The Couple put Rice on the Bamboo Flat Basket

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Traditional bamboo woven basket owned by the people of Navatusila in the Western Mainland of Vitilevu, Fiji.

Sing-si is a type of oil/ghee produced manually. It is purely made with locally available materials and doesn’t mix any imported ingredients unlike the oil which are available in the market today. The main ingredient used is the Se-lung- a black small oily seed. Its scientific name is Parasassafras Confertiflora. The Se-lung tree is either wild or domesticated.\n\nUsually, in bygone days, it is believed that almost many villages had a trend of processing Sing-si, however, the trend wasn’t famous unlike Thongsa village under Chongshing Gewog (block) in Pemagatshel. According to grandma Nimdaza who is seventy-four years old, processing of Sing-si was part and parcel of their lives and members from every household were engaged in performing chores of Singsi production. Further she says that the labor contribution was also done depending upon the number of members present in the household. More than one worker was engaged from the household which had more family members. The materials needed were –Tsir (a small bamboo basket), Mar-kang (wooden block), plank, stones, Neetong-ma (pestle), frying pan, Luu (pounding stone). The Sing-si was used mainly for offering butter lamps. Other secondary uses were for human and animal consumption. Humans consumed it as there weren't imported oils available those days in the shops.

The Couple Rub the Fermented Rice on the Flat Bamboo Basket