“扑满者，以土为器，以蓄钱，有入窍而无出窍，满则扑之。”——汉代《西京杂记》卷五。
陶扑满早在数千年前便被人类广泛使用，仅开一道缝隙供投入钱币，待存满后打破取出。能够一直流传至今，可见培养储蓄观念在生活中极其重要。近年无现金支付逐渐普及，实体扑满面临淘汰，但在依约（Ijok）仍有一家工厂专事生产陶扑满。色彩鲜艳的禽畜、煤气桶、邮筒、水果等各种造型，既吸睛又讨喜。出品的每一只扑满，都承载着来自第二代掌舵人黄宝发与妻子游雪萍手心的温度。
阿发大哥祖籍潮州，他的爷爷凭陶瓷制作的手艺到马来亚谋生。原先在甲洞一带设厂，为发展让路而搬到甘榜梳邦，却又历史重演，约30年前迁至位于依约的现址。父亲三兄弟都与泥为伍，各自投入不同的产品线：大伯制作瓦煲和药煲，父亲制作扑满，叔叔则制作餐具。
今年47岁的阿发大哥，年轻时曾外出闯荡，后来选择回家从父亲手中接过扑满厂。已退休的父亲仅偶尔过来看看、帮忙设计扑满模具。雪萍姐出嫁从夫，协助撑起家庭生计，从零开始学习陶扑满制作，同时也参加课程提升自己，当丈夫忙于外出送货时，她能独当一面维持厂内运作。
陶扑满采用注浆成型的方式制作，将高岭土与水混合搅拌，调配成泥浆，倒入石膏模具中。石膏模具可以吸收泥浆中的水份，从而在模具内壁形成一层材料，呈现模具的形状。待雏形凝至一定的厚度，便倒出多余泥浆，仅保留一小部分，盖稳后倒扣，直到隔天才拆开。
雪萍姐手持一把小刀，仔细掰开石膏模具，小心翼翼取出已成型的扑满，割开一道寸余大小的缝隙，拍拍底部排出空气，排列在木板上风干巩固。接着便是修饰扑满的轮廓，用锉刀刮去多余的泥块，再用水清洗打磨，让扑满表面光滑，晾至70-80%干后即可入窑。
近千个不同形状、大小的扑满堆叠在窑里，看似积木游戏般简易，实则煞费脑筋与耐心。用砖头封壁、锌片封顶，烧柴用小火烘一天至完全干。接着渐渐添柴，加大火势，直到温度达到摄氏一千度左右，持续烧大概五小时后停火，待隔天冷却后出炉。
烧好的扑满先上一层淡色水漆打底，让喷漆的颜色更显饱满明亮。阿发大哥精细操控气泵喷笔，遵循“薄喷多层”的原则，先喷上一个颜色，让表面干燥后再进行下一层不同颜色，避免积漆和流挂。完成上色的扑满还得耗时半天晾干，进行包装前，雪萍姐发挥点睛之笔，使扑满的神态更生动。
陶扑满款式五花八门，许多细节仍需人手费心处理。尚未窑烧的扑满仍是一团泥，颜色灰白，即使破裂还可重塑；经历窑烧后变成陶器，颜色带黄，破裂了不得不舍弃。一般出炉的成功率高达90%，倘若不幸低于50%，也只能默默认亏。
基于现代人们的生活和消费习惯改变，传统扑满日益式微。扑满厂为求变通，也制作敬拜拿督公用的甘文烟炉、北马流行的聚宝炉等民间信仰用品。即使面临不少挑战，阿发大哥与雪萍姐依然撑着传统扑满厂，撑着一个家。
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Clay piggy banks have been widely used since thousands of years ago. They have only one slit for inserting coins, and are broken open to remove them when full. The fact that it has survived to this day shows how important it is to cultivate the habit of saving. In recent years, cashless payments have become increasingly popular, and physical piggy banks are facing elimination, but in Ijok, there is a factory still producing traditional clay piggy banks. The colourful and attractive varieties include animals, gas cylinders, post boxes, and fruits. Each piggy bank produced carries the warmth from the hands of the second-generation owner, Ng Poh Huat, and his wife, Yin Shin Peng.
The Ng family roots can be traced to Teochew, China. Mr Ng’s grandfather moved to Malaya and made a living with his pottery skills. He first set up a factory in Kepong, but relocated to Kampung Subang to make way for development, yet history repeated itself, the factory thus relocated to its current site in Ijok about 30 years ago. Mr Ng’s father and his two siblings all work in the same industry, each leading a different production line: the eldest makes clay pots, the second makes piggy banks, the youngest makes dining ware.
47-year-old Mr Ng used to work elsewhere, but later chose to return home and take over the piggy bank factory from his father. The retired senior Mr Ng drops by occasionally to visit and help design piggy bank moulds. Since Madam Yin married into the family, she helped with the operations in the piggy bank factory, learning from scratch, as well as attending courses to upskill. When Mr Ng goes out to make deliveries, she is able to run the factory all by herself.
Clay piggy banks are made using the slip casting method, which is mixing kaolin clay with water into a mixture and pour into plaster moulds. Plaster moulds absorb water from the mixture, thus forming a layer of clay on the inner walls, taking the shape of the mould. Once the clay has solidified to a certain thickness, excess mixture is poured out, leaving only a small portion, then attach the cover securely and invert the mould, and wait till the next day to unmould.
With a small knife in hand, Madam Yin pries the plaster mould open, and takes out the piggy bank carefully. She cuts a slit about an inch in size, pats the bottom of the piggy bank to release air, and arranges it onto a wooden plank to air dry and solidify. The next step is refining the outline of the piggy bank, scraping off excess clay, and polish with water to smoothen the surface. After drying to 70-80% dryness, the piggy bank can be loaded into the kiln.
Nearly a thousand piggy banks of different shapes and sizes are stacked in the kiln, seemingly as easy as a building block game, yet in fact requiring a lot of brainwork and patience. The walls of the kiln are then sealed with bricks, the roof wth zinc sheets, and a fire is kindled to dry the piggy banks over low heat for a day, until they completely dry. Then firewood is gradually added to increase the heat, until the temperature reaches about 1000 degrees Celsius, firing for about five hours before extinguishing, and let the piggy banks cool down, only unloading the kiln on the next day.
(Full article: https://uniness.gallery/piggy-bank-fa…)
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