Ipoh World

*The order of the photos are as follows:

Left to right (first row): The master craftsman, Mr. Lau Chee Wah at work, One of the tools used in the making of the blinds, The tools used by Mr. Lau.

Left to right (second row): Inside Lau Hooi Kee , A near 20 foot long piece of bamboo that has not been cut, A close up of the same piece of bamboo.

The interview

‘Lau Hooi Kee’, located along Lorong Bijeh Timah in Ipoh’s Old Town is probably the last of its kind that still upholds the craft of making traditional blinds in Ipoh. This lowly shop on the quieter side of Ipoh’s Old Town is run by Mr. Lau Chee Wah, a 3^rd generation master of the craft. The business began nearly a century ago with his grandfather, Lau Cheong who came from China at the time, it was then continued by Mr. Lau Chee Wah’s father, Lau Kin Hooi until his passing in the early 60’s. Unlike his grandfather, Mr. Lau’s father (Lau Kin Hooi) was born in Malaya though not in Ipoh.

Mr. Lau was born into a family of 11 children, 5 boys and 6 girls including himself. “Were the children ever part of the business back then?” was our question to him, he replied by saying everyone chipped in to help out with the business very often before going to school and after returning from school, “After all every one of us was born and raised here in this very shop house”, said Mr. Lau. He had never had any staff to assist him with the craft, neither did his grandfather nor his father, according to Mr. Lau’s brother who currently resides in Singapore.  When asked, did your grandfather or father take in any apprentices? As Master Craftsmen would usually take apprentices to assist them and also to pass on the knowledge, he laughed and said that he wouldn’t have known as he was too young at the time and also that it has been a long time ago.

After the passing of Mr. Lau’s father in the early 60’s, he then took over the business as the Master Craftsman of ‘Lau Hooi Kee’. Our next question to Mr. Lau was “When (time period) were traditional blinds most popular?”, both brothers highlighted that “It’s hard to say when it was most popular as the number of orders were uncertain.” however for Ipoh that would be in the 50’s, where at the time bamboo blinds were more popular than wooden blinds as they’d last longer. The number of orders that came in for the blinds would vary, as “When there was an order for a set of blinds, we’d get to work but when there was none, we’d just have nothing to do.”, exclaimed Mr. Lau. The bamboo that Mr. Lau uses to make the blinds with usually come from areas outside of Ipoh but within Perak itself, he mentioned that the bamboo are usually cut by the ‘Orang Asli’ who live near areas where these type of bamboo plants grow. He would buy the bamboo in batches, “It was cheap back then but these days it’s very expensive.”

Orders for blinds usually wouldn’t come from big corporate companies but rather from common folk for their homes as when it comes to renovations, you are not allowed to extend the back of your house to the fullest in accordance with the regulations, furthermore blinds be it bamboo or wooden provide a good amount of air ventilation. However the biggest job he ever did for a corporate company was for the Pangkor Laut Resort that was opened in 1993.

Contrary to making blinds by hand, Mr. Lau’s brother mentioned that back then there was a particular machine that was specialized in making bamboo blinds but over the years this proved to be rather difficult as not only did the operators have to apply for a permit to run the machine but also needed to locate a factory space to house the machine which in turn required them to apply for yet another permit to explain the use of the factory space. The blind making machine was about 20 feet long. According to Mr. Lau, there weren’t only blind makers in old town but there were also a few in new town as well those days. As the popularity of traditional blinds declined over the years, the younger generation started losing interest in something that was in its decline and as the old masters of the craft passed on, there was no one to take over the business therefore leading to the end of the craft.

What does your family think about the craft of making traditional blinds, what are their thoughts about it? “The interest just isn’t there and this isn’t really a business that can rake in a lot of profit but just enough to feed ourselves plus. When it comes to craftwork like this, when an order comes in, there will be food on the table but when there isn’t any, there won’t be any food on the table either.

With heritage and history being a subject of interest again today, do you see the business of ‘traditional blind making’ start to bloom again? “It’s hard to say. People from the Malay community are still in favor of traditional bamboo blinds but the problem here is that there isn’t enough raw material these days. There aren’t many ‘orang asli’ left in the deeper areas to cut the bamboo plants. Rural development has played a part in this, as they develop further in, the more the ‘orang asli’ would have to move from their homes.       

Speaking about the process of making traditional blinds, the whole process would take up to a week if they were to be stitched and it would take up to 2 weeks if the orders involved illustrations or writings on the blind. “For the illustrations and art, we would usually hire a craftsman to draw or sketch the particular illustration as what we do here is only the blind itself.” explained Mr. Lau. Upon completion, the blinds would either be sent to their customers’ address or in some instances, they’d collect it themselves, “Recently we’ve just sent one set over to Singapore, it all depends on the situation.” Today 1 square feet would cost about RM7.50 for the bamboo blinds and RM8.50 for the wooden ones.

Click here to watch a video posted by the Ipoh Echo Community Newspaper on the man himself.