For more than 40 years, Mr Lee Teik Chye has devoted himself to the art of traditional plaque carving, which he sees as his mission to preserve and respect Chinese culture. With unwavering dedication and unwavering commitment, he pours his heart and soul into his craft, treating each work as a sacred duty. In an age dominated by digital media, Lee Tak Choi is a symbol of traditional craftsmanship, reminding us of the enduring beauty in tangible art forms. He demonstrates his responsibility as a traditional plaque engraver, devoting himself to a craft he refuses to give up, ensuring that the legacy of plaque engraver lives on through his art.
Mr Lee Teik Chye, a professional plaque engraver, He was 67 years old. Mr Lee has mentioned that it doesn't matter how to call him, but can directly call him Uncle Lee, it doesn't need to be formal like Mr Lee.
Uncle Lee once said that his ancestors were all engaged in carpentry for five generations, so he has had a strong interest in this industry since he was a child.
What's more, he has been working with his father since he was a child, so he is very familiar with wood. Uncle Lee's grandfather is a plaque maker and his father is a mortise and tenon worker. Mortise and tenon joints are a traditional woodworking method of combining two or more components.
So from the age of seven, Uncle Lee followed his father to work in different temples. However, when he was a child, he could only hear about his grandfather's making of plaques from his father. Uncle Lee's father did not know much about making plaques, but he could only learn about it bit by bit from his father.
It was until he grew up that he slowly explored the process of making traditional plaques. He helped his father make mortise joints for the temple until he became independent.
Uncle Lee said, "I would like to be a craftsman who makes traditional plaques because of the influence of my family and because I don't want the traditional craft of plaques to disappear in the future." That's how he really got into the business of making traditional plaques.
When Uncle Lee first entered the society, he did not really devote himself to making plaques, but became a construction worker. Plaques were his spare time interest. But after working as a construction worker for two years, he realized that this was not the life he wanted, so he turned to making furniture.
Uncle Lee stayed at making furniture for more than 10 years. He was approached during this period to make a plaque, but at that time he wasn't really involved in making a plaque so he transferred the work of making a plaque to his friend who made a plaque. But over time, he found that traditional plaque making seemed to be fading away in Penang. He really threw himself into the business of traditional plaque making.
At first, he encountered a lot of bottlenecks, because Uncle Lee only knew carving typefaces, but did not really understand the gold leaf for typefaces. So he asked his uncle for advice, but it backfired. Uncle Lee had to pay his own money, and spent hundreds of ringgits to buy a lot of gold leaf to practice on his own. More than 30 years ago, hundreds of dollars is a lot, but in order to make a real traditional plaque, he did not sting.
Uncle Lee has said: "This money is worth it, because he let me really grasp the essence of making a plaque."
Uncle Lee mentioned that as a traditional plaque engraver, what he does is not just carve a piece of wood, but pass on the culture passed down from ancestors.
Uncle Lee said: "It is necessary to be patient and motivated when making a plaque."
Moreover, he also mentioned that the production of plaques should have a certain understanding of calligraphy, and basic carpentry should also be understood.
Uncle Lee: “Making a plaque is not easy, there are many steps, from the selection of wood to the final gold for the font is very challenging.”
From the beginning of the selection of wood, it is necessary to choose a good piece of wood, otherwise the final product will not be very quality, the next is to cut and planing wood, in order to make the wood can have a good shape, after the surface is polished into smooth, in order to be painted, the surface of the wood will be uneven.”
After that, it is to write the desired font, and then carve it on the board according to the font. This step is the best test of effort and patience, because every stroke of engraving can not be reversed, so he needs to concentrate on it.
After carving the font, is the painting part, the painting part also is not easy. Uncle Lee said: "If the paint is not evenly applied, when the paint dries, the whole plaque will be ugly. Before applying gold to the font, it is also necessary to coat the font coat, so that the gold leaf can be more easily attached to the font.
Finally, the gold leaf is applied to the typeface. Uncle Lee said, “The gold leaf I use is only of the finest quality. It charges RM4 per piece.” A plaque requires hundreds of pieces of gold leaf, so when putting gold leaf on the font, it is necessary to avoid wasting gold leaf. Each step of making a plaque takes a long time to accumulate experience, and the essence can not be captured in a short time.
Uncle Lee: “ It's easy for those of you watching, but there are a lot of details to pay attention to. If the little details are not paid attention to, they can add up to big problems.”
Uncle Lee's journey to make the traditional plaque was not without difficulties. From the very beginning, he needed to explore the essence of making a plaque by himself, and now he has a stable business in Penang.
The intervening process was not easy for Uncle Lee, who had two crises. Both crises have the same problem, that is, zero orders which is zero incomes. The first was no income for four consecutive months, and the second was no income for seven consecutive months. At that time Uncle Lee felt so hard that he had to sacrifice his food in order to pay back the rent. No matter how hard it was, Uncle Lee never gave up on plaque making.
Uncle: “After all, I cannot fall down, because this is the greatest mission of my life, because I want to pass on the heritage of this craft to the next generation.” For Uncle Lee, life can be hard and arduous but the continuity of culture cannot be broken.
Every culture needs to be passed on, especially traditional crafts. Although Uncle Lee has four children, none of them still want to take over the skill. So after Uncle Lee turned 50 years old, he suddenly conceived the idea of looking for a successor. He started looking for young people who wanted to learn the skill, and he wanted to pass on his knowledge and experience, including tools, to the next generation. But things didn't work out that way.
Uncle Lee: “I'm disappointed because I can't find a young man to really take over or learn the trade." Uncle Lee's comment that no one would want to take over the craft was that he felt young people would find making plaques a chore. Because making a plaque requires perseverance and a certain amount of patience.
Although Uncle Lee still cannot find an heir at this stage, he will not give up, he will continue to carry on this culture, and he will not give up looking for an heir until he can't do anything else.
Uncle Lee has a strong national consciousness, so in addition to the continuation of the Chinese culture of the plaque, he has also made a small contribution to the field of Chinese education. Uncle Lee is one of the directors of his Chinese Primary School and the general of the Alumni Association, in order to promote Chinese culture.
Uncle Lee is still very optimistic about the future of the plaque, and he believes that the plaque culture will continue. But he was upset with some of the young people who were making carved plaques on the outer slopes, because they were making improvements on the traditional plaques, which he thought were changing beyond recognition.
For Uncle Lee, making a plaque still has to follow the tradition. If it needs to be improved, it is necessary to create a new one by itself, and it is not possible to transform traditional things. Because he thought it would destroy traditional plaque culture.
Making the plaque is no longer a job for Uncle Lee, but a sense of spiritual satisfaction and achievement. Uncle Lee said: "Because I have promoted and carried forward the culture of the ethnic group."
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Flow Chart of Making Traditional Chinese Plaque
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