umbrella and a tiffin carrier.
IT is undeniable that there is a certain charm when it comes to vintage items from the days of old. So when I stumbled upon a shop on the Internet selling these kinds of items, I was very much intrigued by it. From afar, one would have never guessed that there was a shop selling vintage items within the vicinity of Ang Cheng Ho Road.
The only tell-tale sign were the Chinese posters on the window and upon closer inspection, a tower of vintage luggage bags could be seen in the shop. It was a whole new world when I entered the quaint shop. It was filled to the brim with items which were probably at least 30 years and older, neatly categorised according to the type.
The owner of the shop, Peter Lee Yong Huat was more than happy to tell the stories of the item in the shop and also his own tales on how he obtained such a big collection of vintage items. “I actually started out with collecting vintage cars and motorbikes,” Lee said. Owner of a food court and also a logistic company, Lee revealed that the current space was not an actual shop but an extension of his logistic company’s office.
Though his main passion was collecting and restoring old vehicles, the collection he had in his makeshift shop were extras of the collectibles he slowly accumulated over the years. There was something different in Lee’s collection as I glanced around. Though the items were obviously old in design, I was puzzled at the fact that their condition and colour were still in good condition, as if it was just produced in recent years.
“That is because these items are ‘new old stock’,” Lee answered my query. “These items were made maybe 30 or 40 years ago but the collectors I bought the items from never took it out of their original boxes. That is why it is considered as ‘new old stock’.” Lee then took me through a journey of the items in his collection. From the metal luggage bag, which was probably over 80 years old, to old hair gels, cupboards and toys. Lee had a wide variety of items in his collection.
“We can learn a lot from these items, an insight on how life used to be back when these items were just made,” Lee said. As he brought out more nostalgic items, his manager, Jenny Chua chimed in and shared her own memories when it came to certain items in the shop.
“Back then when I was younger, we don’t get to drink soft drinks that often,” she reminisced when Lee brought out two glass bottles of carbonated drinks that was about 50 years old along with a couple of glass cups with logos imprinted on it.
Chua also shared her experience where some customers who frequent the food court would ask if they could bring their grandchildren to look at the items Lee had collected so they could show their young ones the things they had when they were growing up.
With so many items from the past in his collection, Lee said that he wish to open up a proper shop where he can showcase all the olden furniture and trinkets so customers can feel like they were back in the past. It was an unforgettable memory to walk into Lee’s makeshift shop and surrounded by items that were decades old. It was like looking at a window in time.
Lee welcomes all who are interested in collected vintage item, even if one wants to trade items with him, or purchase one.
