Hong Kong cobbler puts heart and sole into repairing shoes on his trusted 25-year-old machine
It has stayed with him for 25 years as he built core group of patrons, who rely on him to fix their designer shoes
Hong Kong cobbler Wong Yun-keung has been repairing shoes in the city for more than 25 years – using the very same machine he started out with.
The 52-year-old tradesman, who works with his wife Chan Suk-yee at their shop Shing Do Shoe Repair in Central, started out as an apprentice cobbler for another company, before eventually setting up his own business and employing his own staff.
With a stall close to Landmark luxury shopping mall, home to over a hundred designer brands, he often handles wealthy customers’ designer shoes worth tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars.
And despite the years, he has yet to replace his manual shoe repair machine, though it has been repaired several times.
Speaking to City Weekend, he insisted it would be too expensive to use an electrical model, and that his stall was too small to house it anyway.
