber tappers are becoming increasingly rare. 

Septuagenarian Madam Chong has been working as a rubber tapper for the majority of her life. Although she occasionally suffer leg pain from walking on slopes, she remains jovial and have no plans to retire yet, as she may pass time and exercise through her work. Despite the decline of the rubber industry, Madam Chong still manage to make a living.

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Evon Pang
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen

COPYRIGHTS 2022 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

Tear open the white packaging with red printing of a horse standing amid the glow, nibble on the soft vanilla cream bun, it brings back sweet childhood memories. Golden Horse Bakery in Semenyih has been producing handmade traditional breads and buns since 1981, feeding generations of the local population. The most popular item is cream bun, followed by coconut bun and oven-dried bread (roti kok). The breads are not only sold in the bakery itself, but also supplied to nearby grocery stores and traditional coffee shops, a familiar favourite of those born and bred in Semenyih.

40 years flew by, Semenyih has developed from agricultural plantations into a township, yet Golden Horse Bakery retained its original facade. Upon opening the cream-colored folding shutters, breads and buns filled the wooden racks and shelves in sight. In the other part of the shop sits a large wooden workbench, on which countless bread were made and decorated. A shared space for both production and retail was the idea of the founders, who made the wooden furniture with their own hands. The original packaging and recipes are also passed down, including how to make the cream bun fillings and coconut bun fillings.

The current proprietor of Golden Horse Bakery, Lee Boon Kit, is born into a family of bakers. His grandfather ran a bakery in Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, and most of their relatives are also bakers. In 1980, his aunt got married in Semenyih and invited her brothers (Lee’s parents and uncle) to establish a joint venture, hence Golden Horse Bakery came into being. As Lee’s uncle and aunt pulled out of the business, his parents considered closing for good. Having just graduated from high school, Lee decided to take over the business. With his sisters lend a helping hand every now and then, the family managed to keep the bakery in operation.

Since childhood, Lee Boon Kit observed his family members at work, and fully understood the onerous nature of producing handmade bread. Daily working hours range from 12 to 15 hours, with meagre earnings and very little free time. The family members work as a team, sharing the workload from measuring ingredients, mixing and rolling the dough, bread shaping, moulding and fermenting, to baking. For Lee, getting his face flushed red upon removing bread from the hot oven is just another ordinary aspect of his work. There are no hired workers, the family are quite happy to do everything themselves despite the tedium.

In earlier years, Golden Horse Bakery offered certain types of classic bread, recently increased to over a dozen varieties due to market demand. Apart from serving long-term regular customers, tourists, and foodies looking for traditional taste, they also supply Hainanese bread loaves to coffee shops. As all the bread are made by hand, Lee keeps a tight constraint on each day’s production quantities to avoid compromising the food quality. If necessary, he liaises with the customer to complete large orders in two days instead of one. 

Rapid urbanization caused a shift from traditional handmade food to mass production for increased efficiency and output volume, as well as the usage of food additives to extend shelf life and taste enhancement. As a youngster, Lee Boon Kit keeps up the practice of handmaking breads and is strongly against food additives, maintaining the rustic texture and the simple yet familiar taste.

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Evon Pang
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen

COPYRIGHTS 2022 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

At eight o’clock in the morning, trees and leaves are swaying in the gentle breeze. Hale and hearty nonagenarian Mr Ho Teck Yin steps out from his wooden cottage and walks to have breakfast at a traditional coffee shop on the main street. After his meal, he reads the newspaper which he bought along the way. When the clock strikes nine, he gets to his feet again, walking towards Teck Joo textile shop located on the ground floor of Tampin Hokkien Association building to start his day’s work.

Tampin is a uniquely positioned small town, with its main street cutting across the states of Negri Sembilan and Melaka, the borderline being a lane decorated with colorful murals. Mere steps away, business and social activities are governed by different municipalities, local residents are used to making multiple cross-state trips on a daily basis. Among them is Mr Ho, who resides in Pulau Sebang of Melaka yet his shop is in Tampin.

Teck Joo textile shop is managed by Mr Ho and his wife Madam Liew Ah Chan @ Liew Kok Moi, comprising half a shoplot filled with various textiles. The shop appearance is somewhat bleak, with the peeling paint on the signboard making it unclear. Arriving on foot, Mr Ho opens the metal shutters and lets down the wooden blinds to prevent direct sunlight exposure fading textile colors. Madam Liew, who suffers from reduced mobility thus requiring a lift from a friend, comes in later accompanied by her daughter. The old couple takes care of the shop together, chatting and joking happily, until five o’clock when they go home to rest. Such is their daily routine, enjoying old age in peace.

Mr Ho is born in Seremban, but moved to Tampin with his parents at five years old. During his youth, he worked in Singapore, where he met his wife, and decided to settle down in Tampin after getting married. Mr Ho co-founded a textile shop with a few friends, however they parted ways soon after, and he set up his own shop since 1958. Mr Ho’s father named the shop “Teck Joo”, implying ethical and fortune respectively. The early days of their start up were difficult, Mr Ho and wife had to tighten their belts to bring up eight children. During the great inflation in the 70’s, they toiled hard from dawn till night, thus managing to save up some money and lead a better life.

Teck Joo offers a range of common fabrics: plain cloth in red, white, and yellow for traditional rituals; batik for traditional Malay clothing such as baju kurung and sarung; premium suit fabrics are sought after by tailor shops. As large chain stores which offer more options at cheaper prices are established, and ready-made garments take over the clothing market, traditional textile shops in Tampin all closed down, except for Teck Joo.

Mr Ho and wife are happy-go-lucky, content to be running a small shop instead of building a business empire. Now that their children are self-sufficient, their means of making ends meet has turned into a pastime. All inventory payments are cleared, hence they are not too worried about the declining sales. The old couple even planned to contribute the fabrics to the needy after their retirement, as suggested by their son.

Over time, sweet and bitter moments in life are brewed into a cozy cup of tea. Apart from good health, Mr Ho and Madam Liew have nothing to ask for in their advanced age.

Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen
Music : 《The Home》 《Just A Little Hope》

COPYRIGHTS 2021 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD