69 326
LACQUERWARE
69
October14
By Amy Brook-Partridge;
photography by Michael Bernabe
TUYET-MAI
A husband-and-wife team
tells us about moving to
Singapore and explains how
they maintain a harmonious
relationship while running
their lacquer home décor
business together.
H
aving begun their expat experience in 1995 with an assignment from their
home country France to Hong Kong, the Phams spent the subsequent
19 years living in a variety of Asian countries. It’s unsurprising, then, that
Tuyet-Mai and Hung’s four-bedroom River Valley apartment is crammed
full of interesting and eye-catching Asian furniture and accessories. The pieces
range from large Vietnamese lacquer pictures to furniture acquired during stints
in Guangzhou, Vietnam and Shanghai.
The couple is of French-Vietnamese descent; Hung left Vietnamwhen he was two
years old, and Tuyet-Mai when she was 11. They both lived in Paris. “Our parents
were in the medical profession, and we hung out in similar circles. We didn’t actually
know each other as children, but met later at a party,” explains Tuyet-Mai.
&HUNG
PHAM