INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 1The father · The songkok maker
Ahmad52
A craftsman whose life centres on the shop that bears his name. Ahmad hopes his sons will carry on his trade, but struggles to accept that their hopes may be different from his own.
KEDAI SONGKOK AHMAD · SINGAPORE, 1970
The people
behind the shop.
Meet the family and visitors at the heart of the story, introduced in Episodes 1–5.
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 1
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 1The younger son
Salim12
Watchful and eager to help, Salim is still a schoolboy when the family’s familiar routines begin to change. He wants to stand beside his father at the workbench, without yet understanding everything the shop carries.
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 1The older son
Rashid17
Rashid wants a future beyond the family trade. His decision to take a factory job brings him into conflict with Ahmad, leaving his younger brother between a father’s expectations and a brother’s refusal.
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 2The mother · The household’s steady hand
Salmah45
Ahmad’s wife and the mother of Rashid and Salim. Salmah balances the counter, the household and Ahmad’s care. Even as Salim offers to do more, she insists that helping the family must not mean giving up school.
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 2The familiar trader
Rahman25
A cloth-and-sewing-supplies trader known to the family. Rahman visits to ask after Ahmad and lends a hand with the bedding. His presence leaves Salim with questions about the ties between the two men.
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 3The lodging-house owner
The pondok owner58
The owner of a nearby pondok—a lodging house for travellers. He brings Indonesian pilgrims to Ahmad’s shop before their Hajj journey, seeking songkok and the guidance of the craftsman he knows.
INTRODUCED IN EPISODE 5The neighbourhood friend
Ismail12
Salim’s neighbourhood friend, close enough to tease him back towards play. His easy humour gives Salim a brief chance to be twelve, even as the shop keeps pulling him away.