insight
工程技術，地產投資，信仰家園，時尚生活
RETRO CHARM
The couple's choice of home furnishings look like they belong in a museum but the apartment still retains its industrial look, thanks to its largely grey-coloured interiors and cement flooring. - PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN
'We like old stuff because looking at them makes us feel young again. In today's society, where people favour new things, it is a pity to throw the old things away.'
- Mr Chai, 37
STEPPING into this apartment along Zion Road feels like going back in time. Rather than shiny marble flooring which is the norm now, the floor is made of cement. And in place of a concrete roof, polycarbonate sheets, similar to those found in greenhouses, protect the home from the elements. On a clear afternoon, sunlight streams into the kitchen. When it rains, the pitter-patter of rain comes down hard on the plastic sheets, creating a musical of sorts. Thankfully, there are no leaky ceilings.
The apartment, along with the other walk-up units on the same stretch at Zion Road, was built in 1963, and the building facade certainly looks its age.
But its retro charm got the attention of Chai Yee Wei and his wife, Diane Chan. This is their first marital home.
The couple were keen on living in an old shophouse, and went to view a few in Tiong Bahru. Sadly, they did not find their dream home there, as the leases on those apartments are less than 50 years, with a high mortgage to boot.
As luck would have it, they came across this 1,150 sq ft apartment at Zion Road, which was the former studio of photographer Jason Wee.
"It was old like how we wanted, the price was within our budget, and we liked that it still had many years left on its 999-year lease," says Mr Chai, a film director.
What also won the couple over was that the apartment needed little renovation. "In fact, some of the things were left behind by Jason. We pointed out what we wanted, such as a pair of vintage wooden cabinets," he says.
The apartment boasts a central location - Great World City is across the road, and Zion Riverside Food Centre is next door.
The couple hired June Goh from interior design firm Moopak, to make some minor changes, such as building a new bathroom that is tucked away by the side of the bedroom. The old bathroom, with its bright-red mosaic tiles has been converted into a walk-in wardrobe.
To give the apartment a more intimate and warmer feel, the frames of the doors and windows in the apartment were changed from stainless steel to wooden ones.
The apartment still retains its industrial look, thanks to its largely grey-coloured interiors and cement flooring. The floor was given an epoxy coat over, "so that it feels less dusty", says Mr Chai.
That feeling of stepping back in time is not limited to the apartment structure. The couple's choice of home furnishings look like they belong in a museum, too.
Standing by the living room is an old lamp found at a construction site that has been converted into a table, which Mr Chai bought from a curio shop in Craig Road. A gramophone by the window was purchased at Sungei Road.
The apartment comes air-conditioned, but the couple sometimes rely on fans to keep the place cool. Of course, these would be vintage fans that were shipped back from the couple's visits to Bangkok.
Their personal items look dated, but we mean that in a good way.
On a display shelf in the dining room, placed among Buddha heads, are Mr Chai's collection of laser discs for movies, such as ET (1982), The Godfather (1972), Toy Story (1995) and Fantasia (1940).
Over in another corner is a framed display of gold records for Michael Jackson's Thriller album. Mr Chai bought this on eBay for US$700, saying: "I'm a huge MJ fan. The Thriller album was the first Michael Jackson cassette I had, so it has special meaning for me."
There are cases placed on the floor which later reveal themselves to be vintage movie projectors.
"We like old stuff because looking at them makes us feel young again," says Mr Chai, 37. "In today's society, where people favour new things, it is a pity to throw the old things away."
The shelves in the apartment are filled with countless CDs and laser discs, some of which Mr Chai has kept since his teenage days. "They are too precious to me, I refuse to junk them."
Thankfully, Ms Chan shares his passion.
Besides, a love for vintage finds, Mr Chai also unabashedly declares himself an Apple fan boy. In his collection are a Macintosh Classic introduced in 1990, an Apple QuickTake digital camera from 1994, an iMac3 in its iconic Bondi blue translucent plastic case from 1998, and an iMac4 from 2002. To top it off, he has a table lamp, shaped in what else, but the Apple Inc logo.
He also has another quirky gadget, an R2D2 movie projector that comes with its own Millennium Falcon remote control.
As a film director, it is only natural that the apartment has plenty of other movie memorabilia, such as posters. Some come courtesy of Ms Chan, a marketing manager with a film distributor company, which are framed and displayed against a wall.
While he has tonnes of framed movie posters in his home, Mr Chai is hard-pressed when asked to show his productions. He digs around before pulling out a rolled up poster of Twisted (2011), and a film reel of Blood Ties (2009). His new movie, That Girl in Pinafore, about the xinyao folk music movement - another retro theme - will be out on National Day.
"It is so ironic that my home is filled with posters from other people's movies, but none of my own," he says.
