I was amazed to read the story of an Australian lady who fell in love with a Sheaffer Targa in 1971 when she was 14 years until now. That was quite a love affair!
When I was in primary school(1959–1964), I was using a cheapo Pilot pen from Japan. My late father was then using a Parker pen. Not only that he was also wearing a Rolex watch-a gift from a Kelantan Royal Family member. His DNA for branded goods went into my blood. After I graduated from Sheffield University in June 1976, I returned home wearing Clarks shoes until today. Four years ago, I saw my first grandson was wearing a pair of Clarks shoes and a checkered shirt like his grandfather. C’est la vie.
Before I digress further and get lost in the nostalgia of the yesteryears, let me come back to my experience of using pens over the last four decades of my life. When I became an engineer, my first pen was Parker. I think you know why. I wanted to have a pen as my father had.
When I became the CEO of a public listed company, I got carried away with the corporate position and bought a Mont Blac. It was quite a heavy and expensive pen. I used it for signing important documents and cheques. After two years, the pen started to bleed. So I went back to using a better Pilot pen and ending buying a few. The fashionable one is Capless Pen. It was cool but I seldom use it.
My techy friends introduced me to Pelikan-a German pen company back then. I love the German precision instruments but the designs are boring. From Pelikan, I moved to Lamy- another German engineering masterpiece with better design. Now I have four of them and look forward to buying the latest models. People who love pens are similar species to people who love books. I am one of them. We have more books than we can read, and more pens than we write. Such is life.
I came from the old school. I prefer to write using a fountain pen to a ballpoint pen. When it comes to writing my personal journals, essays and books I will use longhand i.e writing with pen and paper. More than ten years ago, I got interested in sketching. Now, I use a Lamy pen to sketch every day.
