KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — After almost being burned down twice, and crashed into by an Alfa Romeo, and just several months ago, a bus, Stylo, the oldest barbershop in the country is still standing strong since 1937, in its modest 10-by-15 shop lot in the heart of KL.

T. Madhirajan, now 70, took over the business in 1960, three years before his father passed away, still remembers how hard-going it was when he first started at 18.

“With just RM17, you can get a haircut, a shave and a quick shoulder massage, but back when it all started, it cost only 30 sen for one and when I took over, it was RM1.

“I was alone last time, no staff because the business was down, after that only it was okay. It took two or three years for the business to pick up, then I added one staff, two, three and so on,” he told The Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.

He explained that his father, the then 20-year-old P. A. Thangayeh, left Madras, now known as Chennai to Colombo, Sri Lanka to undergo training to be a barber, before arriving on Malaysian shores in 1931.

T. Madhirajan and his son, M. Mathenan, 30, who is helping him manage all 10 barber shops in the Klang Valley.

“In 1937, my father opened his first shop, here, but before that, he worked with other barbers to save up money.

“When my father opened up the shop here, there was nothing here, the road was very small. It was still the town centre, with many Chinese shops but you can only see bicycles and trishaws around,” he said.

Today, his 30-year-old son M. Mathenan manages the original Stylo on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lok, as well as nine other barbershops in the Klang Valley, and will be adding another one to the list, offering unisex hair cuts as well.Madhirajan explained that the unassuming shop survived the massive flood on December 31, 1970 where three-quarters of the city were flooded during that monsoon rainy season.

“And then in 1973, an Alfa Romeo entered all the way into the shop, but that was about 2am… the driver was drunk.

“Twice the shop was on fire because of a short circuit next door, that was in 1986 but only the outside was burnt but the chairs were all okay,” he said.

His son, Mathenan, said a bus drove into the shop about three months back, but luckily, no one was injured. The entrance of the shop, however, had to be renovated.

With only four barber pump chairs and with one staff catering to each chair, the shop can cater to a maximum of 30 customers daily.

A customer getting a haircut at Stylo.

When asked if he was worried that modern and fancier barbershops would take his clients away, Madhirajan merely shook his head, smiling.

“We offer normal haircuts. People who come in range from school students, the army, the police, they come to our shop because their style is different, they can’t go to the unisex.

“There are a lot of returning customers in the area, as well as tourists who come in to get a haircut,” he said.

Madhirajan was the chairman for the Malaysian Indian Hairdressing Saloon Owners Association (MIHSOA) for a decade, until 2001 and the chairman for the Selangor and KL branch for 26 years.

When asked if he ever considered venturing into another industry, he shrugged.

“My father was in this business, so I continue this business, it’s good for me I think,” he said, adding that he couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else, after cutting hair for the past 50 years.

A customer getting an extremely close shave, as part of the package for RM17.

The past few years have been smooth sailing because there hasn’t been any major challenges other than the shop itself being physically damaged several times.

Right outside the shop is the iconic barber pole, featuring red and white spiralling stripes, indicating two crafts: the red for surgery and white for barbering. In the old days, barbers also performed surgery and dentistry, but that of course is no longer true today.

However, even as the country progresses with more fancy and modern ways of doing things, the barber industry seems to be flourishing in Malaysia.

MIHSOA secretary T. Suganthiran told The Malay Mail Online that there are about 2,000 barber shops in the country now, an increase from about 1,500 a decade ago.

“I expect there will be more in the next 10 years or so because a lot of people are interested to open. Previous owners open a few, mostly in the old days, they only have one, after that, they open one, two, or more shops,” he said, adding that he owns three shops as well.

Suganthiran said the industry does come with its challenges as it is hard to employ locals because they complain of the long hours.

“That’s why we keep hiring foreign workers,” he said adding that they come from India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

“It is an interesting job but the locals are too demanding, not interested to be in this profession, because we work from morning to night, night we close at 8.30, so the locals are not interested,” he said.

An old-school, manual clipper.