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By S Indra Sathiabalan.  AT 81 years old, Lee Beng Chuan is one of the last traditional joss-stick makers in Malaysia. He is considered a living legend in his hometown of George Town, Penang. He first learnt the art of making joss sticks by hand when he was nine years old. Now, more than 70 years later, his skill at this vanishing artform has been captured for posterity in Chew Han Tah’s documentary The Joss Stick Maker.
This documentary is one of four commissioned by Discovery Channel as part of its Eye on Malaysia series, which will be aired back-to-back on Aug 29. Chew has never done any documentaries prior to this. Since leaving TV3 in 1992, he has concentrated on producing TV programmes like Fear Factor for Malaysia, India and Indonesia under his production house Skywalker TV. "It was all a bit of a challenge but my dream has always been to produce documentaries for an international audience," he said. Chew was in fact in the midst of producing a mini-documentary he called Sunset Industries in Malaysia for a world audience when he heard about the call for documentary pitches for the Eye on Malaysia series last year. He had already pin-pointed 13 sunset industries (those he thinks will cease to exist in five to 10 years’ time) for his mini-documentary which included the dhobi ghat (traditional handwash laundry) and traditional joss-stick making. Chew then decided to edit the footage he has shot on joss-stick maker Lee and submit it together with his story as his pitch. When he won the pitch, Chew found that he had to produce a half-hour documentary on Lee. The joss-stick maker was very accommodating the first time Chew approached him as the shoot was only for a few days but now things were different. Their biggest obstacle was Lee’s wife who was angry that her husband had to spend so much time away from their joss-stick shop. Chew had to appease her and even hired someone to help her take care of the shop when Lee was away.  The Joss Stick Maker follows Lee as he makes a 12-foot-tall dragon joss stick for The Teochew Association to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Chew recalls: "Before Lee accepted the order, he had to consider a lot of things. Physically, he wasn’t as strong as he used to be.
"The last dragon joss stick he made was when he was 60 years old. He has never done one since. His eyesight is also failing and, physically, he can’t work more than two to four hours a day." But in the end, he accepted the order as The Teochew Association was also his old primary school and he wanted to do something for the school, Chew said. Lee was also happy to do it because George Town was declared a World Heritage site by Unesco in July 2008 though he now faced the daunting possibility that he might have to leave the house he has been staying in for the last 72 years. The house is situated within the heritage site and Lee now has to pay rent for it every month as opposed to once every two years in the past. The Teochew Association wanted to not only celebrate George Town’s new status but also Lee’s skill with a dragon joss stick. Making the dragon joss stick by hand is an arduous process. It is made layer after layer, with lots of hand kneading and also drying out in the hot sun after each layer is placed. Helping Lee in his task was the joss-stick factory owner who has been an admirer of Lee for a long time. Chew said: "The whole process was a challenge but Lee did it and delivered the order on time. It was lit during a ceremony on the eve of Chinese New Year and he basked in the glory for that moment. "The next day, everything was back to normal. He has his little shop and worries if he will still have a roof over his head."  Chew added: "One of the most touching moments on film was when Lee said he would keep making joss sticks by hand until the day he dies."
When that day comes, it may well be the end of the art of making joss sticks by hand as none of Lee’s children want to follow in their father’s footsteps. Shooting the documentary, to Chew, was like capturing a piece of history with memories of many emotional moments which he will always cherish. ** Republished with permission. This article first appeared in the August 19, 2009 issue of theSun. Eye on Malaysia premieres on Discovery Channel (Astro Channel 551) on Aug 29 at 6pm with back-to-back episodes of The Joss Stick Maker by Chew Han Tah; Honey Hunters by Abdul Hamid Abdullah; The Seasmiths by Ikhwan Rivai; and Wind Chucker by Shuhaimi Baba.
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