In Penang, trishaws are commonly seen on the bustling streets, especially in popular sightseeing spots. Trishaw pullers go at a moderate speed, exposing tourists to a full view of Penang’s beautiful scenery. Nowadays trishaws seem to have became a vehicle for sightseeing purposes, no longer a day-to-day transportation mode for local inhabitants. Between the end of the 1960’s to early 1970’s was the trishaws’ golden era in Penang, according to records there were more than 2500 officially registered trishaws on the roads. However, about a hundred trishaws remain in operation till now, with most of the pullers aged above fifty years. Moreover, half of them had no stable income, living in poverty, their trishaws a makeshift home.
The decline and plight of trishaws not only led to the trade eventually becoming a thing of the past, at the same time impacting the trade of repairing and producing trishaws. One by one, shops that manufacture trishaws close business, the sole remnant being Hup Huat Tricycle, a one-man-show by its fourth generation successor Mr Choo Yew Choon, striving to manage his family business. Mr Choo is also one of the few persons in Malaysia who could assemble the whole trishaw with his own hand, knowledgeable in the fields of carpentry, ironwork, and technical skills regarding bicycles and tricycles. From constructing the wooden passenger box, to welding the iron frame of the trishaw, these are common trades in immediate danger of extinction.
Trishaws are categorized by their functions, such as carrying passengers or cargo, or for operating hawker business, or selling groceries like vegetables, fruits, and breads. Through the transformational passage of time, the number of peripatetic hawkers lessened due to shifts in food cultures (hawker centres, hygienic environment) and government regulations (laws). Nevertheless, Mr Choo still receive orders for customizing new trishaws or facelifting old trishaws for ornamental usage from hotels, food and beverages operators, or even foreign tourists.
Mr Choo frankly discloses that in recent years, there has been a steep decline of orders for manufacturing new trishaws, his works are more focused on facelifts and maintenance. Maintenance and repairs range from as simple as changing tyres to as complicated as welding and remodel, to meet customization demands from customers. Besides substantial knowledge in his trade, Mr Choo also keeps a collection of small round “registration plates” assigned solely to trishaws, issued during the British colonization, akin to concurrent license plates, being a traditional feature of Penang trishaws, as well as a token of culture and collective remembrance.
In between difficulties jointly faced by trishaws and various fields related, ways to bestow legacy in maintaining and preserve these mobile antiques are worth serious attention and considerations.
Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen
有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Production Assistant : Michael Lerk
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Music : Flowering from Felt Music
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