The other day, I was tidying up my room and decided to do something about that huge pile of plastic bags gathering dust near my door. As I sat down to start sorting through the bags, it seemed just another tedious ‘tidying-up-the-room’ task. However, the colourful assortment soon got my brain juices flowing…

Plastic bags, they can be useful objects, unsightly litter or sometimes, bothersome garbage. The can even be a blight on society when they are burnt in the incinerators, releasing greenhouse gases and contributing to global warming. Despite this, they have become a fixture in our society and are not likely to disappear anytime soon.

These bags come in all types of shapes, sizes and colours. Made mostly from plastic or paper, they can look classy and expensive (think Burberry) or gauche and cheap (think wet market plastic bags). The next few paragraphs though, will mostly be on the more common plastic bags instead of the ‘upmarket’ ones as the former were the ones that inspired the most thoughts.

Plastic bags can illustrate the changing times. Found among the file were the now defunct yellow Tops (supermarket) and white Oriental plastic bags. Though there were no Yaohan or Sogo plastic bags, the other 2 reminded me of these Japanese retailers. Once popular stores that I used to frequent, they have now disappeared from the local scene.

There were also a couple of NTUC plastic bags with the old logo print. I was thinking perhaps I should keep them (not for lining the wastepaper basket, though they are the right size) and see if NTUC might organize some ‘old logo items’ search contest years later? Perchance they might win me a prize?

And then there was the old Music Junction one. It was yellow with the locations of its then 3 branches (Bishan, Chinatown & Tampines) printed on it. From this, we can see the progress of the company. Music Junction has done so well that its outlets are almost as common as those of CD-Rama’s nowadays.

Still on the music scene, was another CD retailer, Tower Records’ plastic bag. Entry of other big players such as HMV and Borders has increased competition in the local music industry. The main store that used to house Tower Records & Tower books at Pacific Plaza has now been shifted to Suntec City. Was that in response to the changes in customer needs and as well as the fiercer competition? One wonders.

There were also some of the white plastic bags with the logo of the red lionhead that symbolizes Singapore. These have been around for years and are one of the most commonly seen plastic bags. Is there any significance to the lionhead print design? Does it serve as a manifestation of some form of patriotism? Or is it simply to inform users that the plastic bags are “Made in Singapore”?

Going through the various bags also made me realize that some things haven’t changed, like my love for music (& buying CDs), as seen in the many CD shops’ plastic bags I had. I also noticed quite a few Watsons’ distinctive green plastic bags. It seems like I still like buying toiletries and snacks from the successful chain. Well, it is hard to resist since they have continued to offer good bargains and attractive items over the years.

In a couple of the shopping center bags, I found some receipts of items bought long ago. Images of where, when and why these items were bought flashed through my mind. Some made me recall good bargains and happy times which brought a smile to my face. Others brought back memories of unhappy receipt-related events, which made me sad.

There was even one plastic bag that was from a supermart in Australia. Somehow, it has not been thrown away yet. Though I could not remember what I had bought, the bag brought back nice memories of my holiday down under some years ago.

So, the next time you are thinking of throwing away a plastic bag, do reconsider. You can try recycling it, perhaps for lining the wasterpaper basket, or wrapping around a wet umbrella on a rainy day. Or perhaps, like me, you can just let them accumulate in a corner and when you get sick of “that pile of rubbish”, go rummage through them. You might find memories, see societal changes, discover personal habits, or get other delightful surprises!

Stephanie

11/1/2002