These three words ‘Khen Thye Hin’ have been a family legacy for three generations, hanging eye-catchingly over the doorway. The decrepit iron shutters are full of fingerprints. After pushing hard to open them, a variety of goods are hanging somewhat orderly amidst chaos near the entrance. Upon walking into the shop, steel racks divide the space into the left and the right sections, and more merchandise is hanging above the head, where wooden sticks were tied to the ceiling, hooks extending downwards to display the products like grapes on vines. The seemingly jumbled arrangements each have their own sort of order under the control of the third generation shop owner, Mr Yap Chee Cheong.
77-year-old Mr Yap is born and bred in Kuala Kubu Bharu, growing up together throughout the years with the Khen Thye Hin shop run by his father and uncle, which now is the last remaining traditional imported goods store. In the beginning, the shop only offered tailoring services and sold cloth. After saving up some funds, they progressively bring in imported goods for sale. There are an all-inclusive range of products, from cotton textiles, bedding merchandises, electrical devices, to metal spare parts. Khen Thye Hin is also the only newspaper distributor in Kuala Kubu Bharu, circulating publications such as Kin Kwok Daily News, Shin Min Daily News, Malayan Thung Pau Daily News, Sin Chew Daily, Nan Yang Siang Pau, China Press and more.
The traditional imported goods stores and grocery stores are differentiated by what they stock: daily necessities versus foodstuff. Due to the imported goods being sourced from European countries and the United States, they were known as overseas goods stores. Back in when departmental stores and supermarkets were not as prevalent, imported goods stores were the people’s first choice in shopping, and could be immensely busy and overcrowded during the festive seasons. In the 21st century, consumer habits and models have changed, malls and hypermarkets are everywhere, the convenience of online shopping, as well as cheap made-in-China goods caused traditional imported goods stores to be unable to withstand the heavy blow from larger environmental waves and therefore die out eventually. The formulated shopping mall experience lacked humane touch, leading to traditional consumer experiences such as negotiation, greeting each other, aggregated pricing, and even crediting purchases, to no longer exist.
Starting from 2018, Khen Thye Hin terminated their newspaper distributorship, the local villagers have to buy newspapers from the neighbouring Indian mart. Mr Yap intends to retire in a few months time, to move to Kuala Lumpur to stay with his son and family, enjoying the latter part of his life. His younger brother will be following up on disposal of the remaining goods and renting out the property, never to sell. After the Khen Thye Hin signboard is taken down, it will go into the possession of his son, to be bequeathed to the following generations in mind of not forgetting their ancestry.
Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen
有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Video Editor : Evon Pang
Production Assistant : Michael Lerk
Music : Sun in Your Eyes from Felt Music
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