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Welcome to Manek-Manek
"manek-manek" or "manik-manik" means beads in the
Malay language.
I live in the Far East - an area
that is rich in potpourri of many ethnic cultures, races and
religions. From this melting pot of cultures, many influences from
both the East and West have created a society of people that have
come to love very intricately designed and hand-crafted fashion and
accessories.
But how did I come to be so fascinated with these little manek-manek?
Way back in 1998, I came across an old pair of antique beaded shoes
that are extremely popular with the Straits Chinese people of the
then Malayan Peninsula. I was absolutely fascinated by the intricate
details of individual hand beading using tiny size 13 charlottes (potong
manek). I set myself the task to find out how this could be done.
The birth of my first own hand beaded shoes (kasut manek) as worn by
the Straits Chinese lady (bibi) of the day came soon after.
From there, the rest you could say is history. After shoes, there
came little amulet bags in peyote weave, then knitted bags, then
crocheted bags and accessories and ....
Do explore my dedication to manek-manek. I would love to hear from
you and share other manek-manek obsessions with you.
Cheers!
Happy Beading!
01 September 2010
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