About Malaya Handcraft

Hello! I created Malaya Handcraft out of sheer passion and love for candles and for the arts. In my native tongue, the word “malaya” means to have freedom or the state of having liberty. I feel the most alive and free when I can explore my creativity. Candle-making is one of the many avenues I use to express myself.

The candle scents I chose are reflections of my memories growing up in several places, but mainly in Manila, Philippines. My materials are carefully sourced within Canada in order to support other small businesses here. Malaya Handcraft is based in Vancouver, BC.

As a woman of color and a migrant in Canada, I am committed to continually learn and understand what it means to live and operate in these ancestral lands. I acknowledge that this business serves communities living on the unceded, occupied, ancestral and traditional homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I am in solidarity with indigenous people everywhere, as my heritage and experience as a Filipina is shaped by our own history of colonization.

It is my hope that you find something in my shop that sparks peace and happiness in your own home, where ever home may be to you. Thank you for your continued support!

Gratefully,