Arulchelvan has no plans to retire although he no longer has a shop.
AS A 17-year-old, Arulchelvan Aruljanan would hurry back from school every day.
He needed to prepare for his daily routine of getting the newspaper to readers.
“I’d sell newspapers at night around Petaling Jaya on my bicycle.
“I would also deliver newspapers to residential areas in the morning before school started.
“I’ve been in the newspaper delivery business for 52 years now, ” said Arulchelvan.
He used to get the newspaper from an agent then, but for the past 27 years, he has been his own boss.
Arulchelvan noted how busy he used to be as a newsvendor, as almost every household would subscribe to at least one newspaper.
“The younger generation prefer to use their digital devices to read the news now.
“But many of my long-time customers still prefer to have the newspaper in their hands, ” said the 69-year-old.
Every day at two in the morning, Arulchelvan will wake up to collect the newspaper.
By 2.30am, he is already out of the house to collect copies for delivery to residents in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur.
“I don’t have a shop any more as I gave it up a while ago.
“Nowadays, I do residential and office deliveries only, ” he added.
Arulchelvan’s sister would help out with deliveries on days he needed assistance.
“I am healthy and able so I don’t see myself retiring any time soon, ” said the father of three.
He wants to stick to his regular routine of delivering the newspaper to his loyal customers for as long as he is able.
