The Opera Populaire

Have you ever wondered how much things you accumulate over the course of your life? I had no idea until I embarked on this scheme to throw some of the stuff I no longer needed in preparation for moving house. In my family, throwing things away is almost tantamount to sin; such is the extent of (some of) their thrifty nature. Even to throw away bread past its expiry, one needs to go through some earache.

This had resulted in problems for the vast wardrobe I have accumulated. It may be selfish, but after some time, it becomes disturbing to see a 40 plus year old woman keep taking up your old items to wear and discarding them at will. Worse yet, when your maid decided that you no longer keep track of that huge amount of clothes and she can conveniently take a jeans or two away without you noticing. And then, there was the never-ending problem of elders who decided that your discarded clothes are now their responsibility to be given away to anyone they fancy, and then coming back to you: "These are still very nice!!" Or those who used roundabout ways to tell you they don't like you using their space. To put an end to the problem, I have given away a majority of clothes that are unsellable to the Salvation Army, while leaving some to sell away at some flea mart or another.

Some things are easy enough to discard: cosmetics past their expiry, old bills, items of clothing that no longer fit or had not been worn for more than a year. But what about items of sentimental value? I put my (real) jewelry into a new box and wondered if I ought to throw away the original boxes they came with. Then there were the letters from people who matter/ once mattered a lot to me. I can't bring them to my new house (they no longer make HDBs for human size), yet the emotions they brought up are too valuable to be discarded lightly. And then those commemorative items that marked the passageway of my childhood. I decided to leave some of them, at least until June.

Labels: Saya Affairs