Old Cobbler Wong

Cobbler Wong was an old shoe mender near our office - McCallum Street by the side of DBS Building to be exact. His death a week back at the age of 82 was reported in the Straits Times with the following account:

- the man worked as a cobbler from the age of 13 till the day he died.

- words of appreciation from one of his sons written on a board and placed at the spot where his father mended shoes for his customers and where the old man fainted the morning of the day he died. The message was for all the nice people who had been his father's customers through the years and who had shown the old man great kindness like buying him meals daily.

- how much his cobbler father’s work meant to him and about him waking up at 4 am daily to 'go to work'

- the man being awarded an award some years back for his exemplary services (despite his age), honesty etc. as a roadside cobbler

- the old man giving each of his grandchildren $10 every week but had never stepped foot outside of Singapore - not even Sentosa!

- One of his son's remarking about how surprised he was that so many people could have shown such kindness to his father even though he was neither 'rich nor famous'.

I remembered the old man well for 2 reasons. He was very much a part of the 'scene' along the path many of us take to go for lunch daily. Whenever I see him I wondered if he really had to do that given his age and how lucky most of us are in contrast. It also reminded me of a saying by an English writer quoted by Gandhi as having had a profound impact on him: 'A life of labor is a life worth living'.

I remember the 2 instances when he turned down my business. Sometime back I thought I might be able to give him some business. So, I brought my old soccer boots and asked him to have the soles reattached. But he told me that he cannot fix them and I'll have to go to a shop with the machinery to do stitching. I returned weeks later with a simpler problem - a casual shoe with part of its sole detached. I thought now he should have no excuse not to fix it since I could have glued it back myself with super glue. To my chagrin he turned me down again! This time he told me that the sole would not stay on for long even if he glued it back for me. Which was true - I glued it back myself and it did re-open again sometime after.

My personal experience with Cobbler Wong helped me to better appreciate what was reported in the papers. That old man was really honest and professional. And his other customers must have appreciated it too - thus the award and kindness shown to him in return. I now feel a tinge of regret for having approached him - for he might have thought that they were just out of sympathy (which was somewhat true).

So from him, a few important lessons I learnt in life were reinforced:

- A life of labor is indeed a life worth living. His work meant so much to him that he did it till the day he died.

- Goodness begets goodness and it does not matter who you are and what little you do.

- Never be like Cobbler Wong's sons. One who wondered in public why others could have been so nice to his father even though he was neither 'rich nor famous' as if goodness has anything to do with those 2 attributes. None of the sons and grandchildren had bothered to accompany the old man even for a trip to Sentosa! It made me feel sick. And that probably explains why the old man preferred to come to McCallum street everyday. He probably felt closer to the nice people he knew there than his own off springs.

But all the above would have just simply receded to the back of my mind had I not learnt of what a man I know did for old Cobbler Wong. And I had to write this down - for my friends and kids when they grow up. This man is a colleague in JP Morgan's Corporate Services group - responsible for mails and other administrative tasks. Apparently his first encounter with Cobbler Wong was more than 10 years ago when he wanted a new hole punched on his belt which the old man (younger then) did for free. This colleague felt so bad that he bought the old man a drink that day. What was most admirable was that since that day, that was what this colleague did almost every morning without fail! Just like what a woman was reported in the newspaper to have done with meals for Cobbler Wong.

One day last week, on his usual drink delivery to Cobbler Wong, this colleague was a little surprised when the old man asked him to take off his shoes so that he could polish them. Our colleague was embarrassed but did so as it was an unusual request from the old man and he did not want to disappoint the man - if it made him happy why not? But he was to learn on his next delivery the next morning that the old man had fainted the previous morning (sometime after polishing his shoes) and had passed away that day. He returned to the office that morning with the memory of the dead man and wondered about the significance of the event the day before. Did the old man sense that he was about to go and the polishing of his shoes was his last act of appreciation for the kindness shown to him?

That only God will ever know but we should all be proud to know that among us is a very, very nice man and his name is Das, short for Devathas Kumarasamy.

p.s. can someone pls forward a copy of this to Das - couldn't find his e-mail ID! And those who want to join Das for lunch can let Ee Lin know - she is arranging one and it was she who told me the story about Das and Cobbler Wong.

Why Maids Are Not Allowed in Cricket Club

ST reported recently about a member of Singapore Cricket Club challenging the club for forbidding her Sri Lanka maid from entering the club. The Club claimed that it was specified as condition of club membership. The question is why are maids not allowed in the club? Pick the correct answer from below:

A. Members in club are not distinguishable from maids and do not want to be mistaken as one (see next point)

B. Members' parents and grandparents were treated the same way by the club when it was exclusive to their colonial masters and they were not allowed to enter the club. So their children now want to do the same to others to feel as good as their parents' colonial masters.

C. Members paid so much money to show off they could not afford to be seen there with someone else's maid

D. All of the above.