From the classroom to the keyway.

Locksmiths aren’t born with tools in hand. Long before he ever fitted a deadbolt, Kenneth Wong worked as a consultant and entrepreneur, then spent more than a decade as a lecturer in business subjects.

Teaching young Singaporeans was its own kind of inspiration. He picked up a Hokkien saying from his military days and never let go of it: if you want to do something, do it well. That line became the brief he handed to every student — relentlessly ensure quality, in everything you do.

True grit and steely perseverance, he’d tell them, will see anyone through any adversity.

A gung-ho attitude, applied to teaching, led to a few groundbreaking detours. Kenneth set up and ran what was, at the time, Singapore’s largest vending-machine mall — without outside funding. Soon after, his students launched the country’s largest vending tradeshow.

For a public servant, this was unusual stuff. He was seen as a misfit. He kept thinking about returning to the private sector, hesitated for years, and one day finally took the plunge.

It didn’t suit him. Again. He felt despondent — until an ordinary moment on the street rearranged everything.

Near his workplace one day, Kenneth saw a tissue seller in a wheelchair struggling up a slope. He stopped to help. Pushing the chair up the rise, he was reminded of his own mantra about grit — about seeing anyone through any adversity.

If a man without legs can make an honest living in this kind of environment, he thought, so can anyone.

It was time to take drastic action. He looked around for an essential service that would benefit from genuine customer care and world-class professionalism — and landed on locksmithing. He had always loved taking apart and fixing mechanical things. The fit was unmistakable.

A handshake, then the work. Kenneth sought out and took tutelage under a sifu locksmith. Gruelling fifteen-hour days and nights followed.

He travelled with his teacher to all sorts of places — opening doors, removing, fixing and installing locks, serving clients, and on more than one occasion freeing trapped people from their own homes.

It was the apprenticeship most people don’t take and don’t see. By the end of it, the trade had stopped being a curiosity and started being a calling.

He named the company Ketch after the type of two-masted sailing vessel. It was an appropriate name — quietly, it was also formed by the two words Key and Latch.

Ken concocted what he calls the “Ketch cocktail”: service quality, professionalism, technical expertise, and efficiency — served with a generous dash of sincerity, and topped off with a sprinkling of warmth. Customers noticed.

To put a real institution behind the work, Ken headed to England to take a professional trade course and earn membership in the UK Locksmiths Association. He came home trusted, vetted, and certified.

Today, Ketch sails the high seas — braving high waves and strong tides. The winds may howl and blow strong, but we’ve now got thousands of customers, supporters and friends cheering us on.

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