Singapore · Furniture / Structural Craft
Pembuatan Perabot Rotan Singapura
Singapore's rattan furniture tradition is one of the last surviving furniture-making craft practices in the city-state — a tradition of constructing chairs, tables, and storage items from rattan cane using techniques brought from Guangdong and Hong Kong by Chinese immigrant craftspeople in the early 20th century. Chen Foo Kee, second-generation owner of Chun Mee Lee Rattan Furniture, is one of the few remaining rattan furniture makers in Singapore and was recognized through NHB's Craft X Design 2024–25 program. His father learned rattan furniture making in Hong Kong before transmitting it to his son — making the Singapore tradition a transplant of a Cantonese craft via colonial Hong Kong. The technique involves bending rattan cane over open flame to produce curves, lashing joints with split rattan, and weaving rattan cane for seat and back panels — three distinct sub-skills that Chen holds simultaneously.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed
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