You could do that on any normal day in the outskirts of Kuala Selangor, for instance. But if you go past Jalan Stesen, you’ll hear the silence punctuated by the occasional clanking of metal against stone.
Walk further down and you’ll spot a small shed under a large tree by the roadside and a Chinese man chiseling away at a block of granite.
He is Kuah Leong Chuan, a stonemason who sculpts gravestones and etches them in Arabic script for his Muslim clients although he is a Taoist.
“I’m the fifth generation in my family to be working as a mason,” he told FMT Lifestyle.
One of his ancestors came from China and used to sculpt the stone lions commonly seen in front of Chinese temples. The skill was passed down the generations to Kuah and his elder brother.
However, as the demand for stone lions dwindled, the family moved to making headstones out of granite for Malay clients.
Kuah, now 68, initially didn’t plan to learn the skill, but he turned to the family business after his dream of pursuing engineering fell through due to lack of funds.
“I learnt when I was 17, from how to cut and polish the stone to how to write Jawi,” he said.
Now, more than five decades later, Kuah is the only Chinese in Malaysia making gravestones for Muslims. Some of his clients come all the way from Kelantan, Kuantan and Johor Bahru to place their orders with him.
On a typical day, Kuah wakes up at around 5am and heads to his shed after breakfast.
People in the area are familiar with the sight of Kuah pushing his bicycle across the street from his shop through the trees and shrubs to the low shed he has to bend his body to get into.
Before starting work, he prays at the Na Tuk Gong shrine near his shed. “It’s for my security,” he said. “When you work under a tree, you know, sometimes branches will fall down.”
Except for a lunch break, his is hard at work until 5pm.
It takes about five days for him to complete one pair of gravestones.
Kuah said his own religious beliefs didn’t clash with his work.
“People would ask if I do this as a hobby or for fun,” he said. “For me it’s a way to earn an income.
“It doesn’t bother the Malays whether I’m eating halal food or not. They never ask me.”
He respects the Chinese custom of avoiding death-related matters during Chinese New Year and doesn’t work for four days during this period.
Discussing his craft, he said: “You can say it’s hard, but it all depends on your mind. If you don’t want to work, you can just throw away your tools and go home. But if you intend to work, then you’ll be able to continue.
“For this line of work, you’d need to learn everything from A to Z. Back then, my brother was the one who wrote the Jawi while I did the rest. But after he passed away, I had to learn more in order to master the craft.”
Kuah said he once took in a Malay apprentice, but he quit after two years.
“Youngsters nowadays don’t like to do this kind of hard work,” he said. “They much prefer a stable job or one with an air-con in the office.”
Asked whether he planned to retire, he smiled and shook his head. “As long as I can still work, I won’t retire. But if my hands or legs can’t move, then I’ll have to surrender.”
Chop Lian Fatt Grenite Nasonnary
82, Jalan Stesen,
45000 Kuala Selangor,
Selangor