Disappearing Act

Last Thursday morning I was standing among the crowd at Chinatown. As usual, it was days until Chinese New Year.

Lines begin to snake across the various breakfast delights stall, handful people are starting their day off with a good breakfast, while others are just walking through to the crowd trying to get some Chinese New Year decorations and somewhere in the corner of the bustling street, Mr. Lim Boon Seng, 109.

When they require his services, they can locate him better than a GPS. The [age] is a life-saver for many in Chinatown: He has been mending shoes by the market for 89 years. Continuously. He works mostly six days a week and his only break comes during the Chinese New Year when he takes a few days off from the long hours expected of the job.

Not that he’s complaining.

Mr. Lim Boon Seng is one of the few street cobblers left in Singapore. Once a common sight, these are a rare breed and their market share is slowly changing to chain shops, like Mister Mint. There are probably less than 100 street cobblers in Singapore and according to the authorities, they have stopped handing out licenses to street cobblers.

Cobblers adopted back the early days of Singapore, the 1950s. Traditional cobblers usually work at a specific location for years. Cobblers used different knives, hammers, pincers, shoe brushes, shoe polish, threads, and needles. They would carry around a bulky box or baskets for their tools.

Along with the waves of tools are rolls of leather, viny soling material, and rubber pieces. Many of them are seen during the day, often than not, they can be found anytime.

Their service is based on the condition of the shoe. The price depends on the service. In the late 1970s, they charged up to $1.50 to mend a pair of shoe, making around S$300 a month. However, the weather is their biggest hindrance, they can go penniless during the raining season.

Mr. Ahmad Abdullah, 75, who is a cobbler near the busy market of Jurong West Street 52 for 16 years now, also claimed to work six days a week. Mr. Ahmad Abdullah also reserved a corner where he sets up his equipment and waits for his customers, he works from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm.

Whatever competition from commercialised shops, Mr. Lim Boon Seng & Mr. Ahmad Abdullah takes it in their stride. “For the same job, I charge $10 but they can charge some $40. Sometimes, it’s even more expensive than the cost of the shoes. The customers will come to me eventually.” The 75-years-old’s rates for shoe repair vary from as low as $3 to $550, which is the cost for stitching leather soles onto a pair of Louis Vuitton heels. He mends on average about 20 shoes daily. His workmanship has gained trust among people in the area.

Mr. Lim Boon Seng & Mr. Ahmad Abdullah, however, honed their skills different. For Mr. Ahmad Abdullah, it was something he picked up from his father. According to Mr. Ahmad Abdullah, his father was once a famous cobbler back in the kampong days, he was curious and triggered to help his father, since then, he has been mending shoes.

On the other hand, Mr. Lim Boon Seng was the total opposite. Mr. Lim Boon Seng self-learn to mend shoes. Mr. Lim Boon Seng claimed that it was his interest that drive him to learn also due to the privileged of time. He said he had nothing to do, thus he picked up mending shoes.

It wasn’t easy for both Mr. Lim Boon Seng & Mr. Ahmad Abdullah from the start.

Street cobblers are in short supply, Mr. Ahmad Abdullah is happy that both his son is helping out at the stall on a part-time basis. Mr. Ahmad Abdullah enjoys what he does and so does his son.

However, for Mr. Lim Boon Seng, he had no one to continue his generation. It’s surprising that until now, he still mending shoes along with the other cobblers at Chinatown who became his friends not long after.

Despite the dying field in Singapore, these two passionate cobblers still wake up daily to their customers mending shoes from as low as $2 to the most expensive heels or shoes. The long queues before their stall was what surprised me, and how they still put on the smile despite being there for hours through the weather.

For Mr. Ahmad Abdullah, it’s no longer just a job, it was a bond he had with his son. For Mr. Lim Boon Seng, it was just something he does to occupy the free time he had. Both individuals fell in love with the beauty of mending shoes and never stopped since they begin. Cobbler that was once common, now bring backs nostalgic memory to Singapore.

Can you think of other disappearing act in Singapore?