The Penang-born Chinese Peranakan derives great joy from creating new designs for manik shoes as well as teaching the craft to the younger generation.
Beading manik shoes is an artisan craft incorporating the sewing traditions of the Europeans, Malays and Chinese. According to Lim, these shoes were a must-have fashion accessory for Nyonya women of the Straits Settlements during British colonisation.
“My great-grandmother, grandmother and mother wore them for weddings or birthdays. They need the kebaya, sarong and beaded shoes. Otherwise, the attire isn’t complete,” she told FMT Lifestyle.
Lim was exposed to needlework at a young age, when her grandaunts instructed the girls in the family to thread needles and choose beads before playtime.
Her mother, while particular about her daughters’ education, also insisted Lim and her sisters learnt traditional Nyonya cooking and beading.
“We had to do these before we could go out and climb fruit trees or dig out the tapioca,” this retired research officer in the education ministry said.
The calling to promote her heritage craft came when a local charity organisation enquired if she would teach needlework to single mothers so they could earn extra money.
What started as a kind gesture turned into a creative pursuit for Lim, who began creating new designs for them, and producing patterns that would stand out in the market.
“My initial objective was to pass down my skills to the younger generation. I didn’t sell my shoes. My shoes were meant for my family,” she said, adding that this included cherished friends as well.
Her workshops soon caught the attention of the Penang Heritage Trust (PHT), which hired her as a facilitator for its apprenticeship programme for artisans after George Town was listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site in 2008.
In 2022, the PHT recognised Lim’s dedication to manik shoe beading with the Living Heritage Treasures Award.
Her passion for the craft also led her to incorporate basic computer software in the design process. Now, Lim’s apprentices spread across the globe, and people of various trades have approached her to learn the art.
She has even tutored actresses for China’s TV series “Little Nyonya”, and a psychiatrist once learnt beading from her for stress relief!
As it’s difficult to change younger generations’ perception of beading as a tedious activity, she finds ways to make it relevant to their lives.
Once, when visiting an all-boys high school with other artisans, she taught them to sew letters of the alphabet onto their school bags and clothes using bigger beads. The result? Her booth had the longest queue!
Beneath the dazzling designs of manik shoes are the craftsperson’s painstaking efforts. First, a design is drafted on a sheet of paper. These vary from traditional motifs like flowers, birds and phoenixes to modern abstract grid patterns.
Once ready, a crescent face is drawn onto a piece of cross-stitch fabric with square grids to accurately imitate the desired design.
Each bead is handpicked according to the colour arrangements to ensure greater visual control over the design. Matte and opaque beads are used for darker tones, while technicolour and transparent beads are for brighter or iridescent effects.
Depending on the design, a pair of manik shoes can use up to 19,000 beads, with some complicated patterns involving over 70 varying colours. The colourful beads are then stitched onto the fabric row by row to ensure an even surface.
While laborious, this technique creates more durable shoe faces than sewing each pattern individually onto the fabric. Fun fact: Lim owns a pair of row-stitched manik shoe faces that has lasted over two decades!
Finally, the completed shoe faces are given to a shoemaker to customise into footwear.
Asked about her plans for the future, Lim said she hopes to teach and practise beading for as long as she can.
“Hopefully I’ll have more students because I have people coming here to order shoes, so I can pass the orders on to my students. But I’ve told them that whatever you sell, you must give 10% to charity,” she said.
Visit the State Chinese (Penang) Association, where May Lim conducts her workshops, or contact her at 016-456 1373.
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