Lim Lam Tailor: A History
At only 19 years old, Lim Lam migrated from China to Malaysia and started a small tailor shop at Seri Intan in Klang, Selangor - marking the first generation of Lim Lam Tailor. Shortly thereafter, he moved the business to Jalan Raja Hassan’s wet market, where he and his wife, Low Sag, raised seven children, two of whom grew up learning how to sew, along with the basics o
f tailoring. Their eldest son, Lim Shang Lin, helped out in the shop throughout his childhood. After getting married and having children, he decided to further his specialisation in men's tailoring, leaving in 1969 to study in London and returning home with a diploma in 1971. Upon his return, Lim Shang Lin helped with his father’s business while also establishing another tailor shop, Guy’s Tailor, along Jalan Papaya (now known as Lorong Sena in Klang). During this time, his business mainly focused on producing uniforms for factory workers, tailor-made suits, blazers, and pants for men, alongside alterations such as changing zippers, sewing loose buttons, patching up holes and more. As Lim Lam and his wife aged, their eldest son eventually started running both Guy's Tailor and Lim Lam Tailor for a period of time, until he decided to close down the former to focus on maintaining his father's legacy. Two decades later in 1994, the government made a decision to close up Jalan Hassan's wet market, and Lim Lam Tailor shifted to Pasar Besar Klang in Jalan Meru, where the shop interior and most of the tailoring tools have remained until today. Before he passed, he had revealed intentions of passing the business down to his eldest son, Lim Loong Hon. Wanting to fulfill his father's hope of continuing the traditional tailoring business for the third generation, Lim Loong Hon took over Lim Lam Tailor and has been running the shop since then. Countless family memories live within this little shop. It was the place where the fourth generation, Lim Lam's great-grandchildren, would drop by after school to play while their grandfather and uncle worked. Lim Lam Tailor is more than just a tailor shop - it is where family ties were strengthened; where fond memories were made and are cherished till today.
