The sun may have set on many age-old crafts, foods and traditions in modern Singapore, but guardians of Chinese culture have come together to revive and uphold them during the Qixi Festival.
Also known as Seven Sisters Festival and Qiqiao Festival, it traditionally saw women demonstrating skills such as needlework and handicrafts.
But Singapore’s inaugural Qixi Fest, which kicked off on July 7, also includes men showcasing time-honoured skills from heritage trades and traditions.
The brainchild of heritage consultant and researcher Lynn Wong (below, centre), 34, the seven-week Qixi Fest has a slate of weekend activities such as talks, workshops, exhibitions and tours that will culminate in a mega carnival in Smith Street on Aug 19 and 20.
It aims to revive Qixi – which was celebrated in Singapore from the 19th century in areas like Chinatown, before fading out in the 1970s – as well as grow and sustain the local heritage and arts ecosystem.
The festival stems from the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Fairy – a mortal and a celestial being who were punished for getting married with banishment to opposite sides of the Milky Way.
The star-crossed lovers are reunited once a year by magpies forming a bridge across the heavens.
Self-taught art restorer Andy Yeo recalls how his old neighbours would set up an elaborate altar outside the five-foot way during the festival in the past. Parents of single young ladies would also wish for a good partner on their behalf.
With his art restoration skills, he is adept at traditional sketching and painting by hand – skills he will showcase in live demonstrations of lantern painting at the Qixi Fest carnival on Aug 19 and 20.
He will complete a pair of linen lanterns while sharing about the process, innovations and challenges behind the art.
“It is a craft which our forefathers brought over from China and further developed into our Singaporean style,” Mr Yeo said. “It’s a pity if this trade is lost.”
Growing up in Chinatown, the 48-year-old former corporate interior designer has been fascinated with Chinese craft since young.
He has patiently and skilfully restored century-old door gods, lanterns, effigies as well as mural arts in various temples since 2015, as his full-time vocation.
In December 2022, he flew to Taiwan, where he completed a lacquer thread sculpture course to advance his skills.
PRESERVING CULTURE
“Qixi is a traditional festival forgotten by the younger generation,” he said. “I hope to take this opportunity to draw younger Singaporeans to our traditional culture and crafts.”
Sharing the same aspirations is Mr Jimm Wong, 69, one of the last traditional Chinese lantern-makers here.
He has recently been busy restoring a Seven Sisters basin or chaat chieh poon, which he first crafted from scratch in 2019. Such basins were burnt as an offering in the past during the Qixi Festival.
The basin Mr Wong made measures about 1.5m in diameter.
The paper artefact is adorned with seven sets of needlework and vanity items.
Among these, some items like combs and jade bangles are portrayed in paper designs, while actual items like spools of thread, pearl necklaces, and double-sided fans are also featured.
The basin is on display at Cantonese clan association Kong Chow Wui Koon in Chinatown and will be part of the Qixi Fest carnival in Smith Street.
The basin took him about three weeks to make, he recalls.
That was quick, in comparison to traditional Chinese lanterns, which take him anything from three months to a few years to fashion out of bamboo splints and paper. He charges his clients – households, temples and clans – between $1,000 and $5,000 for a pair.
“I can hardly make enough to make this a livelihood, but it’s my passion that keeps me going,” said the former interior designer and furniture-maker.
The self-taught craftsman started making lanterns in 2008 at age 54, and travelled to different parts of Malaysia, Vietnam and China to observe artisans at work.
A connoisseur of all things Chinese, he said his favourite pastime since young has been visiting cultural sites like clan associations, temples and even funeral grounds.
He was especially intrigued with the lanterns and would examine their shapes, materials and drawings.
DEDICATION TO CRAFT
“Making a lantern from scratch takes a lot of patience and hard work, and requires varied skills in bamboo cutting, calligraphy, painting and drawing,” said Mr Wong, who works from his maisonette in Ubi.
Not many young people would be keen to invest time to learn and perfect this craft, but that is something he hopes will change as he continues conducting classes and talks to share knowledge and drum up interest in the craft.
Also at Kong Chow Wui Koon was a hands-on culinary workshop on July 16 by avid cook and Cantonese opera master Wilfred Aw Yeong, who hopes to revive a lost recipe.
The 62-year-old enjoyed spicy majie chilli “biscuits” as a teenager in the 1970s.
Unlike the usual biscuits that are eaten as snacks, this is a condiment block that can be ground into a paste to marinate meat like chicken wings, pork ribs or fish to add flavour to the dishes.
Participants at Mr Aw Yeong’s workshop learnt how to make majie chilli biscuits and also got to sample dishes he prepared with the biscuit.
“It just disappeared from Singapore around the ‘80s,” he said. “This prompted me to search for it in Shunde, where I managed to get the recipe from my aunt.”
Shunde is a district in China’s Guangdong province where majie – a group of women who worked as domestic helpers in Singapore between the 1930s and 1970s – came from.
They were also among the early women migrants who introduced the Qixi Festival to Singapore.
TEDIOUS WORK
The humble biscuit made from ingredients like fermented black bean is a labour of love – it takes at least seven hours to bake in the oven or a few days to dry in the sun.
“You can’t buy the majie chilli biscuit here any more, and it’s too much effort for me to make in bulk to sell,” he said. “However, I am happy to share and revive the recipe.”
To find out more about Qixi Fest, visit www.qixifest.com.