Home»GALLERY»Exhibitions Resume»Eye e City 2007»Unchanged Melody series 2»Mr Jimmy Chin, iron welder

This is Mr Jimmy Chin the iron welder, who works at Hwa Heng, one of the oldest shops that still operates business in Balestier Road, for more than 3 decades. Jimmy, in his 50s I guess, is married with 2 kids, has been working here for 2 years for his old uncle in this dying trade. He used to be in the engineering line.

I was stopping by outside the store, observing the way he soldering those metal works. I stepped forward to chat with him, asking some curous questions, well just to break the ice. Jimmy is friendly and chatty. We clicked and started to chat for one and a half hour before I aked for his permission to take photographs. In kind return, I promised to send him the photographs. This is one of the few dying trades in Singapore as there are lesser and lesser people doing such tough and "dirty" work. Only those older folks are still doing, trying to keep up with life, enough for 3 meals a day. In this modern day, 21st century, no younger generation is willingly to pick up this skill anymore. I'm delighted to see there's still one exist in my neighborhood.