A home and a workplace, George Town, Penang Once a British colonial trading settlement, George Town, Penang was a bustling place for traders, craftsmen and hardworking people. With the world heritage title awarded by UNESCO, George Town is rapidly turning into a tourist town.

MALAYSIA | Sunday, 23 November 2014 | Views [966] | View Smaller Image

Mr. Soon, 67 years old, a traditional craftman in George Town, Penang, worked his entire life as a weaver of bamboo and rattan trades. Comes with skillful hands and trained by parents since young, for more than 50 years, he carried this trade as his life and soul till to date. Seen in the picture, is a seemingly blunt triangular knife that cuts nothing but the bamboo, it was passed down by his late parents and it is more than a century old.

Tags: bamboo, rattan, george town, penang, weaver, trademen, family tradition, soul, neighbor, knife

1 of 5

This is Mr. Soon's narrow workspace. Sharp work and a very discipline man, Mr. Soon carefully takes on the trade 6 days a week and live upstairs. He is slicing down the bamboo at equal width, to then weave to become a round bamboo divider that is going to be placed in the Dim Sum steamer - this is for his client, Cantonese Dim Sum restaurant. Back of him, is the iron grill door, torn down from his house when his house caught on fire last year, that forced the firemen to cut his grill door to do fire rescue. Thank God he was safe. Today, he still keeps it and hope to reinstall back; but we know it will never happen. You shall know why in the last photo.

next >

Return to photo gallery >>

A home and a workplace, George Town, Penang Once a British colonial trading settlement, George Town, Penang was a bustling place for traders, craftsmen and hardworking people. With the world heritage title awarded by UNESCO, George Town is rapidly turning into a tourist town.

Share