88-year-old retired teacher Ee Choo Teck with one of the bigger origami fighter jets he makes. - Photo: Bernama
GEORGE TOWN: Retired teacher Ee Choo Teck, 88, proves to be an origami crafter having produced 600 types of fighter jets using the paper-folding technique.
He has been making origami for 24 years and now owns a studio called "Modern Origami", located in Bukit Jambul here, to display thousands of his origami works.
Ee, who hails from Yong Peng, Johor, said he became interested in origami after attending an airplane exhibition in Singapore in 1998.
"After my return from the airplane exhibition, I started making fighter jets by folding papers for my grandson... that was how I started making origami and it has now become my passion," he told Bernama when met at his residence in Bukit Jambul recently.
Ee said that the first origami jet fighter he produced was a F15 using an A4-sized paper.
The largest F15 origami is over 1m in size, which he said took him almost a day to complete.
Ee, who moved to Penang in 2000 to teach at SJKC Kwang Hwa, said he would produce origami to give his students as gifts.
"It was then that a teacher friend suggested that I sell origami fighter jets because the origami is unique and beautiful.
"So, that started me making origami fighter jets and I initially gave my craftwork to non-governmental organisations tor them to sell to raise donations," he said.
Due to the encouraging response, Ee said participated in the weekend Armenian Street market to sell his craftwork and was able to sell between 40 to 50 origami fighter jets of various sizes daily with sales amounting to RM300.
"I sell the origami fighter jet at a price of RM5 to RM10 depending on the size and type. I also have thousands of origami in the studio for display," he said.
Ee said he could make more than 100 origami fighter jets using A4-sized paper in a day.
"I can produce more than 600 types of origami fighter jets of different size, colour and type.
"All my origami fighter jets are not just decorative items but they can fly like other paper airplanes," he said. - Bernama
Ee and some of his creations. - Photos: Bernama
