Compared to its heyday, the shop’s business has fallen by nearly 50 per cent – a figure that, frankly, surprises me. I had expected worse, given the ubiquity of the QWERTY keyboards and upmarket styli. An Apple Pencil costs nearly as much as a Parker Vacuumatic from the 1930s, but the modern professional will arguably get more use out of the former.
It is unclear if the fountain pen’s time is well and truly over, or if a resurgence – like what’s happening with film photography and vinyl music – is underway. Who’s buying them and what are their reasons?
AFICIONADOS THEN AND NOW
In Bernard’s books, writing with a vintage fountain pen is a sensation unlike any other. Compared to their mass-produced counterparts, which “pay little mind to the craft”, it glides on like butter and scarcely scratches the surface of paper.
“It writes beautifully and has a calligraphic quality. Doctors use them and when nurses say, ‘Wow! Your penmanship is very nice’, it makes them feel good.”
In the past, a fountain pen was a luxury reserved for doctors, lawyers and architects. Not only because they could afford it more than others, but also because the art of writing has had a much longer run in these professions. Apparently, no lack of high-profile individuals have stepped foot into Pek Kay Lee.
“My father told me that Lee Kuan Yew’s mother came to our shop once. We don’t have a photograph because we didn’t have a spare camera lying around. Now shops can snap a picture with any celebrity that walks in. No such thing in my father’s era.”