Vintage ad boosts fund gets a boost from vintage Singer ad

PETALING JAYA: A reader of theSun has generously donated RM5,000 from the sale of a 68-year-old Singer sewing machine advertisement (pix), to theSun-Mercy Malaysia Bosnia Flood Disaster Relief Fund.
The reader who declined to be identified, made the contribution to the fund after selling the authenticated original magazine advertisement for the classic black sewing machine, to Singer Malaysia Sdn Bhd here for RM5,000 recently.
"My late mother had a Singer machine which she was very proud of. Singer is a popular brand, and even when I stumbled upon the ad so many years ago, I knew it
was a rare find and can be considered a period piece," she said of the collectors' item she had bought in New York more than 10 years ago.
"I hit upon the idea to sell the piece to Singer and donate the proceeds to the fund for Bosnia when I read in theSun that the sewing machine company was collaborating with the paper to help the flood stricken country," she said.
Commenting on the purchase, Singer Malaysia managing director Yeap Dein Wah said the company was happy to buy the the old advertisement "for a good cause" .
"We are delighted and proud to have the vintage advertisement as it is a testament that Singer has been around for a long time.
"In fact, Singer has been in this country for 108 years, and our brand is known to be very durable and reliable," he said, adding that the company may reproduce the advertisement in its brochures as well as print posters from it to be distributed and displayed in all its outlets.
"That classic black design is iconic to Singer's brand, its design is still popular among consumers. The model in the advertisement is no longer in production, but the design is still in demand. It is synonymous to what Singer stands for, durability and reliability," said Yeap, adding that Singer has been around a long time, and will be around for longer still.
"In conjunction with our 100th anniversary in 2006, we ran a competition for the oldest, functioning Singer sewing machine.
"Someone produced a 127-year old Singer sewing machine which was from UK, and he walked away with our grand prize of RM25,000. To think that even after 127 years, the machine was working fine," he added.