Knack for carpentry
> Aida Ihsani is passing it on to the next generation
passion. It can be done as DIY, even without a workshop.
What has the art of carpentry instilled in or taught you? Like what we teach our children, called minimakers, patience. It’s very important, as we do everything from start to end, so we can’t rush into finishing a job. It has to be done part by part, as a process. People come to us, and they tell us what they want, but they want us to build something functional, and they want us to design and build it. It gives us room to utilise our creativity and innovation. Also, discipline and focus.
Why did you choose to start up Minimakermy to train children in carpentry? One of our friends approached Adi, asking if we taught children. We thought it would be good to bring children back to basics. We offer kidscentric projects, so the projects are designed by us. The kids don’t start with something like a mini-stool. No, it’s a “tabung” (coin box), so they can save money, or a toy box for their toys. Everything that they build is something they can use and grow up with. The projects are catered to this age group, and our age group ranges between five to 10 years old children.
What is the hardest part about carpentry? Transferring the design to building it. Breaking it into parts to make sure that we maximise our materials. Like I said, carpentry is a process; it can’t go from design straight into building. Like we have one sheet of wood, and we have to see where to fit all the parts.