He is also adamant about keeping other additives out – no fragrance to mask the medicinal smell of Chinese herbs, no plastic, no lacquer – which also means that while the beads are hardy, they can’t be worn in the shower or sauna. But going by the response so far (Base Genesis sold 1,400 beads in the first week), Huang might be onto something.
“The bracelets are sold for S$108 each (regardless of the number of beads needed per bracelet) through livestream on TikTok,” he said. “There are also customers who buy the beads to customise their own bracelets, necklaces and keychains.”
The duo is exploring ways for more temples to be involved. “We want to help more temples convert their ashes into beads, which they can then sell to their devotees as bracelets, necklaces or keychains,” said Teo.
ECO-FRIENDLY HELL NOTES AND SMOKE-FREE JOSS STICKS
The upcycled Ben Yuan He Xiang beads aren’t Huang’s and Teo’s first foray into sustainability. Just last March, they created an ash-free and smoke-free eco hell note that you can burn for your ancestors during the Seventh Month Festival – the first of its kind in the world, according to Teo.
The environmentally friendly hell notes take seconds to burn completely – way shorter than the duration you’d otherwise spend tossing pieces of traditional hell money into the burning bin at your HDB block – then spending even more time waiting for them to burn down completely to ensure “delivery” to the netherworld.
Another convenient feature of the hell note is you can burn it indoors. However, as the approval for such use in Singapore is pending with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, it is currently only sold to overseas customers.
Nonetheless, Teo said that “there is a lot of interest in environmentally friendly stuff”, including the Ministry of National Development, which has sought feedback from Base Genesis in the redesign of the HDB burning bins through the Alliance Action on Norms for Joss Paper Burning.
