Do shoes make a lawyer?

When I was a young lawyer, I used to carry two big black bags containing my files and books. That caused problems.

I suffered from shoulder and lower limb pain. My feet were killing me.

After many visits to the doctor I realized that I was using ill-fitting shoes.

And so I went out and I started buying different types of shoes –  to see if that would make a difference. I went through many models.

Now, I love shoes. I was in the army before I became a lawyer. The first thing that they teach you in the army is to look after your shoes. If your shoes are looked-after and are comfortable, you can walk very far: which is what soldiers do. They are forever traipsing all over the country in different conditions.

Looking after shoes came naturally to me.

Eventually I found a particular brand of shoe that  best suited my feet

As you know, I am not very tall and my feet are broad.

I walked into this shop and I saw the price of the first available shoe that hit my eyes and I turned around and went out. And my wife asked me what happened? I said it is RM1,500.00.

This was back in 1993. I had a very busy practice and there was a lot of pain in my feet. So, she said you have arch feet and if you can spend RM1,500 to release the pain why not.

Okay then I went back inside and with a great deal of reluctance I bought that shoe.

Then, to my dismay, I discovered that the bottom portion is made of leather. Because Malaysia is a wet country the bottom of the shoes gets worn out very fast.

So, I changed plastic covers for that. The brand of the shoes is: Salvatore Ferragamo. Ever since then I have been using Ferragamo shoes.

They are not cheap.  At that time it was a sort of salary that a new lawyer would be getting, about RM1,500.00 (USD 484.00).

Then it became RM1,800.00, then RM2,200.00, then RM3,000.00. But the shoe that I bought in 1993, I still wear to this day. It looks all battered and bruised; but it is very much alive and kicking! I absolutely love it when I go for long drives.

It been 27 years and I still use them, sometimes to court.

I have another pair of Ferragamo shoes I bought when I went to London. That is at the verge of falling to bits but I still put kiwi on it, shine it. It is still there. Very much ready to go!

Then about 10 years ago I chanced upon a shop in Oxford Street, London

Messrs. Russell & Bromley and there, at one third the cost of a Ferragamo shoe, I found a pair of simple shoes. I bought them and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn.

So as between Ferragamo and Russell & Bromley, they have the same level of comfort but particular models of Russell & Bromley are very comfortable.

All the pain in the lower half of the feet went away for the last 25 years

I am a very happy man and. Then I discovered a local shoe seller, Messrs. Thomas Chan at Kuala Lumpur: at the Bangsar Shopping Complex. 

They produce the same quality of shoes as Ferragamo at one-fourth the price and the quality of the leather was also very good.

I used to go to that shop as well.

So there it is, this little talk on the shoes that relieved me of lower limb pain!