A personal sharing about preserving the ancient art of hand-crafting wooden statues of Daoist and Buddhist deities, by the 6th-generation artisan of Say Tian Hng Buddha Shop (Estd. 1840). 

Guan Yin in my Google Drive: An Accidental Artisan’s Efforts to Preserve an Ancient Craft

In 2021, Ng Tze Yong left his job as CEO of a charity to apprentice under his grandmother and father as the sixth-generation artisan in a family business dating back to 1840—hand-crafting wooden statues of Daoist and Buddhist deities using early Qing Dynasty techniques.

In this intimate sharing session, Tze Yong offers a rare glimpse into the puzzling world of Daoist iconography, used in depicting the innumerable gods of the Daoist pantheon and expressing the ancient values and philosophies they embody that continue to be relevant today.

But this isn’t just a story of tradition—it's also about transformation. From organising a Monkey God design competition to using the shop as an innovation case study in a Masters programme at New York’s Parsons School of Design, Tze Yong will share the ups and downs - and the funny moments - of picking up an ancient craft, and the family’s vision of hopefully sustaining the business for another 100 years.

Includes:

• 45-minute talk + 30-minute Q&A
• Conducted in English
• Photos may be taken for publicity use