For the past six decades, Hajar Agil has seen a steady stream of people almost every day, often from morning to late evening. Some come to her current home in Bedok; other times, she travels around Singapore to see them.
Hajar is a massage therapist, and she has one goal in mind – to “fix” her clients with her “magic hands”, as her granddaughter Farhanah Khailani describes them.
Now in her seventies, Hajar is very much sought after by clients, who come to her through word of mouth, from neighbours, friends, friends of friends, and extended relatives.
But Hajar doesn’t work alone. Helping her is her entire family: Four generations of massage therapists, including her daughter Halijah Tahir and granddaughter Farhanah.
The family specialises in Javanese and Malay massage, and Farhanah recalled that as a child, she would sit beside her grandmother and watch her work. These make up some of her earliest memories, she told CNA Women.
“We help people feel better. Whether it’s a neck sprain, an injured shoulder, or prenatal and postnatal care, you name it, we know how to approach it and ‘fix’ the problem,” said the 35-year-old. “My entire family, including my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, knows at least the basic techniques – it’s like coming from a whole family of First-Aiders.
“Of course, we also know when we cannot ‘fix’ something, ” she added. “If it’s serious, like an injury that involves a huge loss of blood, we always encourage our clients to seek medical help from a doctor.”
