Local artists gather for building a local production chain during COVID

9 Nov, 2020

A 180-cm tall man carefully pulled a simple red-and-black wooden toy car out of a tailor-made paper cylinder package, then placed it next to a vintage blue toy car.

“I tried to make the car body much wider than the vintage one, because if the car is so thin, some kids would directly grab the wheels of the car, which makes it harder to slide the car,” said Ryan Siu Shiu-kei, a wooden toymaker.

The red-and-black pattern is the iconic color of his products. Siu chose red because it is the very first color for a new born baby recognizes.

Siu has already been running his business for over 10 years – drafting, designing, crafting and selling, all by himself. Finding foreign factories like Vietnam and Japan in a few years ago, Siu found it was impossible during the pandemic and started co-operated with several local artists, shops and even doctors for building a local production chain.

Lacking of storage areas in Hong Kong, some wood local artists, who are also Siu’s friends, rented a warehouse in Fanling for storing discarded trees for crafting. As the humid weather in Hong Kong could easily ruin original textures of wood, artists could store their raw wood materials in the warehouse for a proper protection.

Siu had a project with a doctor who is working with attention-deficit or hyperactivity disorder children. He was working on a wooden book which is a brief introduction about the disease.

"That's what I want to do, designing stuff to serve a small niche in the society."

“I try to make things simple to promote these information to the public,” said Siu. “That’s what I want to do, designing stuff to serve a small niche in the society.”

Before Siu had started his sole business in Hong Kong, he worked at a British wooden and cloth toy company. Siu went to a nursery school at where children with specific needs studied. Tutors provided tailor-made toys which is not for sale in the public. Serving for particular children was what he wanted to do when he worked in the United Kingdom.

In favor of the relaxed atmospheres of Sai Kung, Siu put his wooden rock light bulbs for sale in a local handcraft Sai Kung shop.

According to the government statistic, the import of cork products in October dropped to 541 thousand from 1.1 million in Oct, 2019, which decreased by over 50 percent.

“You don’t have to find any factories in other places anymore,” said Siu. “The production line in Hong Kong is processing. Maybe one day, we can establish a production line which are designed, made and shipped from Hong Kong for the next generation.”

Hebe Law Yung,nga, the shopkeeper of the Sai Kung store impressed by the wood craftworks of Siu. “Wooden toy can be stored for many years and the wood would be unique when they are used by human,” said Law. “I am very impressed by Ryan that he hopes his toys would be the ‘first best friends’ for the kids.”

“Toys are not just for fun,” said Siu. “It’s something educational and happiness to help the kids.”

Siu’s workshop in Fo Tan is separated into a crafting area and a reading area. He placed nearly a thousand books in a L-shaped tall hollow bookshelf in the area for his inspirations.

Siu said he is inspired by vintage toys and the old-fashioned British management style of the 1960s and 1970s, which emphasized testing products with kids rather than markets.

“It is always exciting to have a product test on a kids under 3,” said Siu. He said the British toy company would hold a product test by putting several toys in front of the kids and screening their reactions.

"If they don't like that products, they will just kick or throw them away."

“I like the reaction of the kids, they are real. If they don’t like that product, they will just kick or throw them away,” said Siu.

Siu is still using the traditional testing methods after he launched his new products, “I would find my cousins to play the toy with me so I can examine whether my toys are appropriate with their ages.”

“COVID is not a problem but a ‘hurdle’ for us,” said Siu, “hurdles are unnecessary to overcome, but when everyone strive for pushing the hurdles forward, we might see opportunities from the side.”