'Building The Beca' project aims to resurrect a vintage KL trishaw design

Beca-maker Benny Diong (left) and ‘apprentice’ Jeffrey Lim will be assembling a beca together at the KongsiKL arts warehouse for the 'Building The Beca' project. Photo: KongsiKL

Most people know Jeffrey Lim for his cycling and mapping projects, his box camera outreach and photography works.

But do you know that since 2014, Lim has been learning to make the beca (trishaw) from scratch?

He has been picking up the skill – one bicycle part at a time – from trishaw builder Benny Diong, whose KL-based family business dates back to post-war Malaya. The business was officially registered in 1946.

When Diong, 65, who is a second generation beca maker, closed down his shop at Pasar Pudu Besar in KL for good in July this year, Lim decided it was time to build his first complete beca with Diong and document the entire process in his newly-launched Building The Beca - Trades Archive project.

'Building The Beca' will include technical drawings and specifications, featured in an artisanal video as well as a book publication. Photo: Jeffrey Lim

“On and off in the last few years, I learnt the bending of steel parts and alignments from him. I had many other projects that needed to be completed, so it has been on the back burner until recently it became urgent to pursue this.

"With the closure, all the custom-made hand tools, machinery and parts will be sold off and we will never be able to build another beca again,” says Lim, 43, a graphic designer, who has expanded his career to include photography and community archival work.

Building The Beca comprises video documentation (in the form of an “artisanal video” that serves as a manual to building a beca) and a book publication with technical drawings, material specifications, custom tools and method.

'The Diong family design of the beca is a side-cart version, on the left. It is the most ingenious design I have seen among all the makers in Malaysia,' says Lim. Photo: Jeffrey Lim

An exhibition, tentatively planned for March or April of 2022, will showcase the machinery, materials, artefacts and tools salvaged from the shop, the video and book, as well as the finished beca.

Learning the trade

“The traditional way of apprenticeship is no manuals, no forms of standardised measurements. It is all by sight, feel and what is available. That’s the way my sifu learnt from his father. What I intend to do is to convert that into tangible forms.

"What I hope is to experience the build from start to finish, sourcing all the materials, preparing them and forming them by hand from custom handmade tools, and then assembling it, and fitting it together. I would think my role is more an archivist and the repairer of old becas,” says Lim.

Diong (right) and Lim have started a fundraising drive to help realise 'Building The Beca' project's documentary, book and exhibition target next year. Photo: KongsiKL

He notes that the Diong family was one of the first to innovate the radial spoke wheel, which revolutionised mobility, changing the way passengers and goods were transported.

This led to the creation of the beca wheel, where the beca is able to transport in excess of 200kg.

“The Diong family design of the beca is a side-cart version, on the left. It is the most ingenious design I have seen among all the makers in Malaysia. Founder Diong Kim Seng made his beca using steel water pipes, so this modular design was very easy to build and fabricate. The positioning between the three wheels and the main load is well-balanced, where the beca remains stable even with a heavy load of over 200kg. Evidence of good design build, is that they are still in use today,” says Lim.

This project is supported by Tetawowe Atelier, Karafuru Visuals, KongKongBreadProject and KongsiKL.

Trades Archive, which focuses on documentation of traditional trades, is kicking off its pilot trade with Building The Beca. Trades Archive is a project under the KongsiResidensi (part of KongsiKL's community arts programming).

The solid cast brass wheel hub the Diong family used for their beca. Each hole is drilled by hand, then tapped by hand at a precise angle to create the radial spoke pattern. Photo: Jeffrey Lim

“But I still need support, I’m starting a fundraising drive, to purchase the raw materials and machine parts for building the beca,” says Lim.

“Beca-making is only one of many traditional trades that have closed down this year. This is the effect of the pandemic on already frail traditional trades. The documentation is for future generations to pick up where these trades have left off. We should preserve and create a continuation of what our forefathers have built before us.

“I also hope to inspire others to start evaluating their trades skills as invaluable, and start forms of documentation for posterity. Create your own narrative and archives, because this is a collective memory for all of us,” says Lim.

In September 2014, Lim launched the “Cycling Kuala Lumpur, Bicycle Map Project”. The map, distributed for free, was made available in three languages – English, Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia.

Lim first developed the KL map project in 2012 with support from a team of volunteers, cycling enthusiasts and selected government agencies. There is a plan to update the KL bicycle map in 2024.