Press & Reviews

The Star - Friday, November 24, 2007
By Emmeline Tan

Clogs get a modern makeover

CLOGS old-fashioned? No way! Not according to the organisers of the Little Penang Street Market.

The humble wooden ‘shoes’, which are worn in the kitchen and bathroom, were transformed into glamorous designer shoes during a clog-painting competition held at the monthly event in Upper Penang Road.

Retro, traditional, festive and even bridal clogs emerged from the hands of the 40 creative participants who only had a pair of plain wooden clogs and their own art materials to work with.

Apart from paint, participants also used sequins, beads, raffia string, gold paper, glitter, feathers and even a string of bells to decorate their wooden clogs (called kha kiak in the Hokkien dialect).

One participant even cut the plastic strap at the middle and rejoined the two ends with shoelaces.

Another person drew a Santa Claus on the sole and attached a snazzy festive decorative piece to the strap.

Student Haneesha Khanum, 15, gave her clog a glittery look with plenty of purple sequins.

“I also drew butterfly patterns around the edge to symbolise my freedom after my PMR,” said Haneesha.

Universiti Utara Malaysia undergraduate Yeap Poah Leay, 21, decided to stick to a more traditional theme and painted a Chi-nese beer jar against a purple background.

Equator Academy of Art student Loo Wei Lyn, 19 said her grandmother still used clogs back home.

“But I never thought I’d be decorating a clog with nail polish one day!” said Loo who was drawing a dragon design on her clogs.

The clogs were later auctioned off to raise funds for the market.

The Little Penang Street Market, a showcase of Malaysian arts, crafts and culture in Penang, will be held from 10am to 6pm this Sunday.

Next month’s street market will be held on Dec 17. Different acti-vities are held each time at the children’s corner.

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