WALKING down Armenian Street, people usually notice the famous mural painting, ‘Little Children on a Bicycle’, but among rows of shops – with more than a century of history – is a dusty and nondescript furniture repair shop that rarely catches the eyes of passers-by.

Sitting in a small corner of the shop is Yuan Guo Cheng, 75, who has woven rattan furniture for almost his entire life. It was a skill he learned as an apprentice from his uncle.

“My father died when I was 11, so I had no choice but to quit school and work to support my family,” said Yuan, the second child in his family of nine.

Yuan Guo Cheng, 75 has been weaving rattan furniture for most of his life.

With over 60 years experience making rattan furniture, Yuan revealed that he had never thought of changing professions. He claimed that although the career was forced upon him, it eventually turned into a passion. However, Yuan added that it is not a career path he envisions for his 30-year-old son who often travels overseas and rarely returns home.

“He asks me not to worry about him, because he can take care of himself. He sends money back home for me every month. So, I just let him be,” said a teary-eyed Yuan who has come to term with the fact that there is no one to pick up the rattan weaving skills from him.

”Rattan materials are becoming more difficult to obtain these days anyway and most youngsters do not see the value of preserving traditional handiwork,” he said.

Despite the many trials and tribulations that he has faced throughout his life, Yuan is still a cheery old man who takes life as it comes.

“I have no regrets in my life,” he said.

Thank you!

And that’s it! BRATs Penang was the third and final BRATs workshop of the year, and now we’ll just have to wait for 2014 to come along.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to ExxonMobil for their support of the programme over the past year. Probably one of our best memories from this year’s workshops was getting to bring the BRATs to the fabrication yard in Johor Baru where ExxonMobil’s giant oil platform was being built. It was a real one-of-a-kind experience.

But just because we won’t be running any more BRATs workshops this year doesn’t mean we’ll be sitting around. We’re introducing our BRATs Editorial Team today (turn to page six), and we’ll also have more activities to celebrate BRATs’ 20th Anniversary!

So make sure you keep following the BRATs on Facebook (facebook.com/starbrats), Twitter (@starbrats) and Instagram (@starbrats)!