Lighting up his life

A business born in desperate times is now proving lucrative for lantern maker.

WHEN it comes to making lanterns, Khoo King Eng, 36, says: “Everyone can do it. It’s just like making a birthday card.”

To prove his point, the father of two demonstrates by bending a metal wire around the outline of a seahorse. It is an easy task as the shape has been outlined with nails hammered into a piece wood.

This is how we do it: Khoo King Eng bending a metal wire around a nail outline to create a bunny-shaped lantern as his son, Yu Fun, five, looks on.

Khoo makes two of these frames and then solders the two sides onto another strip of wire which already sports a coil in the middle. This is the candle holder, which also forms the base of the seahorse structure.

Translucent coloured paper is then placed across the frame, pulled taut and then glued.

Lastly, Khoo’s wife, Tan Sueh Mei, 33, a former art student, paints in the eyes and other details with sure, swift strokes. For ease of transportation and storage, the lanterns are then pressed flat.

“Lanterns were a common subject in our school art projects. Even today, there is no lack of lantern makers in states like Perak and Pulau Pinang, who treat it as a cottage industry,” says Tan.

The Khoos ventured into lantern making five years ago after they found that they did not have the money to import ready-made lanterns from China.

Lanterns galore: Khoo’s shop in Petaling Street stocks a huge selection of lanterns and other decorative items including those imported from China.

Given that they now have a 10-year business dealing in seasonal decorative items that had grown into a chain of 15 shops from Johor to Kuala Lumpur, this was hard to believe.

The Khoos, however, had a reason for their cash flow problem. Their son, Yu Fun, now five, was born with a congenital heart defect. When Yu Fun was only two days old, he had to undergo corrective heart surgery.

“When my wife and I embarked on our lantern-making venture, we were on the verge of bankruptcy.

“We had just let go of the 14 shops because we had no time to manage them. We were that focused on Yu Fen. The only reason that we had hung on to the shop in Petaling Street was because it was closest to the hospital,” recalls Khoo.

Describing his foray into lantern making as a last-ditch attempt to save his floundering business and raise money for his son’s medical bills, Khoo says he took a crash course in making lanterns four months before the Mid-Autumn Festival that year.

“It took me close to a thousand tries before my staff and I got the production process right,” Khoo recalls.

Somehow, Khoo’s efforts paid off with his first run of 20 designs selling 5,000 units. Today, while other lantern makers usually see orders coming in about six months in advance, Khoo gets bookings a year ahead. Thus, he makes lanterns all year round.

Looking at how the lanterns have become an important part of his retail business, it is no surprise that Khoo now regards them as symbols of luck and perseverance.

“Remembering those early days of our lantern-making activities reminds me of the lowest point in our lives. We did not have enough money for Yu Fen’s medical bills and my relatives could not help us,” Khoo reveals.

“In fact, they even advised us to give up on Yu Fen, which was something I could not accept. So, in the end, it was sheer determination that spurred me to produce those lanterns.”

Talking of the time when he and his wife used to work 14-hour days while dealing with the emotional and physical toll of caring for a sick child, Khoo says that there was just no time to entertain depression.

“Instead of resorting to drink or drugs for relief, we went headlong into making lanterns,” smiles Khoo who also handmakes Christmas and Chinese New Year decorations for his seasonal decorative items shop.

Design-wise, says Khoo, lanterns come in all shapes – from all the animals in the Chinese zodiac to modern marvels like aeroplanes and motorcars. Cartoon characters are also not left out and keen consultations with his children help Khoo to keep in touch with the current trends where animated personalities are concerned.

“There are some years when traditional shapes like fish, dragons and pigs will sell very well but at other times, there is a trend for cute cartoon characters. I try to predict what will be the hot items and incorporate them into my designs.”

While the bulk of Khoo’s production still consists of lanterns made with lead wire frames and translucent paper, he also accepts orders for shop decorations. The latest is for a red 3.65m balloon lantern for a dried waxed meat retail chain.

He also has as a prototype a series of red brocade lanterns with electric bulb illumination for the traditional Chinese wedding chamber.

“Lanterns have always played a central role in Chinese culture. Not only is their presence felt during the Lantern Festival but in the olden times, Chinese households would have giant lanterns hanging at the entrance with the surname of the family emblazoned in them. You can also see them at weddings, funerals, during Chinese New Year and as decorations during major festivals,” Khoo points out.

Citing that the materials for lantern making can range from paper to silk, Khoo says that the only limit is one’s imagination.

Still, his methods are considered modern in comparison to the olden times when lantern frames where made from thin strips of bamboo.

“You are talking of an art form that dates back to 230BC, when lanterns were made from rice paper,” he says.

Khoo surmises that the origin of the Chinese lantern was probably tied to the basic need for portable illumination. The soft glow of a lantern was definitely seen as a better alternative (and safer) than carrying a blazing torch.

It also did not escape attention that a lit lantern also bears resemblance to the full moon. Consequently, the lantern became a popular means of decoration and a source of illumination during the full moon festival.

Just like any item that has entrenched itself into the history of human civilisation, the Chinese lantern would evolve with the times.

They can be elaborate pieces of art with detailed paintings. Some also feature complicated mechanisms with rotating parts powered by nothing more than the simple principle of hot air circulation.

The invention of batteries and LED lights also turned the soft glowing orbs into gizmos with blinking lights and sound effects. This type of lantern is still considered by many customers as a safer option for younger children.

While many fanciful legends have been woven about the Chinese lantern, Khoo presumes that the actual significance has more to do with reminding young people about tradition.

Logically, the invention of electricity should have eliminated the need for candle lanterns. However, lighting one on a romantic Mid-Autumn evening does bring to mind how mankind has progressed. There is also the therapeutic effect of watching the soft glow of a lit lantern.

Business wise, this spells good news for Khoo who has become a major supplier for Chinatown. And since he also does wholesale trade, he considers those imported from China as his main source of competition.

“There is no way that we can beat the ­prices of their paper lanterns, which are the bestsellers currently,” says Khoo whose own handmade lanterns are priced between RM8 and RM15.

Looking forward, Khoo maintains that it will take a lot more than the pricing issue to make him give up his business and he is already thinking of making more elaborate designs with layered tiers and tassels.

This is where even he would admit that while lanterns may be easy to make, the more elaborate ones will definitely take a longer time in the design process.

Check out the lanterns made by Khoo at 17, Jalan Hang Lekir, Kuala Lumpur.