Trinh Ngoc in his shop at Ho Chi Minh City’s 151/1 Tran Dinh Xu Street.

Trinh Ngoc remembers making shoes for King Norodom Sihanouk and almost every other member of the Cambodian Norodom and Sisowath royal families.

The mild-mannered shoemaker, now in his 70s, is considered one of the best in Ho Chi Minh City, where he started anew in 1970 after leaving Cambodia because of the political changes there.

At age 13, Ngoc moved to Phnom Penh with his family. He began to learn cobbling at 15 at the family factory and when he was 21, he opened his own shoe shop.

The shop received even more customers than the French shop on the opposite street.

Sometimes, he had to study the traditional footwear at Cambodian museums to make the King and Queen’s shoes for national festivals or greeting foreign guests. He also studied a four year remote course in shoemaking through a French school, where he learnt about foot structure to make more comfortable shoes.

When he returned to HCMC, Ngoc began consigning his shoes at some of the city’s top outlets such as the Tax Shopping Center and the Crystal Palace Center in District 1.

But those centers charged three times more than he did at his own shop on Phat Diem Street, now Tran Dinh Xu, and customers followed him there.

He became known by leading officials, celebrities, the disabled and foreign diplomats.

Ngoc said a good shoemaker has to master every stage of the shoemaking process because they are all closely related to each other.

He considers his shoes not as a product but a piece of art. According to Ngoc, “a creative mind, a passion for the job, the ability to observe and skillful hands” make a successful shoemaker.

One needs “to know what fashion comes next,” including the design, color and type of leather, to be successful in the market, he added.

He cooperates with local leather suppliers including Junly factory in Phnom Penh and Vinada factory in Vietnam, which produces the leather that Ngoc recommends and allows him to use it six months before marketing it.

Ngoc also makes shoes for people with deformed legs.

Le Nam, who has one leg 10 centimeters shorter than the other, said he’s very grateful to Ngoc.

“When I met him, it was like a drowning person catching a lifebuoy,” said Nam, who had tried many other shoemakers before discovering Ngoc.

He said Ngoc’s shoes not only helped him find a job but also strengthened his legs.

Ngoc has turned down several offers by foreign shoes enterprises, including one by a Taiwanese company that offered him a high salary and more than US$80,000 worth of shares just to train workers.

“I would have become very rich but I wouldn’t have been able to interact with customers,” he said. “Money can hardly buy you the feelings you have when you see customers pleased with your own shoes.”

Reported by Cam Nhi