- Joined
- Jul 18, 2014
- Messages
- 4,597
- Points
- 113
@syed putra Please sappork to song your kok!
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/tod...cna_CNA-Morning-Brief_newsletter_30032025_cna
Mr Abdul Wahab Abdullah making a songkok in his warehouse on Mar 9, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Nuria Ling)
29 Mar 2025 09:30PM(Updated: 30 Mar 2025 08:25AM)
As I was wrapping up an interview with 65-year-old songkok maker Abdul Wahab Abdullah and the photographer was composing a few final frames, a customer walked in along with his family.
A songkok is traditional headgear, usually made out of felt or velvet, worn by men and typically paired with the traditional Malay costume. It is most often worn on significant occasions such as Hari Raya or weddings.
We were interviewing Mr Abdul Wahab at his warehouse in an industrial building in Bedok North. For the last few months, he has not been doing business from a shop due to cost pressures.
The customer, Mr Muhammad Firdaus Muhammad Hairi who had just walked in, lives in Chua Chu Kang, about halfway across the island.
Mr Firdaus could have bought an off-the-shelf songkok at a market in Bukit Gombak, just one MRT station away from his home. He could have bought one from an e-commerce platform without leaving his home.
Instead, he decided to drive 40 minutes in the rain to Mr Abdul Wahab’s warehouse, with his father, brother and son in tow.
The 38-year-old laboratory engineer said: “So you know how much I value his service, for me to drive all the way here just to custom order a songkok.”
Mr Firdaus was keeping up a family tradition that started decades ago when his father took him to Mr Abdul Wahab’s shop in Geylang Serai to buy a songkok.
Mr Abdul Wahab had a songkok shop in the old Geylang Serai Market before he moved to Tanjong Katong Complex in 2007.
When the shopping centre closed down for major renovation work in 2023, he moved to City Plaza, another shopping complex, for just over a year before consolidating operations at his warehouse due to high rent.
When asked why his family members are regular patrons, Mr Firdaus said: “It’s his service, his advice and the quality of his work.”
At this point, Mr Firdaus took out a battered, slightly out-of-shape white box – the same type of box containing handmade songkok that lined the shelves of Mr Abdul Wahab’s 1,100-sqf warehouse.
The box may look aged, but when he took out a songkok from inside – black with a slight golden sheen – it looked almost brand new.
“This is my wedding songkok, I custom ordered it from him about 11 years ago,” Mr Firdaus added.
He had brought it because he wanted to show the songkok maker and make a new one of the exact shade. Alas, Mr Abdul Wahab did not have the particular velvet in his inventory anymore.
For about half an hour, I observed how Mr Abdul Wahab attended to the needs of his customers.
He measured the circumference of their heads, listened to their preferences and let them try on songkok of different heights.
Then he showed them rolls of velvet for them to choose, offered advice on the right songkok height that best matched their faces and even which velvet colour matched their eye colour.
A round face, for instance, is better suited to a taller songkok.
At one point, Mr Abdul Wahab said this to them: “I’m not very smart. I’m just sharing what my experience has taught me.
“But it’s up to your own taste and preference as well.”
Mr Firdaus and family readily took the advice.
After all, who else would be in a better position to advise them about songkok than Mr Abdul Wahab, who has been in the trade since he was seven years old and is widely regarded as Singapore's last songkok maker.
----------------
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/tod...cna_CNA-Morning-Brief_newsletter_30032025_cna
Capping off a head-turning career, Singapore's last songkok maker may be taking last orders
Songkok maker Abdul Wahab Abdullah, 65, said that wearing a traditional loose-fitting garment known as a baju kurung without an accompanying songkok was akin to "wearing a shirt without pants".
Mr Abdul Wahab Abdullah making a songkok in his warehouse on Mar 9, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Nuria Ling)
29 Mar 2025 09:30PM(Updated: 30 Mar 2025 08:25AM)
As I was wrapping up an interview with 65-year-old songkok maker Abdul Wahab Abdullah and the photographer was composing a few final frames, a customer walked in along with his family.
A songkok is traditional headgear, usually made out of felt or velvet, worn by men and typically paired with the traditional Malay costume. It is most often worn on significant occasions such as Hari Raya or weddings.
We were interviewing Mr Abdul Wahab at his warehouse in an industrial building in Bedok North. For the last few months, he has not been doing business from a shop due to cost pressures.
The customer, Mr Muhammad Firdaus Muhammad Hairi who had just walked in, lives in Chua Chu Kang, about halfway across the island.
Mr Firdaus could have bought an off-the-shelf songkok at a market in Bukit Gombak, just one MRT station away from his home. He could have bought one from an e-commerce platform without leaving his home.
Instead, he decided to drive 40 minutes in the rain to Mr Abdul Wahab’s warehouse, with his father, brother and son in tow.
The 38-year-old laboratory engineer said: “So you know how much I value his service, for me to drive all the way here just to custom order a songkok.”
Mr Firdaus was keeping up a family tradition that started decades ago when his father took him to Mr Abdul Wahab’s shop in Geylang Serai to buy a songkok.
Mr Abdul Wahab had a songkok shop in the old Geylang Serai Market before he moved to Tanjong Katong Complex in 2007.
When the shopping centre closed down for major renovation work in 2023, he moved to City Plaza, another shopping complex, for just over a year before consolidating operations at his warehouse due to high rent.
When asked why his family members are regular patrons, Mr Firdaus said: “It’s his service, his advice and the quality of his work.”
At this point, Mr Firdaus took out a battered, slightly out-of-shape white box – the same type of box containing handmade songkok that lined the shelves of Mr Abdul Wahab’s 1,100-sqf warehouse.
The box may look aged, but when he took out a songkok from inside – black with a slight golden sheen – it looked almost brand new.
“This is my wedding songkok, I custom ordered it from him about 11 years ago,” Mr Firdaus added.
He had brought it because he wanted to show the songkok maker and make a new one of the exact shade. Alas, Mr Abdul Wahab did not have the particular velvet in his inventory anymore.
For about half an hour, I observed how Mr Abdul Wahab attended to the needs of his customers.
He measured the circumference of their heads, listened to their preferences and let them try on songkok of different heights.
Then he showed them rolls of velvet for them to choose, offered advice on the right songkok height that best matched their faces and even which velvet colour matched their eye colour.
A round face, for instance, is better suited to a taller songkok.
At one point, Mr Abdul Wahab said this to them: “I’m not very smart. I’m just sharing what my experience has taught me.
“But it’s up to your own taste and preference as well.”
Mr Firdaus and family readily took the advice.
After all, who else would be in a better position to advise them about songkok than Mr Abdul Wahab, who has been in the trade since he was seven years old and is widely regarded as Singapore's last songkok maker.
----------------
