Mr Philip Mehl repairs dozens of bicycles for free every week, finding purpose in helping those who rely on them the most. His bicycle repair social enterprise operates entirely on a pay-it-forward model, where he never asks for money but many people choose to pay anyway.
What began as an early retirement plan has become a labour of love for Mr Philip Mehl, who repairs dozens of bicycles for free every week, finding purpose in helping those who rely on them the most.
Mr Mehl fixes a wheel rim in his workshop, Free Bicycle Repairs, in Balestier. He operates his bicycle repair social enterprise entirely on a pay-it-forward model, where he never asks for money but many people choose to pay anyway. His shop doors close at 6pm, but he spends hours on administrative work, tracking in spreadsheets the bikes he touched that day and the repairs they needed.
He usually sees a stream of people trickling in and out all throughout business hours, fixing an average of 25 bikes a day, which works out to about three or four an hour. His customers fall into three main groups: the elderly who need their market bikes to stay active, children and teens who can't yet afford expensive repair services, and migrant workers who rely on their bikes to get to work.
Mr Mehl's most regular customers at present are a group of teenage cyclists who started coming to his shop with just two of them but now bring their friends from other schools. They call him 'uncle' which he likes, as it makes him feel part of the Singapore community. While Mr Mehl poured much of his savings into launching the social enterprise, he told us that keeping the lights on boils down to community generosity.
He never asks for money, but many people choose to pay anyway, even if it's just a few bucks. A few days ago, a migrant worker needed a new tube that cost S$4, but Mr Mehl replaced it for free as usual, but the worker paid him S$5. For Mr Mehl, it wasn't about the extra dollar, but the fact that the worker wanted to give more because he appreciated what he'd received and wanted to help someone else.
Mr Mehl was brought up in the United Kingdom by his stern, middle-class German immigrant parents. His father had fled to Britain in 1938 to escape the Nazis before World War II, while his mother moved there in 1955 in search of a better life, initially working as an au pair caring for children. They met in London, became British citizens and eventually married.
Mr Mehl learnt the value of hard work from his mum, a homemaker who was up and about all day long, handling daily chores such as cooking and cleaning and other tasks, such as making curtains and Mr Mehl's clothes from scratch. His father was out of the house most days, pounding the pavement as a salesman - but when he was home, he kept a close watch and firm hand on Mr Mehl's doings.
For instance, if young Philip had put too much food on his plate, he would be forced to sit at the table until the plate was clean, even if it took hours. And if he still couldn't finish it, the food would go straight into the fridge and reappear at the very next meal. It sounds brutal, but it teaches you not to waste food ... and to appreciate the value of money.
When Mr Mehl was just 11, his mother died of breast cancer
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