WHITE canvas shoes will soon be a thing of the past in Malaysian schools. In a recent announcement, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said that his decision for all students to wear black shoes will come into effect next year.
Despite having left school many decades ago and thus totally unaffected by this impending change, the decision brings back a flood of memories about my love-hate relationship with the ubiquitous white canvas shoes.
Used by generations of students, white shoes have been a bane for both students and parents. It was definitely a Herculean task to keep the footwear spotlessly clean even for a single day, let alone throughout the entire duration of the school week.
No matter how hard I tried, those dark friction marks and mud splatters were sure to make their presence felt very quickly. They stuck out like a sore thumb against the white background and I often found myself getting psychologically ready for a vocal reprimand and a hard rap on the knuckles from the eagle-eyed discipline teacher.
A primary school classmate of mine was so preoccupied with his footwear that he always had a bottle of whitening liquid present in his bag on days when spot checks were scheduled. For the rest of us, the task was as simple as swiping a stick of white chalk from the blackboard and rubbing it furiously over the soiled parts before passing it to an equally anxious friend sitting in the row behind.
Unlike their black counterparts, white shoes had to be washed practically every weekend. During those short two days, there was a clear correlation between the weather and my overall happiness. I used to be petrified when it rained the day before school started. Fortunately, the damp canvas never fails to dry up overnight behind the refrigerator even during the most humid of days!
Despite all the hassle and challenges brought on by white footwear, I believe that they played a role in instilling discipline and a sense of cleanliness among students. Through the shoes, I learnt to take good care of my other belongings and became more responsible in ensuring that my footwear was constantly in good condition. All these values have stood me in good stead throughout my adult life.
Students of the past
One thing’s for certain, learning institutions back in the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century were worlds apart from schools we know today. Back then, it was already a challenge for educators to get students into the classroom let alone get them to put on proper shoes.
A large majority of the Malayan population then was uneducated and, from the perspective of both students and their parents, the act of attending school was much like entering an unknown realm filled with boundless intrigue and uncertainties.
An incident in Kedah back then is a classic case in point. Teachers at the Alor Star Government English School (now Sultan Abdul Hamid College) were confronted with a very varied set of students when they threw open the doors to their new building located at Tanjong Bendahara on Jan 1, 1917.
While those from well-to-do families arrived properly attired and in their gleaming chauffeured Vauxhalls, a large number of the less fortunate students came barefooted and wore ordinary day-to-day clothes that had seen better days.
Demand for school shoes
To maintain a sense of uniformity in the classroom, the teachers engaged local enterprises in Alor Star and embarked on a series of fund raising efforts to purchase proper clothes and shoes for needy students. Back then, these items were expensive as pre-war Malaya had very few industries and most necessities had to be imported.
Most shops selling shoes in Alor Star were located along Jalan Raja, Jalan Langgar and Pekan Melayu. Hari Singh Hazara Singh Bros, a wholesaler who conducted business from 26, Jalan Langgar, took out an advertisement in the town’s inaugural Che Laidin Badminton Competition magazine in 1936 to promote the sale of imported shoes with prices starting from $7.50 per pair. That sum was equal to the salary for an entire month’s work for most people in Alor Star then!
The demand for proper shoes grew in tandem with the increasing number of school-going children in the early 1930s. Among the most popular canvas shoe brands at that time was Fung Keong. Started in the 1920s by the man who lent the shoe its name, this affordable footwear enjoyed massive appeal among the lower income earners who couldn’t afford the expensive British-made alternatives.
Fung Keong migrated from Guangdong, China to Malaya in 1902 where he took up residence in Seremban. Despite being only 11, Keong was already determined to be successful in life. He dabbled with rubber processing machinery and made his fortune within a decade. Not one to rest on his laurels, Keong continued working hard and enriched himself further by investing his profits wisely.
In 1916, Keong learnt about the world’s first mass marketed rubber sole canvas shoes produced in the United States and immediately realised that there was a potential for this product not only in Malaya but the whole of Asia if he could produce them cheaply enough.
The rise and fall of Fung Keong
After establishing contacts with companies in the Federated Malay States for a continuous supply of raw rubber, Keong returned to his hometown in China in1920 and established a rubber shoe factory under the name of Fung Keong Rubber Manufacturing. Starting with only 100 workers, Keong capitalised on clever marketing strategies to sell his innovative products. Before long, Fung Keong emerged as the brand leader in canvas shoes in the region.
In 1923, Keong invested in a branch factory in British-ruled Hong Kong. Within a decade, the Hong Kong plant became the largest footwear manufacturer in the British colony and the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States in Malaya became Fung Keong’s most important markets.
The raw materials used in Fung Keong shoes came from the world over. Rubber for the soles came from Malaya, canvas for the uppers parts were from Lancashire, Shanghai and the United States while England supplied the eyelets and binding tapes. Only the shoe laces and cardboard packaging were procured locally in Hong Kong.
Keong’s proudest moment came when Hong Kong Governor Sir William Peel together with the Secretary of Chinese Affairs N.L. Smith and Inspector of Factories F. Meade visited his factory on Dec 21, 1934. The very next day, local newspapers sang praises about his top selling product which was the Pagoda brand white canvas shoes and attributed Keong’s success to his years of experience spent abroad, especially in Malaya.
In 1938, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Guangdong and Keong relocated his staff and machinery to Klang in Selangor. This port town was chosen due to its close proximity to Kuala Lumpur. A year later, Fung Keong Rubber Manufacturing (Malaya) was established.
Despite his efforts, Keong failed to avoid the war as the Japanese invaded Malaya in December 1941. Putting his factory under wraps, Keong was forced to lie low until the British returned in September 1945.
After the Japanese Occupation, Keong restarted his Hong Kong production while maintaining his business in Malaya. The late 1940s and early 1950s was a difficult period for the rubber shoe industry. The Communist takeover in 1949 resulted in a significant decrease in the demand for canvas shoes in China.
Soon after, the Korean War caused rubber prices worldwide to skyrocket. Keong was forced to suspend production at his Hong Kong factory for four months starting from Aug 9, 1950 due to losses of up to thousands of Hong Kong dollars daily.
By late 1950s and early 1960s, things began looking up. Unfortunately, this up tick only proved to be short lived. The mid 1960s saw labour unrest continuously plaguing the factory. By August 1967, Keong complied with a court order to shut down his Hong Kong factory due to debt default.
Hello Bata!
Keong continued expanding his Malaysian operation and became the largest canvas shoe producer in the country in the late 1960s. The canvas shoe pioneer passed away in Hong Kong on Feb 7, 1973 and his descendants took over the reins of his lucrative business.
The change in shoe preferences among Malaysian consumers as well as their Asian counterparts in the 1970s and 80s marked the end of Fung Keong shoes. The larger disposable income brought about by growing Asian economies gave consumers the luxury of buying more expensive shoe brands. As a result, the once popular Fung Keong shoes were left with very few takers. Eventually, Fung Keong Malaysia shifted its focus to bicycle and motorcycle tyre manufacturing.
Another enduring canvas shoe brand also made its appearance in Malaya around the same time as Fung Keong. In 1935, Bata opened its first factory in Klang, Selangor and started making polyvinyl chloride (PVC) injected footwear for the local market.
A household name among generations of Malayans in the past as well as millions of Malaysians today for its easily recognisable tagline “First to Bata, then to school”, this international brand was founded by a trio of trendsetting Czechoslovakian siblings, Tomas, Anna and Antonin Bata, in 1894.
The three Bata scions revolutionised the footwear industry that was once dominated by traditional cobbler workshops and made the brand famous worldwide. In Malaya, Bata set up its first enterprise in Singapore’s Capitol Building in 1930 before moving north across the causeway. That same year, the Bata Shoe Company was established.
By 1939, Bata’s rapid growth saw its international holdings increase exponentially to 63 companies that were involved in various industries worldwide. Despite the string of successes, Bata remained true to its core footwear business and sold 50 million pairs annually in nearly 60 countries.
War and revival
However, just like Fung Keong, the good times didn’t last long for Bata either. The onset of the Second World War silenced Bata’s production lines and many of its factories were damaged by relentless aerial bombings. The company suffered massive losses when its businesses in Europe and the Far East, including Malaya, were either destroyed or taken over by enemy forces.
The Bata Shoe Company began picking up the pieces after the war and eventually relocated to Toronto, Canada in the 1960s. The company executed fresh ideas brought in by new talent and continued expanding its international reach. It also built newer and more efficient factories in different countries to service specific local markets.
When consumer demands changed in the 1970s, Bata achieved something that Fung Keong couldn’t — innovate. Within a short period of time, Bata produced a series of interesting private labels that catered to new customer segments. These included Bubblegumers, Power, Marie Claire and North Star. This pivotal move captured new market shares and gave Bata many years of recurring phenomenal sales.
Today, after more than seven decades, Bata still remains the leading footwear manufacturer and marketer in Malaysia. It has more than 240 stores nationwide and services an independent dealer network totalling 1,500 outlets.
A new chapter will soon open for canvas shoe companies in Malaysia with the new ruling set to take place in less than six months. While the manufacturers lament about the lack of time given to adjust to the minister’s statement, I’m sure students and their parents have already started to rejoice. Many just cannot wait for the day to bid their final farewell to white canvas shoes.