I visited my neighbourhood today and one of the shops had very recently set up a corner intended for keeping and treasuring collective memories of old Hong Kong. I had been occupied with a lot over the summer and I only just found out in the late afternoon. The space, which occupied the back of the store, was filled with various toys and trinkets for sale and for display. Old envelopes, matchboxes, dolls, tickets, and of course, currency. I was impressed by the novelty of this idea, because it almost never happens here in HK.
As someone deeply interested in all things nostalgic, and someone who holds an extensive Hong Kong collection, I pointed out some things they were missing, like coins, and quickly offered to bring some of the items I had lying around in my spares bin and put them up for exhibition. Cue me running home, packaging and labelling a dozen items (6 coins, 6 notes) and running back to the shop.
I began to explain to the shopkeepers that the items I’m putting up had received hobby-grade treatment and were packaged and labelled according to collector standards, and the shopkeepers asked me, in Cantonese (not exact words): “The items put up here are intended for sale. Would you by any chance consider selling them?” I quickly and decisively answered “no”. My reasoning was that the whole point of my collection is not to make money, but to preserve, and awaken, the collective memories of the people. My mentality here being that many people from my community have added to my collection over the last seven years, and I would like to take this opportunity to add to theirs.
Even when they pointed out that I would likely have many more spares lying around my house (which I can use to replace whatever’s been sold), I still said no. I then proceeded to write little slips of paper that explained the influence that items like the five-cent coin and 1-dollar coin had in daily transactions. For example, I wrote about the fares of the first cross-harbour buses being one dollar.
Okay, I might have been glorifying myself a little too much. If that’s the impression I’m giving you, please know that I do not intend to do such a thing. Though I am not religious anymore, I want to end this small essay with a quote which originated from the Bible: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Here’s a photo of the little corner I took up with my HK currency!
