The Mind Creative OCT 2013
the people and then would procure the goods based on their needs.
Amid this excruciating hard work, Otim Singh slowly moved up the
ladder of hierarchy within the hawkers. He soon purchased a horse
and a cart and within a few years was the owner of a house and
other properties. He transformed himself from the ostracized
hawker to a recognized business owner when he established a store
and also accumulated enough resources and wealth to refurbish the
shop several times. His extraordinary story of hard work and his
“rags to riches” story was later documented in The Cyclopedia of
South Australia (1909).
In 1906, at the age of
forty four, Otim Singh
married Susannah Buick,
the daughter of a local
wealthy farmer. There has
been a presumption
among researchers and
writers that the couple
would probably have met
in 1897 when Otim Singh
first visited the island.
The marriage had to jump over many social hurdles and it has
been speculated that the couple remained childless possibly
because they did not want the children to have the stigma of
foreign ethnicity attached to them.
Otim Singh proved himself to be a very enterprising
businessman. From 1908 onwards, he would often advertise his
store and its products on the front page of the Kangaroo Island
Courier. He managed to expand his inventory to include
groceries, watches, clocks, drapery items, footwear, and
clothing and even offered tailoring services. He was also
recruited as the agent for larger companies and hardly ever
missed a business opportunity in the region.
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