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HOME
70
October14
After Hong Kong came postings to Guangzhou, Shanghai,
Vietnam and Shanghai again, before they arrived in Singapore
in August last year. Along the way, they had three children. Son
Khoi (17) was born in Hong Kong, elder daughter Mai-Khanh
(15) in France, and Mai-Khue (5) in Shanghai.
The family chose this four-bedroom apartment close to
Orchard Road as their Singapore home; Tuyet-Mai says its
safe and central location were deciding factors. “We’d lived
in a house for many years, but we felt that it was time to move
back into an apartment. It’s so much easier when you go away;
you just lock the door and walk away. You don’t have to shut
up the whole house,” she explains.
“We need a big space as we have a lot of furniture, so we
didn’t mind moving into an old condo because we knew we’d
get more room.”
From the family roomwindow, Tuyet-Mai points out the views
of the back of Takashimaya, and of course Orchard Road.
Despite the plethora of shopping, bars and restaurants close
by, the couple are still spending most of their time working on
their business venture. “We haven’t had the chance to enjoy
Singapore much yet, and any spare time we do have is spent
with the children.”
The lowdown on lacquer
Lacquer is the sap from the lacquer tree
(Toxicodendron vernicifluum), which grows only
in East Asia. To harvest it, grooves are cut in the
bark, and the sap that oozes out is then collected
in bowls. Next, the sap is put into large bamboo
barrels that are sealed so as to be airtight, and
left for several months in a cool, dark, airy place.
The resin settles into layers that are separated and
filtered to remove impurities.
To lacquer an object, it is coated with layer upon
layer of lacquer, each layer left to dry for about two
days. The finished products are extremely hardy
and durable.
Mai Home Décor
30 East Coast Road
#02-21 Katong V
6348 6390 | maihomedecor.com
Working together
Tuyet-Mai set up Mai Home Décor in 2006 while the family
was living in Vietnam. She started off with lamps, only
more recently adding other accessories and furniture.
“Lacquerware is something very well known in Vietnam;
it involves an ancient technique, and I like the fact that
the pieces are handmade. The concept we had for our
products was to have decorative lamps that can bring style
to your home,” she says. The lamps in their own home are
a mix of Art Deco, contemporary, and Chinese influences.
All sit neatly against their own furniture.
Deciding to bring his 20-year career with a Swedish
multinational to an end, Hung recently joined his wife to
help build up their business. The obvious question is: what
is it like working together as a married couple? “We share
everything and we talk about everything,” says Tuyet-Mai.
“Hung takes care of the strategy and I work more on the
commercial and clientele side. There are definitely things
that he does much better than me. I couldn’t handle the
business on my own anymore, so having him 100 percent
here with me is really helpful.”
Left:
Mai Home can
customise its
lamps and
furniture with
any one of
these different
lacquer
colours and
patterns.
The lamps fit
high safety
standards,
and even the
lampshades
are flame
retardant.
Clockwise
from top left:
The Stella,
$870.
The Voyage,
$355.
The Acapulco,
$230.
The Dome,
$250.