I 'met' Nur Aqilah Mohd Mislan through Claudia Tan, who had added me into their typewriter-enthusiast Facebook group. Aqilah, an 18-year-old student, is one of the youngest members of the group. Yet - as Claudia tells me - she is passionate about typewriters, and sometimes even uses her typewriter to type study notes.
23 November 2013
1. How did your interest in typewriters start?
I started being interested in typewriter when I was 16, partly fuelled by my love for writing. I love anything vintage, so when I saw several typewriters on Tumblr I thought I had to have one. When I got my first typewriter, I was in awe for like 2 days haha. It felt surreal maybe? Like a (short term) dream come true.
2. So cost was kind of an issue for you I guess? Especially being a student... So how have you managed to 'overcome' that?
It is one of the two bigger problems haha! The other being space constraint. I usually have to save up for weeks before I purchase once. But just in case, I keep like 400 bucks safe first. Because typewriters get sold quit fast around collectors and it's very sad if we lose out esp if the typer is rare.
3. What was going through your mind when you typed on your first typewriter?
I was definitely excited, especially since the typewriter was a surprise gift. The clicking sounds of the keys and the jamming of the paper! It was definitely awesome, because nothing ever felt that cool when we press on keyboards! (sorry if this ans sounds a little stupid I'm not sure how to put in words ._.)
4. Why do you like this medium, as compared to digital mediums? How is it different from digital mediums?
I think many of us like typewriters because of its mono-functionality. Devices these days have so many functions that it's hard to see the novelty behind them, which is unlike typewriters. To me, the idea of multi tasking is a little absurd. There's practically no point dividing you attention into many different things when we are made to do things and live one step at a time. So with mono function items, we take things one at a time, and in doing that we get to savour or enjoy the things we do. Also, old things/vintage items are growing very rare these days. And to know that I might own something someone else may never get to even see is a special thing. In more ways than one, you get to distinguish yourself from majority of our tech saavy generation.
Even though they're both mechanical, the typewriter adds in personal touch to whatever we're doing. For example, typo mistakes. Computers and other electronic devices can correct them for you, but analog objects leave whatever trace of you that's on the paper (in the case of typewriters) so yup, human touch :)
5. How did your family and friends react to your interest?
They thought I was weird haha. It seemed like an expensive interest that I'd get bored of very soon, but it's been 2 years and if anything, I'm more interested in it!
6. Did you let them try typing?
I did let my friends use them! My family didn't really understand my interests so they pretty much didn't bother. As for my friends they were as excited as I was, and they were scared to press harder to so that the ink can be seen on paper!
7. Do you think young people are increasingly getting interest in analog mediums? Why do you think this is happening?
I think it's becoming a trend! Probably due to the insurgency of digital media so maybe we get tired of it really quickly :)
8. In what ways have you been using your typewriter?
I write letters with them, and I use them to write my own notes as well! I will type quotes on manila tags or papers and paste them into my journal too.
9. What made you start collecting (and not stop at just 1 typewriter)?
The first time I got it, I thought one would be enough, but then when I met Claudia and the others, I learnt a whole deal about them. And to know that there were typers with different fonts, it sort of kick started this whole need to collect more and more of different fonts! It's unlike computers where u can just download fonts. For typewriters, I think the more variety of typefaces you have, the better the inventory.
