Mr Yeo, 61, whose stage name is Frankie Malachi, estimates that he has made around 400 puppets to date – from marionettes and hand puppets, to shadow puppets, mascots and animatronics.

“Now, they are just hanging there,” he said, gesturing at his eclectic family of “babies” in his studio. “But in the right hands, they come alive.”

He used to run a costume rental and performance company, and added puppet-making to his repertoire in 1995, mastering the craft through trial and error.

He went full-time into the puppet business in 2003, and in 2005 trained under American marionette puppeteer Phillip Huber, known for his work in the film Being John Malkovich.

His company, Mascots and Puppets Specialists, also stages performances and choreographs shows – strutting its stuff in educational shows for pre-schoolers and at children’s parties, company events and theatre productions.

The team performs around 100 shows a year, on average.

Mr Yeo’s creations have been featured in events such as the 2015 Singapore Night Festival and the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games.

He has also performed in competitions and festivals abroad, such as the Second International Marionette Festival 2010 in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Gold Award for Best Performance, the Gold Award for Best Artist (Individual Puppeteer), as well as the Special Award for Excellence in Puppet Design.

In 2015, Mr Yeo performed in Poland at the International Theatrical Festival Valise, a cultural festival featuring performance artists from around the world.

“Let’s blame Jim Henson,” said Mr Yeo, on how his interest in puppets began. Watching The Muppets on television as a child, he became fascinated with the idea of giving life to something inanimate.

“Every puppet has its own quirks and personality,” said Mr Yeo as he picked up a clown marionette. “This is Bruno – my favourite. He was the first string puppet I made that worked. I intended for him to be a pianist, but somehow, he turned out to be a clown.”

This is what separates hand-crafted puppets from mass-produced ones made with modern technology, he believes.

“A 3D-printed puppet can be more technically perfect than a hand-crafted one. But it is the imperfections that make hand-crafted puppets endearing. Not too smooth, not too artificial,” he explained.

That said, he is no technophobe. He posts about his work on social media and is open to incorporating artificial intelligence and augmented reality into his craft. “I don’t want to be a dinosaur left behind. Life is about learning new things.”

He has three full-time employees who also craft puppets and perform, and he enlists the talents of freelance performers as necessary.

Because the craft is associated with children’s shows, many people have the misconception that creating and performing with puppets is child’s play, he said. But in truth, many disciplines are involved.

In their MacPherson Industrial Complex studio, the team puts on their creative hats to brainstorm ideas for character concepts, stories and scripts.

After that, design and engineering skills are involved. A dog puppet that needs to pick up an object requires its own mechanics, as does a boy puppet that blows a balloon, as well as a skeleton that can break apart.

Deft handiwork is then required to sculpt an initial model out of clay and reproduce it in wood or plastic via a mould. Putting the finishing touches on puppets with costumes and paint also requires the skills of an artist and fashion stylist.

Finally, the showmanship of an entertainer is needed to bring the puppets to life in front of an audience.

While the myriad skills are important, Mr Yeo points to having a purpose as the most crucial trait for a puppeteer to possess. None of his staff had prior experience, and picked up their trade from Mr Yeo and their own trial and error.

Finding proteges is not easy, Mr Yeo said.

“Skills can be taught. Passion is important – if someone doesn’t have passion, I can shove all my knowledge down their throat, but it would be no use. But sometimes, even passion is short-lived without purpose,” he said.

For Mr Yeo, that purpose includes the utilitarian value of puppets. For example, puppetry has value as an educational tool to communicate messages to children.

He has been working with the Singapore Kindness Movement for around a decade, instilling the value of kindness to pre-schoolers via his puppet shows.

But ultimately, it is the simple act of creating happiness that keeps him going.