Here is a special article dedicated to my family in Malaysia. It's nothing about computers or high-tech stuff, but about an old traditional business my father is doing, selling Charcoal!
Yes you heard me right, its selling Charcoal. My father inherited this business of dealing with charcoal some 40 years back from my grandfather. Now, it's possibly the last charcoal shop in Ipoh city that is still in business. With the arrival of microwave ovens & gas stove decades ago penetrating every household in the city, you wonder how did an old tradition of burning charcoal fuel survived the era of the computer age. Well, actually this is in some way helped by the demand from hawkers in the city using charcoal to prepare some very nice food, which Ipoh is very famous for. Foods like the Malay satay, Chinese dried meats & others are still prepared with charcoal. While the demand from hawkers are sustaining & those of household are limited, the profit margins are low despite prices are higher now than years ago due to inflation. The business survived basically on a economic balanced between limited demands & supplies.
Selling charcoal, as you
can imagine, is a rather dirty job. As you can see in the picture, my father's hands are
always tainted with charcoal so long as the shop is opened. It is no wonder that younger
generations are no longer interested in this business. Old & dirty it might seemed,
this traditional business has raised three generations in my family. Years ago my mum also
started to help up in the shop to help supporting me through my tertiary education.
Basically, the profit margin does not warrant hiring workers to help up in the shop.
Besides, young people shy away from job as such. Although none of my siblings are working
in the shop to carry-on this family trade, my parents are happy that we have jobs of our
own supporting ourselves.
Years ago, one of the local paper ran an article on this rare trade, featuring my parents in an interview. Here is a picture of my father & my mother featured in the article, commenting on prices of charcoal then.
While none of us is
taking over this family business, it is just a matter of time when my father will retire
one day & this old business of selling charcoal will eventually disappear from city
landscape. Life might be tough for them dealing in this "dirty" business with
lots of manual work, they are surely taking it easy nowadays that most of us have grown up
& no longer dependent on them for livelihood.
The next time you visit the city of Ipoh in the state of Perak, West Malaysia, you can pay them a visit at 54 Clare Street, located at the center of Ipoh city. Talk to them about anything or buy some charcoal from the shop. They sure welcome visitors. You cannot possibly miss the only charcoal shop in the city right opposite the famous Fu Shan Chinese Restaurant.
This is how the last charcoal shop in Ipoh looks like on a normal day when loaded with charcoals. Visit it before it eventually disappear from the city landscape.
