The office cleaning lady who turns waste into works of art

It was a few weeks before Christmas when suddenly, a little paper tree appeared near the watercooler in the office pantry — cut out of a discarded brochure and decorated with quiet care.

- Seshan Ramaswami

Spare red packets folded by Ms Y into origami sculptures, brightening an otherwise nondescript corner of the writer's office area and transforming it into a cheerful, ever-changing art gallery.

(PHOTO: COURTESY OF SESHAN RAMASWAMI)

Barely a month after, as Lunar New Year approached, an ad hoc art installation emerged, made out of spare red packets folded into delicate origami sculptures, brightening the same corner.

At other times, an empty bottle rescued from the corridor became a vase, filled with leaves and flowers picked up from around our campus.

These small, whimsical touches transformed an ordinary office space into a cheerful, ever-changing art gallery. No one asked for them. They weren’t part of anyone’s job description. They simply appeared - thoughtful, festive and free.

Their creator? A colleague I fondly call the vice-president, janitorial services, Level 5 of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at the Singapore Management University. Let’s call her Ms Y.