As Little As Possible

Let me explain my inspiration as to why I'm giving away things and trying to own as little as possible.

Almost all my life, I have been a collector. Books have been there for the longest time, since the time of Bookworm Club tours in primary school. But I probably started with erasers. In Primary 6, a friend of mine introduced me to the world of comics and my first was a West Coast Avengers and Iron Man. There were toys too; Mask, He-Man, Centurions mainly. Later on, I bought Marvel Toys and Spawn, usually at Takashimaya sales and a really special sales at a Alexandria warehouse.

My dad was even a bigger collector than I. He was really into Swarovski Crystal and ivory (which is now banned). And various furniture accessories. He spent many thousands of dollars amassing his collection as well as many man-hours cleaning, displaying and admiring his collection. It must have brought him a measure of happiness. But when he died, his collection meant nothing to me.

All that he collected with so much energy, effort and expenses, I was finding a bother and a major headache.

I remembered that I made a decision to stop collecting things at his wake (except for my monthly fix of BFI's Sight and Sound).

That was in 2001. Since then, I have occasionally stumbled. Tried to get a Transformers comics and The Ultimates collection going. As well as a frenzy buy of Alan Moore's works, mainly the ground-breaking Swamp Thing series. And many other trade paperbacks.

Recently in Japan, I went slightly crazy over toy capsules or gashapon. I tried justifying by saying that it's cheap and occupies little space.

Space is a big consideration for me, in my determination to own little. I believe in this time and age, mobility is a big issue. I want to be able to uproot myself at a moment's notice. And I don't want to bring a lot with me, nor do I want to be leave many things behind. Here, I have been inspired by C K Tang's 2 tin-plated trunks.

Post 9-11, I have been thinking a lot about refugees. As last week's tsunami disaster has done the same. In the event of a disaster, it will be easier to start over again, psychologically, if you have lost as little as possible.

Having as little things as possible will help me free up space in my apartment. I look forward to a clutter-free, functional and thinking space.

Less mess, less stress, I'm so blessed!