IT IS said that every picture tells a story and the beholder will certainly find one in Lim Swee Kim’s embroidered nyonya kebayas.
Hard work: Lim Swee Kim and her trusty Singer sewing machine have told many tales together through the years. Laying out a pale blue voile kebaya top, the 75-year-old pointed to an intricately threaded composition of birds nestling among flowering branches.
It is spring, she told us as if reading aloud from a story book, and a husband and his wife are basking in the warmth of the sun’s first rays.
Not too far away are the couple’s winsome daughter and her fetching suitor. In line with the decorum of the day, he is modestly stationed a few branches away.
But things will not remain tranquil for long, said Lim of the peaceful tableau. For hidden from the unsuspecting suitor’s view, is another male, bent on winning the young female’s attention.
It is not known how many stories Lim has told in her embroidered kebayas but if one were to hazard a guess, it would be quite a substantial number as she has spent the last 67 years perfecting her craft.
The idea might have begun with a secret whisper, a quiet conversation between Lim and her antique-looking Singer sewing machine.
Or inspiration may have come as she was watching her goldfishes swimming in their aquarium.
“It is the embroidery that makes the kebaya look beautiful, but, oh, it is such a lot of work. First we have to make the kebaya.
“There are four parts; the back, sleeves and the front, which in turn is divided in two parts (shoulder to bust and bust to hip) in a princess cut. This cut is designed to follow the fit of the body.
“Then we have to call the customer to do a fitting. Only when everything is all right can we start on the embroidery,” said Lim.
Koid showing of the ‘stories’ her mother has told in a sample book of embroidery designs. One would imagine the journey of Lim’s business to be as colourful as her tapestries.
The story of Kim Fashion began in 1962 when Lim’s mother, the late Koh Gaik Sim began a small tailoring concern making nyonya kebayas.
Over time, the thrice-married Koh would earn a reputation among the elite for her fine embroidery, and become well-known with the royal household. This story is recorded in The Nyonya Kebaya, a book by the late Datin Seri Endon Mahmood.
Lim herself had started learning the basics from her mother at the age of eight while growing up in Kelantan.
In those days, there was no such thing as telling one’s parents outright that one was “interested”.
Parenting styles were different then.
So, what Lim did was to wait for her mother to go for her tea break and she’d surreptitiously take her place behind the sewing machine and do her thing.
The natural course for the late Koh to take was to instruct Lim in the basics and let her skills progress.
Today, Lim proudly informed us that like her late mother, she has passed down her knowledge of kebaya-making to her daughter, Koid Boon Ean, 40.
Koid, a graduate of Bunkyo Fashion College, Tokyo, is the third generation to embrace the business. She joined her mum’s business in 1999.
“It is not an easy job. It requires long hours and young people can sometimes find it boring.
“There is also a lot of work but little pay but Ean (as how Lim addresses Koid) is very good at her work,” said Lim with a hint of pride.
Just like Lim, Koid had taken her place at the sewing machine by sneaking around, except that things were a little different.
By the time Koid was ten, her mother had close to 30 seamstresses in her shop.
I want it this way: A customer detailing how she would like her kebaya to look like as Lim listens intently. When they went for their lunch break, Koid would go to each machine, all 30 of them, leaving her trademark behind!
Embroidered versions of her name, butterflies in varied colours and a skeleton’s face were some of the ‘mementoes’ Koid had left behind.
“They were quite angry with me but I was a rebellious child so I answered back when they scolded me,” laughed Koid recalling her antics.
When asked if Koid takes after her mother, she replied that they were like chalk and cheese.
“I will never be like my mother because she grew up during the war when things were very tough.
“I never went through that experience. My mother can get by on three hours of sleep, sewing the rest of the time.
“I can’t do that. I remember when I had to go to Indonesia as we have clients there, my mother called up at five in the morning for a business discussion! And Mum is one person who does not care if a design is too elaborate.
“She’ll say, ‘Wa sukak, wa ai cho’ (meaning ‘I like it so I’m going to do it’ in Hokkien),” said Koid.
Nevertheless, mother and daughter work well together.
The generation gap is, however, evident in the way they work. Lim spends long hours at her sewing machine, Koid does the same but with her computer notebook instead.
Both agree that they are working towards a common goal.
“What made me join my mother’s business? For one she is a legend. Royalty and the wives of ministers go to her, so there is a certain status to that.
“It also makes me feel good that I am playing a part in preserving a dying art,” said Koid, looking at her mum proudly.
Prices for Kim Fashion’s nyonya kebayas start from RM200 and can go up to RM5,000. They mostly do made-to-order pieces.
Kim Fashion is located at 170-4-77, Gurney Plaza and 33, Cantonment Road in Penang, Malaysia. (04-226 6110).
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