It’s been close to two months since Singapore’s oldest flea market — Sungei Road Thieves Market — closed down for good to make way for new urban developments and projects, throwing away 30 years of cultural heritage and historical nostalgia.
But what local artist Ng Xi Jie and writer Michelle Tan point out is that 25 of Singapore’s biggest politicians had a part to play (directly or not) in the demise of Thieves Market and its elderly vendors who rely on its existence. As such, they’ve come up with a project called the “Funeral in 25 Objects” — a site that presents personal haikus and objects (bought from the Thieves Market) that represent each of the politicians, based on their public lives.
There’s Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, for example, who was gifted a Tiger Beer pen for his past life as a poet. There’s Minister Josephine Teo who was given a pocket watch with the word “Love” on it for her inane comments about the importance of having children early.
There’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong receiving Young Ecologist and Young Environmentalist pins for his constant uploading of nature shots taken by him. There’s Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan who received an egg doll (humpty dumpty?) that smiles exactly like him.
“These gifts represent a farewell of sorts from the market to those who, directly or otherwise, determined its fate,” according to the description of Funeral in 25 Objects.
“With this collection, we ask if secondhand objects hold an everlasting energy, if they can connect us to place and people, if dirt is gold, if death is final, if memory is resurrective.”
