One day, you’re dabbling in small furniture projects for family and friends from your workshop in Sembawang. The next, you’re approached to build two custom-made chairs for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Singapore.
Such was Govindharaj Muthiah’s reality when he received the fortuitous call from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore around end-July. The 44-year-old Singaporean carpenter, who took his passion for woodworking full-time in 2019, did not expect to be presented the coolest addition to his CV to date.
And for the record, even though he completed both “100 per cent handmade” chairs within a whirlwind month, the news still hadn’t sunk in when he spoke to CNA Lifestyle on Thursday (Sep 5) about his initial shock.
“When I got the call, the first question was: ‘Hi, we knew you do furniture. We were introduced by someone.’ And they asked if I could make a chair. I was like, ‘Okay, do you have the dimensions? I’ll work on it,’” recalled Raj, as he prefers to be known.
“Then (the caller) said, ‘No it’s more than that, there’s a lot of specific details.’ And I said, ‘Okay, send me the drawing.’ Usually what I tell customers is, if you can draw it and show me, I will build it for you. So likewise, I said that, thinking he’s on the same page.
“He paused for a while and said, ‘It’s for the Pope.’ I was like, ‘Sorry? Who?’ He (repeated himself): ‘For the Pope.’”
