"He kept watch on our behalf": Lim Gee Lam, 93, Founder of Cheong Ann Watch Maker

Cheong Ann Watch Maker 昌安鐘錶, the humble and quaint shopfront that Mr Lim Gee Lam founded in 1947, was where he laid his hands on time; literally and metaphorically.

Mr Lim Gee Lam was a self-taught watchmaker. He had a heart bursting with curiosity, and when he was asked by the owner of a watch shop whether he was interested in making watches, he left his job as a coffee boy and never looked back.

It was a craft and his family’s livelihood, but it was also his pride and joy.

In the face of a rapidly changing and evolving world, Mr Lim chose to persevere, taking the utmost pride in his work.

He would spend whole days working on mechanisms which can contain hundreds of tiny components. Each of them has a specific task to perform; each of them ever so intricate, and critical to the functioning of time.New Paragraph

Time, embedded in the clocks and watches Mr Lim made and repaired, regulates our daily lives and has sculpted the social and economic development of society in surprising and dramatic ways.

In this light, Mr Lim Gee Lam was more than a watchman, he was a craftsman and a sculptor. In his own right, he shows us how to lead a fulfilling life.

Work was more than just a means to an end for Mr Lim. In trying to feed his family and bring up his children, he did not lose touch with the idea of making things well.

From the life of Mr Lim Gee Lam, we see how the values of the craftsman can enrich our lives and change the way we anchor ourselves in the world around us.

His beliefs, principles and philosophy, through a lifetime of working with time, stood the test of time.

In the face of a rapidly changing and evolving world, Mr Lim chose to persevere. He did his best and gave his best.

From the exterior of every clock/watch to its mainspring, he took no shortcut, and the test of time has only sharpened his will to do good for his family and his clients.

In an impatient world that constantly demands changes and ever so eager to go digital, Mr Lim Gee Lam kept his focus. He became a guardian of time.

Every morning, when he sits at his bench, it is an adventure into a new timepiece with its own history to lose himself in. And in their histories, Mr Lim discovered that he could find the history of time itself, and came to better understand himself and the world around him that was perpetually changing.

Through several decades devoting his time to keeping time, he not only raised his family but taught his children and grandchildren the value of discipline, perseverance and taking pride in one’s work

These are values that are increasingly lost today, when we would ever so carelessly abandon a proper working watch/clock or device for the next best fad in the consumer market.

Time is the wisest of all things that are, for it brings everything to light.

Through his life as a watchmaker and craftsman, Mr Lim Gee Lam has shown us that hands-on work, using tools, acquiring skills, and thinking about materials and parts, provide a refreshing and viable way for people to utilise their talents.

In that, he led a fulfilling life and left a remarkable legacy.

Today, his legacy continues to tick on, in his son and grandson, David and Shawn, respectively, and well pleased he must have been - through their perseverance, they will pass on what his father/grandfather treasures to the next generation, for generations to come.

More than just a business and a craft, Mr Lim has left his children and grandchildren with memories that will be encased in time, safeguarded in perpetuity.

Through time, we are all wearers and makers, in all our imperfect humanity, and till the very end, Mr Lim Gee Lam was a witness to the passage of time, literally and metaphorically. 

You kept watch on our behalf; for that, we owe you our gratitude, Mr Lim.