Futurend

Nowadays, traditional barbershop is perceived as a sunset industry in Malaysia because their business has been facing a gradually shrinking market over the past decades. Contrary to the others, the old barber in this story continues his business in the way true to his own spirit by persisting the traditional skills until today. However, he has long confronted outsiders’ criticism against its competitiveness in this rapidly globalised society. He has even been driven to the brink of collapse when his son who had apprenticed with him since childhood left him. Living in hustle and bustle, people tend to neglect the meaning of tradition while on the route of pursuing materialistic life,like the son does. The conflict between two generations about tradition and modernity is thus built. Son is adapting to survive; yet father insists to preserve the precious and old. During these hard days, father always escapes into his wonderful imaginary world, pretend living in the shadow of the past glory, struggling between continuity and change. In this 21st century, how should the younger generation reflect on the possibility of traditional industry in the future?

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