Around 1840, our ancestor - a wandering keymaker - met and discipled under a master sculptor in Tong An village, in the 45th district of Nan An County, Fujian province, China.

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Several years later, the master sculptor died unexpectedly, leaving behind a young son. To give the boy a means of supporting himself, our ancestor imparted the skills he had learnt from the boy's father, then left to set up his own shop in another province, to avoid competing out of respect.

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In 1896, amid the decline of the Qing dynasty, we fled the chaos and poverty in China, moving to Southeast Asia to settle in the multi-cultural British colony of Singapore.

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Over the next eight decades, civil war erupted in China, followed by the Cultural Revolution, erasing traditional crafts and beliefs.

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In Singapore, our shop survived.

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Today, as one of the oldest heritage businesses in one of the most multi-cultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world, we continue to live the next chapter of our story.