This 79-year-old believes that vinyl records still have the best sound quality

Lean Hung Meng is as colourful as his wares. His inventory mainly includes vinyl records and its related ancillaries, such as turntables (record players), speakers and spares, including thermionic valves, stylus cartridges and more. The shop also sells statues of Chinese deities, ceramic dining sets and vintage clocks.

 

In the age of snazzy gourmet cafes and chic boutiques, this antique and curio store looks like it adheres to no trend, but instead is encapsulated in a time warp. And its 79-year-old proprietor looks like he fits hand-in-glove into his environment.

 

Lean got into the specialist trade of selling music software at the cusp of a technological change – when cassettes were being replaced by CDs. “When music shops had clearance sales, I would pick up as many records as possible to sell them later. Records were so cheap then, and I used to sell them by the roadside,” he said.

 

What might have initially seemed a lowly enterprise brought in enough of the bacon for him to invest in a shoplot in Ipoh’s old town area. And from then, Lean has pretty much been sustaining his existence through this business model.

Of course, the cash register has rung at different frequencies through the years, but he knows every endeavour has its ebb and flow. “I’ve had clients from Sabah, and even Hong Kong. And I have this one customer who has been repeatedly coming from Peking (Beijing, China).”

 

His store offers a smorgasbord of vinyl LPs of varying qualities and genres. He is pretty proud of his Chinese music selection, and brands it the star of his stable. “A lot of my customers come for these,” he said, beckoning to a bunch of records that invariably features the infallible Teresa Teng.

 

The English section boasts titles by, perhaps, not top-tier 1970s acts, but equally good music from the likes of Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Rare Earth, Ohio Players and more.

 

His clientele is as varied as his selection of titles, and runs the entire gamut of the job market. “From students to professionals, and from all races, too. A bus station manager spent RM4,000 on records here not too long back,” Lean revealed, revelling in his deserved pride.

A steady turnover means he must constantly be sourcing new stock, and Lean does this by scouring ads in newspapers and also hooks up through contacts – time-hounoured methods that still yield fruitful results.

 

“I have driven to Taiping, Penang and Cameron Highlands to pick up stocks,” he said. He relayed eye-watering tales of meeting collectors who had tens of thousands of records in their possession, music lovers forced to sell simply to make space for more.

 

Prices for a record at Lean’s store can be as low as RM3, or as high as RM100 – he cites P. Ramlee and Teresa Teng titles as his gold standard.

 

Lean is one of those analogue anoraks who subscribes to the warm sound which comes off a vinyl record. “CDs don’t sound near as good. The sound from records is real … ‘cheng yam’” he said, describing vinyl’s sound as accurately as possible in his mother tongue.

 

The witty septuagenarian loves his music, of course, and his knowledge of audio technology is obvious, too. He talked about the different sounds that come out of mono, stereo and quadraphonic systems.

 

“Quadraphonic sound is very special. You can hear the sound of a pulley shifting on its line as it sends a bucket in and out of a well. And when the water is poured in a pail, the sound is so detailed. I love that,” he enthused.

 

Software apart, he has a selection of record players, units he repaired and has put up for sale. He does repair work, too, but limits his focus to amplifiers and turntables – there are rarely ever spare parts for cassette decks, so he steers clear of them.

 

The way Lean speaks, you get the idea he’s more MacGyver than Edison. So, where did he learn his craft for repair? “I learnt it all myself,” he said, pairing a winning smile with a twinkle in his eye. From his sagely demeanour, one would be compelled to think that this man’s life lessons were, instead, acquired outside classroom walls.