INDIAN BARBERSHOPS HAVE become a unique institution in Malaysia, rooted in local history and the country’s cultural fabric.
Beyond offering haircuts and shaves, Indian barbershops play a pivotal role as vital community hubs. They primarily serve the working class of all ethnicities, but it is also common for high-ranking Malay government officials and rich Chinese towkays (businessmen) to patronise them. In pre-independence Malaya, when literacy rates were low, they also served as information exchange centres, where news was shared, gossip flowed and ideas took shape. Some even say they contributed towards spreading and gaining support for the idea of Malayan independence.
