The air is still with silence and the only thing one could hear is the scratching of a knife, cutting across a paper surface.
Held by deft but steady hands, the knife’s eye carves out a perfect leaf shape, leaving behind a hole.
At 69, Pak Shafie’s eyes are still sharp and can make out the intricate carvings of the wau he is working on, even in the dark.
“My teachers noticed that I was interested in making and playing wau, to a point where they taught I must have been mad! But it’s a thing I did to earn a little bit of money, so we got by."
Pak Shafie hardly ever looks up, his eyes transfixed on the dozens of leaf shapes he continues to carve from the large wau bulan he is working on.