Incinerator man is the unlikely face behind museum's exhibition
Ng Tze Yong, The New Paper 18 Apr 09;
HIS nights are spent at the incinerator plant where he works, destroying mountains of trash amid the heat, smell and roar of heavy machinery.
But when morning arrives, Mr Wong Han Ming, 38, sets off for quieter places to do a very different sort of thing.
In the solitude of rubbish dumps and abandoned houses, he picks up things to salvage.
Old bus tickets, posters, postcards and magazines - these are some of the things people throw away, but which Mr Wong saves from oblivion. To date, he has amassed about 100,000 of such items.
A selection of his collection is now the subject of the latest exhibition at the Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM), titled Cinemas and Movie Stars.
Some see him as a hero, some dismiss him as a hopeless romantic. Others give him looks reserved for lunatics. But he is one of the lesser-known heroes behind the Singapore heritage scene, which has been bustling of late.
Last year saw a record 2.5 million visitors to the museums, a 45 per cent spike from 2007. Two museums also opened - the Peranakan Museum and 8Q, the contemporary art arm of the Singapore Art Museum.
Development funds
In February, amid Singapore's worst recession, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts announced $29 million in development funds for three community museums - the Malay Heritage Centre, the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and the upcoming Indian Heritage Centre.
'Museums do not have the resources to acquire all items of historical significance,' said Ms Tresnawati Prihadi, the general manager of SPM.
'Collectors like Mr Wong help to fill in the gaps.'
It wasn't always like this.
'In the past, museums did not consider ephemeral things like bus tickets and posters worthy of collection, but more and more, that is changing,' said Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society.
Mr Wong, a technical officer at Tuas South incineration plant, talks about the race against time, the need to pass knowledge on to the younger generation, and the buttressing of the Singapore identity.
At home, however, he fights a different battle.
He cringes when he talks about the scoldings he has to endure from his parents. His collection has taken up much of the space in their three-room flat in old Chinatown.
The stacks of folders which contain the painstakingly catalogued items take pride of place on the shelves.
He started collecting memorabilia in primary school, after listening to his grandmother's stories about her life.
He searches for them in rubbish dumps, buys them from antique shops, and often travels to Malaysia to hunt for the rarer ones. Occasionally, he gives public talks and holds exhibitions.
For his contributions, he was given the Supporter of Heritage award by the National Heritage Board in 2006, the same year it was introduced.
Collection on show
And in June this year, Mr Wong's collection will be on show at the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Still, it's hard to shake off the taunts and jokes.
Said Dr Tan: 'In Singapore, when you start collecting stuff, people usually start wondering: Is it a sign of mental illness?'
It's a trait that, while not peculiar to Singaporeans, may be more pronounced here.
'We are such a small country and we live in such small flats. If you start collecting and taking up space, people think your priorities are screwed up because they think the space can be used for more 'productive' use,' said Dr Tan.
For collectors, the lure is in the intangible: a sense of stability and control in a fast-paced life.
'There is a collector in each of us,' said Dr Tan.
Every night, as the big trucks rumble into Tuas South incinerator plant, trailing their foul stench, Mr Wong watches silently, swaying between romanticism and practicality.
He didn't work there to salvage things - he's not allowed to. He ended up there by sheer coincidence, as he holds a diploma in engineering.
But it can be a painful place for a history buff to work.
Fortunately, the trash comes in black bags.
'I can't see what's in them, so it's okay...' he said.
