Something beautiful from paper
The durian, designed and folded by Sam Yap. Malaysian traditional ‘snacks’. dhist monks, who carried paper into Japan during the sixth century, who started the tradition of origami. But due to the scarcity of paper and with it being considered a luxury item, paper folding was only done for religious ceremonial purposes.
In a nod to the Chinese for their contributions to the origins of origami, the Japanese words ori (to fold) and kami (paper) when written out in Kanji (adopted logographic Chinese characters used in the Japanese writing system) spells Zhe Zhi that can loosely be translated as “paper folding”. By the Edo period (16031868), origami became more widespread and recreational, mostly because of the advent of mass-produced paper, making it more affordable.
To be able to call something a piece of origami creation, the design has to be devised from a singular sheet of paper with no cuts and no glue used. The most basic shapes in origami are the traditional models which includes the crane, boat, water bomb/balloon, butterfly, rabbit and many others.
These shapes have been around for more than 150 years. Some of them are even found in the first known origami book, Senbazuru Orikata (thousand crane folding) by Akisato Rito, published in Japan in 1797.
“The most popular design till today is still the paper crane because of what it denotes — luck and good health in Asian cultures, and faithfulness in Western ones,” shares Ch’ng while gingerly picking up one from the many adorning his shelves.
According to legend, anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their heart’s desire. This then led to the crane being known as a symbol of peace because of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as an infant and who believed in the legend.
As a hibakusha (an atomic bomb survivor), her health inevitably deteriorated over time from radiation exposure. By the age of 12 (1955), she was diagnosed with leukaemia. When she heard of the legend, she decided to fold the cranes in the hope that she, as well as those suffering with her, will be spared from pain and death. However, as she realises that she was running out of time and will not survive, she wished instead for world peace and an end to suffering.
Before Sasaki’s death, she managed to fold 644 cranes; meanwhile, the remaining ones were completed by her classmates in her honour. She was eventually buried with a wreath of 1,000 cranes and while her effort couldn’t extend her life, it moved her I started origami around 7 or 8 years old when I got my first origami book.
I saw the book in a bookstore and persuaded my dad to buy it for me.
Just the idea of being able to turn a piece of paper into different things attracted me to it, especially when you can use different types of paper to create different results.
Doing origami is a way for me to de-stress and relax. I feel good when I see a pretty origami. When I can put a story to it, even better!
I prefer simple designs of animals, monsters or humans. Essentially, I love folding things that have “life” which makes it easier for me to breathe “life” into them when I put them in a story-like setting. I began folding origami since
I was eight. Back in the days, without handphones or computers, and no money to buy toys, my mum taught me how to fold the paper crane.
I remember folding origami on the sly in the toilet because if my father were to catch me, he’d certainly be furious!
But I made good money in school among my classmates when I folded objects that they wanted, such as tankers or airplanes.
I always find it amazing to be able to fold different shapes and patterns from one simple paper. But at different stages in my life, different people inspired me to delve deeper into the art.
In the US during my degree, it was my
friends enough for them to commemorate her dreams with a granite statue of Sasaki with her hands outstretched and a paper crane flying from her fingertips.
The statue can be found in the Hiroshima Peace Park today. Every year, in her memory, the statue would be adorned with thousands of wreaths of a thousand origami cranes, known as senbazuru.
Even with enough evidence to point to the fact that origami is important, many people in the country continue to view it as child’s play. It’s a sentiment that saddens Ch’ng. “People still don’t think it’s important to know how to fold origami,” he confides, tone sorrowful. Ch’ng adds: “Actually, it’s really beneficial. It has been proven to help It began when I was only seven or eight. My family was not well-to-do, so it was a hobby to pass time. But soon I fell in love with it and enjoyed the thrill of being able to create something beautiful from just a piece of paper.
with mental building and it’s a great tool for cognitive training. If you start them young, it can help children to learn and retain information better and faster.”
Origami is a cheap and easily accessible form of art today. “The Japanese believe that all possibilities are already ingrained in this 15 by 15 piece of square. It’s just waiting for us to discover it,” says Ch’ng with conviction.
Suddenly, a reminder on his phone pops up — it’s reminding him of his next appointment. Sheepishly he apologises before concluding: “I’m serious about making origami more widely accepted. I want this knowledge to be widespread and ingrained in our culture. If not for its beauty, then at least for its mountain of benefits.”
su-lyn@nst.com.my