My father was a handyman.
At work he was known professionally as an Electrician, but he was an artisan. I remember vividly how he was always up on something around the house - rewiring at a corner of the flat that needed extra socket, extending a cable or two so that there won't be any power surge because too many appliances were sharing a single power point and minor plumbing from a leaking pipe. Or simply replacing the 3000K bulb in our rooms to a 6000K one because warm lights somehow made us siblings sleepy to study at night. Or random minor repairs to the family radio or television sets when the sound or pictures got wonky.
He would have on, one half of a pair of rubber sandals or thongs as he craned his neck at the ceiling to do the wiring. Meanwhile I would be craning my neck trying to figure out the significance of the black white green and red cables. l often wondered why my father's nimble fingers placed these cables in a certain way.
Between cutting cables, he would glance down with papa eagle eyes; Don't Touch, Stay Away! He was also skilled at turning metals into usable kettles, ladles, pots and pans.
I must have been 5-6 years old. When I started school I lost interest in what my father did around the house. He would instruct me to study, not waste time watching him cut cables. These days when faced with a hardware issue, I wish I had picked up some handyman skills from my father.
Nevertheless, despite my rather suaku-ness in handyman matters, one of the greatest takeaways I've learned from watching my father, was to be resourceful. By extension to never say no when he received a call for help from a neighbour or a neighbour's neighbour.
There was no camera phone to record a wiring or plumbing issue then for pre-check before attending to a problem. My father trusted the process and what he was capable of doing to help others. Every issue could be addressed.
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime", they say. It is rather easy to just call a handyman to see through those minor hardware issues that may pop up once in a while in the house. Yet the satisfaction of being able to do something by myself would have been immensely empowering.
Sometimes during appointments I question why I need to be present when the situation suggests otherwise. But if my presence in a small way aspires others in their process, I am thankful.
To all fathers and father figures, continue doing you. You may not be the ideal father figure or man about the house but know that somewhere, a little boy is watching you - in awe of what you are capable of doing.
Happy Father's Day 2024.
