POSTER POWER

Singapore's vintage election memorabilia in the spotlight

- Shawn Hoo

While hunting down old furniture on Perak's streets in 2022, vintage shop owner Wak Sadri stumbled upon a page of Singapore's history. It was an issue of Petir Pictorial, the PAP's official magazine, dated 1959, the year it scored its first election victory.

On its cover, the men in white were arranged on the steps of the then City Hall while the party's red and blue lightning insignia bolted across a flowy cloth that draped over the building's severe Corinthian columns. History was made as the party has swept every Singapore election since and will seek to win its 16th election come May 3.

In its day, the magazine cost 60 cents. A year ago, Mr Sadri sold the 1959 issue for a four-figure sum. The 46-year-old vintage veteran, who runs Treasure At Home Vintage Store at Kapo Factory Building in Tai Seng, believes that serendipity is essential on his frequent acquisition trips: "You have to expect the unexpected - if you think that you're going to get something, you are sure not to get it."

Art deco armchairs, crowned cabinets, hand-painted store signs, teapots and trinkets line his maximalist chamber, which boasts customers like the set designers of hit drama serial Emerald Hill (2025) and cooking doyenne Violet Oon. But, of late, it is his shop's election and political memorabilia that have received a spike in queries from interested collectors as voters feel the rush of GE2025.

The old campaign posters, like the rows which now punctuate Singapore's roads, are designed to grab an onlooker's attention. On how vintage and current election posters differ, Mr Sadri's son Emyr Uzayr, 21, also known as Wak Jr, points out the penchant in the past for a minimalist colour palette: "It's simple but it's loud."