A Story from an Enterprising Locksmith

Seumas Tan Nyap Tek*,
Advocate & Solicitor

One rainy afternoon, I was at the Ampang Park Shopping Centre browsing around. Since it was raining and I wasn’t able to walk back to the office, I decided to stop by the Locksmith’s stall on the 1st floor of the shopping complex. The Locksmith’s name is Mr. Wee and he is an interesting person to talk to as he has an opinion on everything and anything under the sun.

As there were not many customers that afternoon, I decided to sit down on one of the stools at Mr. Wee’s stall. We chatted about the local and world news in the newspapers when the topic came to careers. I decided to take the opportunity to ask him what motivated him to be a locksmith. I was quite apprehensive as I wasn’t sure if he was willing to share something so personal. But Mr. Wee being an open minded person was more than willing to share his story which is one which we can really appreciate and be inspired by.

Mr Wee was born and raised in Penang. Being a young man at that time, he decided to seek his fortune in Kuala Lumpur. He managed to get a job as a factory worker. He was happy working in the factory but felt somewhat bored, especially on his off days. One day, while walking in downtown Kuala Lumpur, he saw a machine that made duplicate keys which were for sale. Mr. Wee was interested but at the same time mindful of the cost of the machine. He went home that night and did some deep thinking as to whether he should purchase the machine or not. After a sleepless night, he decided to go for it. He took a huge chunk of his savings and went to the shop to buy the machine. Mr. Wee knew that it was a big investment and he was not going to look back and regret the decision he made.

Now, that he got the machine, how was he going to start the business of duplicating keys? Being an enterprising man, Mr. Wee, who was still working in the factory at that time, decided to make an offer to his colleagues in the factory that they couldn’t refuse! He offered to make duplicate keys for free. Each colleague would be given one free duplicate key. I admired Mr. Wee for his generosity but surely there must be a good reason for doing this. Mr. Wee said he wanted to find out what were the most common keys in the market used by a majority of people. When starting out a new business, Mr. Wee said a person can’t expect to buy keys of all shapes and sizes. So, the best way to do this was by offering to duplicate keys for free. That way, he could also get to practice his key-making skills by using the machine. Mr. Wee took down the shapes and sizes of the common keys and then proceeded to place an order for those uncut keys.

When Mr. Wee was confident enough to duplicate keys commercially, he decided to put up a small sign at the house that he was renting. Actually, he rented a small room in the house but the landlord was kind enough to allow him to put a cardboard sign at the gate. Mr. Wee was not getting as many customers as he had hoped for, so he went back to work in the factory on a part time basis.

One evening, a young couple came knocking on the door asking for him. Mr. Wee came out and was ready to assist the young couple. They looked panicky and asked Mr. Wee if he could follow them to their house. Mr. Wee was taken aback and asked why he should follow them. The young couple explained that they have locked themselves out of the house and they didn’t have a spare key with them. Mr. Wee said he couldn’t help them as he only duplicated keys and didn’t know how to pick locks. The young couple looked puzzled. They said to Mr. Wee, “If you can duplicate keys, surely you should know how to pick locks”. Mr. Wee had no answer to that question and remained quiet.

When the young couple left the house feeling disappointed, that got Mr. Wee thinking. He knew that duplicating keys would not be enough to sustain him in this business, he must learn an extra skill. Continuing education was important. In this case, the extra skill was learning how to pick locks.

Then came the second hurdle, where could he learn the skills of a locksmith? A locksmith’s skill in picking locks is a closely guarded secret. Mr. Wee went through many advertisements and he couldn’t find any school or person willing to teach him how to pick locks, so Mr. Wee did the next best thing. Mr. Wee asked around. Finally, someone in the wet market told him that there was an old experienced locksmith in Bangsar who used to teach those who were interested in picking locks. The person in the wet market warned Mr. Wee that the locksmith’s fee would not be cheap. Mr. Wee took the contact number and immediately called the locksmith in Bangsar. The old locksmith told Mr. Wee that he was willing to teach him the skills provided Mr. Wee paid him RM5,000.00 which was a hefty sum at that time. Mr. Wee tried to get him to reduce his fee but the old locksmith refused. Being an enterprising and crafty fellow, Mr. Wee proposed to the locksmith that he pay the locksmith by way of installments. The locksmith agreed since he thought he could get his money quicker that way.

On the first day, Mr. Wee went to the locksmith’s house cum office in Bangsar. When he reached the locksmith’s house, he was asked to sit down and wait. Mr. Wee was getting fed-up after sitting for half a day doing nothing. He complained to the locksmith but the locksmith asked him to be patient. Finally, the phone rang, the locksmith picked up the phone, finished the conversation and then looked at Mr. Wee and smiled. The locksmith said, “Now, you begin your lesson”.

The locksmith took Mr. Wee on his motorbike to the customer’s house. The locksmith taught Mr. Wee how to pick the locks using some tools. Mr. Wee was a quick learner. He learned fast and by the third week, he was able to pick locks on his own. The old locksmith just stood back and watched. The old locksmith basically got Mr. Wee to do the job for him! Being an equally crafty person, Mr. Wee decided to stop going for “lessons” after his first month! All in all, Mr. Wee paid the old locksmith RM250.00 for the “lessons”.

With this additional skill, Mr. Wee gained confidence and started his locksmith business full time and never looked back ever since.

There is an important lesson that we can learn from Mr. Wee’s story. First of all, we shouldn’t be complacent as the world is a competitive place. We must continue by whatever ways and means to improve our skills and techniques. In the legal field, lawyers are constantly updating themselves on new developments in case laws and legislation. In the medical field, doctors and researchers are constantly finding new cures and methods to improve and prolong the health of human beings. The second lesson we can take from Mr. Wee’s story is that to succeed in this competitive world, we have to be enterprising and find ways to achieve the end result. When Mr. Wee offered to duplicate keys for free, it may have cost him a bit but the end result was well justified. One can consider such expense as the cost of “research” or “marketing” but in the end it was worth it. As an old saying goes, “spend money to make money”.

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*Seumas Tan practices in the area of Employment Law covering issues dealing with human resource matters. He practices under the name and style of Messrs S. Tan & Co. and may be contacted at Seumas@STanLawyers.com.my.

ON THE JOB TRAINING - The Story of the Shopkeeper and His Grandson

Seumas Tan Nyap Tek*,
Advocate & Solicitor

It has been said that without practice, theory means nothing. To me, having practical training is an effective way of learning. That is why in legal practice, we have something called the chambering period or pupilage where a qualified law graduate is required to work in a law firm (commonly known as reading in chambers) for 9 months before being admitted to the Bar. A similar system is also in place for medical students and graduates. Why is there a need for it? The answer is simple. When undergoing on the job training, you are dealing with real events and real people. You will see that things can be quite different from what we have read in books or appears in theory. Let me share with you an incident which I encountered a few years ago.

Sometime in 2007, I was back in my hometown in Klang. For nostalgic reasons, I decided to visit some of the old places where I used to frequent. That included an old grocery shop which was just the round the corner where I used to live. The person who started the shop was a kind but a shrewd businessman. He has since passed on. The grocery shop is now managed by his son known as Ah Meng. Ah Meng is now in his fifties and is the second generation in his family to run the shop. I knew Ah Meng when he was still a young man. He studied up to Form Five and he speaks very good English. Today, like me, Ah Meng has aged with a head covered with grey hair and a pair of reading glasses hanging around his neck. Ah Meng’s son has been helping him in the shop mostly in delivering goods to the customers. The layout of the shop had changed tremendously. The goods were stored orderly on the shelves and systematically labeled. Instead of the tin can pulley system which was popular a long time ago to keep the money safe, the shop now has an electronic cashier machine.

It was a week before the Chinese New Year, I was busy chatting with Ah Meng in front of the grocery shop while his 9 year old grandson was busily drawing in his little sketch book when a boy about 10 years old walked in and enquired about purchasing “pop-pop”. For those who are not familiar with “pop-pop”, it is one of those little white things shaped like the tip of a cotton bud which gives a “pop” sound when thrown onto any hard surface. Sizing up the young boy, Ah Meng decided to let his grandson handle the transaction. The conversation between Ah Meng’s grandson and the young boy went something like this:-

Young boy: “Uncle,do you have any “pop-pop”?

Ah Meng: (Calling his grandson) “Ah boy, come and help this young man”

Ah Meng’s grandson: Yes?

Young boy: Got “pop-pop”?

Ah Meng’s grandson: “Got”.

Young boy: How much?

Ah Meng’s grandson: “RM1.00 for 1 box”

Young boy: “Wah! Too expensive. Cheaper a bit. 50 sen for a box?”

I must say I was impressed that for a 10 year old boy, he was able to bargain and did not take the first offer.

Ah Meng’s grandson looked confused and didn’t know how to reply. Meanwhile Ah Meng who had been observing the conversation instructed his grandson in Hokkien (a Chinese dialect which the young boy did not understand) to inform the young boy that if he buys 3 boxes for RM3.00, he will throw in another box for free!

Ah Meng’s grandson: If you take 3 boxes for RM3.00, I will throw in one for free.

Ah Meng who was observing looked pleased that his grandson had carried out his instruction well. Meanwhile, the young boy kept quiet and was in deep thought. I was beginning to admire this young boy who was an astute negotiator. The young boy didn’t want to give in and this was how the conversation went:-

Young boy: Too expensive! How about I pay RM2.00 for 2 boxes and you give me 1 box free?

I was looking at Ah Meng’s grandson and I must say, for a 9 year old boy, he was rather calm. Perhaps, he knew that his grandfather was nearby to assist him in handling the situation.

Ah Meng to his grandson: (In Hokkien) Tell him, we only have 4 boxes left and we will be closing for Chinese New Year soon. There will be no more stock after this, if he wants it he better buy it now.

Ah Meng’s grandson followed his grandfather’s instruction and conveyed to the young boy. The young boy finally relented and agreed to buy 3 boxes of “pop-pop” for RM3.00 with an additional box thrown in free.

After the young boy paid the money and was about to leave the shop, Ah Meng turned to his grandson and said in Hokkien: “Eh, eh! Now ask him whether he wants to buy some sparklers! Since, he bought ‘pop-pop’ from us, we are giving him special price for the sparklers”. There was another round of negotiation between these 2 young gentlemen with the old “sifu” giving instructions from behind the scene. Unfortunately, I had to leave. I didn’t get to see what transpired after the “pop-pop” transaction.

However, I learned an important lesson relating to “on the job training” from the above scene. Ah Meng could have easily handled the situation as he is an experienced grocer but he decided to let his grandson handle it. Why? Maybe, because he noticed that the young boy was about the same age as his grandson and this would be perfect training for his grandson. However, I must say Ah Meng probably didn’t expect the young boy to be a tough negotiator. But then again, in his line of work, you have to expect the unexpected and his grandson did manage to close the deal after all with some help from his grandfather. I am sure the experience undergone by Ah Meng’s grandson will remain with him for a very long time. Here, he learned how to communicate, how to position himself, how to shift that position and then close the deal. Further, his grandson also learnt that closing one deal may lead to another – remember, from “pop-pop” to sparklers! Ah Meng can be assured that the grocery shop started by his father will continue to be in good hands with the 3rd and 4th generations who are well trained while being on the job!

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*Seumas Tan practices in the area of Employment Law covering issues dealing with human resource matters. He practices under the name and style of Messrs S. Tan & Co. and may be contacted at Seumas@STanLawyers.com.my.

Life After Retirement

RETIREMENT. To many people, it refers to the period in life where one should be kicking back, relaxing and catching up on the things they never could during their long, gruelling working lives.

Realistically, however, not many people get a chance to enjoy their retirement period, usually due to financial constraints that comes once we stop earning a living.

With the rising cost of living, many retirees are finding it difficult to make ends meet with their EPF (Employees Provident Fund) savings or pension scheme alone and are forced to continue working.

For the purpose of this article, we’re going to skip that group of people who, during their working lives, were prudent with their expenses and shrewd with their investments and are now laughing themselves all the way to the bank till the day they die.

For those who still need to earn a living post retirement, embarking on a job can still be fun and need not be a burden. In fact, many of today’s retirees view retirement not as an end, but instead as a new and exciting phase in their lives.

Work from home

For a retiree, working from home has its advantages, says Janice Tam, a retired school teacher.

“You can work at your own pace and avoid the hassle of travelling to and fro to an actual office,” she says.

Tam today provides tuition classes for kids below 12 years of age.

“Providing tuition classes is a very popular side income alternative. Baby sitting is also a good post retirement job choice, especially when the parents drop the child at your place and saves you the hassle of having to go to their home.”

Starting your own business

Many a times, the experiences of a long career can provide retirees with the confidence and knowledge to launch a successful business.

G. Murthy used to serve with the armed forces and now, at 57, is heading his own security firm.

“My experience with the armed forces allowed me to gain invaluable knowledge in self defence and now it not only allows me to help protect people, it also provides me with a decent income.”

Sometimes, the knowledge and experience could be gained from a family business.

Growing up, Rashid Abu Bakar, now 67, used to enjoy the nasi lemak his mum sold to the local village-folk to earn a living.

After serving with the Government, he is now retired and is continuing the family business and claims that it is “good pocket money.”

“It makes for a good side income on top of the pension that I get every month.”

Rashid says he enjoys eating the nasi lemak just as much as he does making them.

“As it’s important to find pleasure in what you do, or else it would just become a burden. I have to wake up very early in the morning to prepare the food but it is something that I enjoy doing.”

He adds that it is important to understand the demands and dynamics of running your own business, its prospects and needs.

Become a consultant

Many people retire from their jobs only to become consultants to their previous employers or advisors to organisations within the industry.

Says Alvin Loh, 63, an advisor to a local property developer: “Consult-ing provides you with a lot of flexibility and due to the person’s invaluable years of experience, demand for such jobs are good and so is the salary.”

Go back to school

It is not uncommon for senior citizens to enrol part time or even full time at a college or university to learn a new skill and take up a new job, says Kajang-based private college tutor Rashid Ali.

“There are many senior citizens where I teach who are taking up something new. Some of them even come back to do another course!”

Rashid admits that taking up a part-time diploma or degree can be a huge sacrifice for someone who is married.

“There are many private institutes that offer night-time or weekend courses to cater to this group of people. There are many genuine courses that one can do online.

“Having an extra qualification on your resume carries a lot of weight and if it means better job and salary prospects, it’s worth it,” says Rashid.

Become a volunteer

There are many organisations out there that are eager to accept volunteers, regardless of a person’s age, says Jacob Wong, a committee chairman for a Kepong-based non-profit organisation.

“Because we have to constantly keep our budgets down, we’re always looking for volunteers. Believe it or not, a lot of times we prefer to work with retirees because they are less demanding and are quite satisfied with the pocket money that we give them.

“Many of today’s youths are just interested in making money and are not interested with volunteering. That’s why we prefer to work with senior citizens,” he says.

Schools, libraries, religious and relief centres and charitable organisations are among some of the places that are always on the look out for volunteers, Wong adds.

By EUGENE MAHALINGAM
eugenicz@thestar.com.my