He taught himself traditional Teochew crafts as a boy. More than 40 years later, he is still learning

Francis Tan Kwee Chye kept the ceiling fan off as he rubbed gold leaf into a wooden signboard at Sean Hua Zee Temple in Singapore. Even in the afternoon heat, cooling the room could blow the delicate foil away.

The 50-year-old lives and works at the temple off Changi Road. He has spent more than three decades making traditional Teochew wood carvings, temple lanterns and paper effigies, while also refurbishing deity statues. He is not especially talkative, but his enthusiasm becomes clear when he discusses his work, reaching for photographs, old pieces and reference books to explain how each object was made.

Tan prefers elaborate flowers, birds and animals to straightforward items such as tables and chairs. “I like to make special things,” he said. He remains almost entirely self-taught, developing his skills through observation, failed attempts and fragments of guidance from other artists rather than through a formal apprenticeship.

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I like to make special things.

Sean Hua Zee Temple, which also serves as his home, stood at the centre of his early education. As a child, Tan saw wood carvings and lanterns around the temple and accompanied his mother to street-opera performances. In Primary 3, he began copying the crafts he saw there, starting with a miniature joss-paper dragon for deity birthday celebrations.

Without internet tutorials or suitable materials, he photographed a full-sized version, scaled down its proportions and drew the smaller design himself. Gold foil cost too much for a nine-year-old, so he used chocolate wrappers instead. By Primary 6, he had begun wood carving. More than four decades later, he continues to learn and make the intricate objects that first caught his attention as a child.

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Instead of buying gold foil, I used chocolate wrappers to get the same effect.