When I first meet Mr Peter Chiang, he's in a pair of dress pants, long-sleeved shirt and tie.I was a little surprised that in Singapore's hot and humid weather, the 61-year-old would eschew the locals' de facto uniform of T-shirt and shorts when outside an office.After all, who would have more licence to dress down than the owner of a scale model hobby shop that deals with a wide, whimsical array of toy figurines, model kits and collectibles?But Mr Chiang appeared no less comfortable in his formal get-up than I felt in my T-shirt and jeans. During my visit to his shop on Wednesday (Apr 8), one of his long-time customers-turned-friends quipped that he was "born wearing a tie".
Mr Chiang attributed his day-to-day style in part to his schooling years in the United Kingdom where, in his words, "this is considered informal".Another habit he traces back to his formative UK years: He signs off his text messages with "Yours sincerely, Peter" – a level of formality I have not encountered outside of the comically deadpan Captain Raymond Holt from the popular sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.He even signs off comments on Facebook this way. "I treat everyone the same," he said.
When it comes to discussing his business, the 50-year-old Hobby Bounties & Morgan Hobbycraft Centre, Mr Chiang's tone and seriousness matches the formality of his appearance.For instance, he was sombre when discussing the challenges facing the business – which have been rapidly growing more acute in a day and age where children would sooner stay glued to screens for hours on end than find an offline hobby. "We can't compete against that because it's easy and quickly within reach," he said.
