Sunday Vibes

This young man embarks on a career in handcrafting beautiful bags

IT began with a video that he posted on TikTok sometime in March 2021. It opened with a fashion shoot of a male model clad in shocking pink satin. The caption read that Chew Kai Hung, in his final semester at college and pursuing a fashion design technology course, was preparing a showcase for his graduation. Unfortunately, the graduation showcase had to be cancelled due to the imposition of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, 2020.

But thanks to this video, orders for his bags came flooding in. It was also this very same video that piqued my curiosity about the baby-faced, bespectacled young man with the ever-smiling eyes. Other videos on his TikTok channel showed him working on handbags ranging from quilted tote bags to bucket bags. His materials of choice? Batik, lace, leather, tweed, sequins.

"At first, I was posting on Facebook and Instagram but I wasn't getting anywhere," confides Chew, matter-of-factly, before adding that he eventually moved to TikTok. "At the beginning, I wasn't getting any results either," he recalls, continuing: "So, I started researching how to promote my business on this channel. I discovered some useful tips, like deleting all posts which weren't getting any responses and starting over."

The initial slow response to his online marketing efforts didn't faze him in the least and he continued to push on. Remembers Chew: "When my TikTok video went viral, my phone buzzed with notifications of orders for my bags. That was the highest point of my business."

It's certainly not bad for a young man who claims not to have a clear plan after graduating from college. The strict imposition of the MCO during the early phase meant that he was unable to go anywhere, much less find a job. This subsequently led him to set up shop making bags, something he'd been doing since his college days. And ever since that video went viral, he's received orders from Singapore and most notably, East Malaysia.

LOVE FOR BAGS

Born and raised in Penang, the laidback Chew always knew that he wanted to pursue a career in the arts. Growing up, he has always loved drawing, painting and handicrafts. He recalls using ice cream sticks and hot glue guns to build boxes and miniature furniture. He also loved using his hands to make small gifts for others.

When Chew was attending the Methodist Boys' School (MBS) in Penang, he was known as being a quiet, unassuming student who preferred to keep a low profile. His class had a notorious reputation. Any teacher assigned to his class would ask his/her fellow colleagues to identify in advance who were the noisy students.

"Everyone except Chew!" would be the usual answer.

Chuckling, Chew concedes: "Yes, I was the only well-behaved student in the entire class of boys!" Adding, he tells me that he was often surprised by the fact that even teachers who never taught him in any subjects actually knew of him. His love for art was well known among the teaching fraternity.

Asked when he discovered his interest in art, Chew pauses to reflect before musing that it was probably at the age of 10, when he had to take the Kemahiran Hidup (Living Skills) class at school. "I had to learn how to sew," he recalls before remarking that thankfully, he had his mother to teach him how to sew by hand.

He started off with using scrap fabric and turning them into small items. Before long, his interest grew and his parents decided to purchase for him a second-hand sewing machine. His father, who learnt how to operate a sewing machine from his own mother, Chew's grandmother, taught his son how to use the machine. It wasn't long before Chew was making small bags.

For the first few years, the faithful old machine worked well for the youngster. But then, his grandmother decided to purchase a second-hand vintage sewing machine, the type that required him to use his legs to keep the wheel moving. He used this throughout his secondary school years.

The talented youngster graduated to sewing various other items, ranging from pouches and bags, and sourcing various types of fabric. Once he even made a bag using only plastic zippers.

Asked where he sources his materials from, Chew shares that his stock comes from a haberdashery shop owned by his parents' friend. His eyes sparkle when he speaks about the joy of being in this shop where he replenishes his stock of materials or acquire new materials to create more bags.

It's easy for him to spend up to an hour in such places, losing all sense of time, he remarks, with a small smile. Every time he emerges from the shop with his purchases, he'd always find his parents waiting patiently outside for him.

When he began amassing quite a collection of items, his parents decided to display their only son's wares in their family-run western restaurant, Ben's Diner, in Bayan Lepas. Some of the outlet's patrons have been very supportive, for which Chew is truly grateful.

Even during his years at MBS, he continued to sustain his love for art. "I'm always the only guy at the events organised by the Arts Society!" declares Chew, pride palpable in his voice. Funnily enough, he was actually enrolled in the Science stream. There wasn't a single Art subject in sight.

His third-form Arts teacher, Miss Chua noticed his consistent presence at the Arts Society events and activities. She asked him if he wanted to sit for Art as a subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination that he'd need to sit for when he reached the fifth-form. She even offered to tutor him one-on-one every fortnightly until he took the exam.

Of course, Chew took her up on her kind offer and bought himself a textbook. He attended her classes and she diligently helped him prepare for the examination. "I got an A for that," confides Chew, beaming with pride.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

One day, Chew's Maths teacher asked him if he wanted to sell his bags at the Penang Science Fair, a two-day event. He was a little taken aback at first because he didn't see how his bags could be related to the event. His Maths teacher explained that the event also provided a space for vendors to set up booths to sell their products.

He checked his stock and calculated that he'd need to make more bags to display for sale, if he were to take up the offer. He decided to knuckle down to the challenge. Recalls Chew: "That was my first real experience of selling my bags to the public. Before that, I'd just have them displayed for sale at my parents' restaurant. During the fair, I could actually interact with the customers. It was fun."

His mother accompanied him at the booth throughout the duration of the fair. One time, while she was away for a short break, a lady dropped by his booth and purchased several bags from him. "My mother eventually returned and we discovered that this lady was a friend of my parents'. That was how I knew there was a genuine interest in the bags I make and people weren't just buying to oblige my parents," he adds, enthusiastically.

The following year, he once again participated at the fair. This time, he brought with him a larger variety of bags to sell. Continuing, he shares: "I also put my bags on a rack so the display looked nicer, compared with the flat table I was using in the first year."

The second time round, even more customers came to buy his bags and the youngster felt duly encouraged. Unlike many young people who remained unsure about their next step after completing their SPM, Chew already knew what he wanted to pursue. He enrolled himself at Equator College in Penang to pursue a three-year diploma in fashion design technology.

Despite having studied fashion design in college, the knowledge and skills he acquired were crucial when it came to refining his designs and bag-making skills. "If it weren't for the time I spent at Equator, my designs wouldn't be what they are today," admits Chew, adding: "They're a far cry from the simple designs I used to do in my early days as a bag designer."

TRIAL AND ERROR

His eyes gleam when Chew talks about his most recent creations, which include Marvel-inspired bags, a testament to his love for Marvel movies. Smiling, he says: "I really enjoy making these bags. I look at the costumes worn by the Marvel characters and wonder how they'd look if I were to turn them into bags."

What about other hobbies, I couldn't help asking the affable young designer. He grins before replying simply: "This lo!"

When I ask him whether he has any big regrets or disappointments, he pauses momentarily to reflect. Brows furrowing, he finally replies: "When making bags, you can't run away from making a lot of mistakes. One wrong move, even in the final step, can ruin the whole bag."

That said, he's quick to tell me that he's unperturbed by setbacks that occur. It just means having to discard the whole bag and making a new one from scratch. "I have a small box filled with bags which aren't of acceptable quality," he shares, adding: "This happens especially when I'm trying out new designs. When the bags don't work out, I just put them away."

There are many people whom Chew looks up to, namely local young designer like Kel Wen, creator of the fashion label, Behati and Kit Woo, another designer with his own namesake fashion brand, as his source of inspiration.

He's also especially in awe of Michael Ooi, whom he refers to as his "ex-boss" because "… I know of his backstory," shares Chew, adding: "Michael also graduated from my alma mater and went on to found his own business to support his family."

Moving forward, does he see himself switching to something else? I couldn't help asking as we near the end of our chat. Once again, he pauses to reflect. "If I were to do something else, it may be related to social media as this is another area that I'm interested in," he replies, before concluding somewhat sagely: "I'm still young and there's still so much more to learn."

Chew can be found on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@kaihungofficial and Instagram: www.instagram.com/kaihungofficial/.

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