\n<\/p>\n
According to the National Environment Agency, only 3 per cent of clothing and textiles were recycled in 2024.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIf you look at plastics, cardboard, wood \u2013 all these other forms of waste \u2013 we\u2019re doing so well with them. But why is it that textiles are such an issue?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Part of the problem, she explained, is both awareness and infrastructure.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cYou\u2019ve seen the yellow textile bins across the island, right? A lot of people still don\u2019t know they exist. So they end up throwing their old clothes into the normal bin, or worse, the blue recycling bin.\u201d<\/p>\n To do her part, Tan incorporates donated and salvaged fabrics into her work.<\/span> <\/strong>\u201cPeople donate clothing they don\u2019t want anymore, and I also go around to places I know will have these offcuts \u2013 seamstresses, aunties who do alterations at the market.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll get these from them. They\u2019re from hemmed dresses and such \u2013 perfect for weaving, because what I need are long, thin strips.\u201d<\/p>\n For her, these materials carry more than just texture; they hold stories<\/span>.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI like working with donated textiles because I sometimes get to ask the person who gave them to me, \u2018What\u2019s the story?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey love these questions, because decluttering is such a sayang (Malay for regretful)\u00a0<\/span>thing, right? People have these piles of clothes they\u2019ll never wear again yet don\u2019t want to throw away. Giving them away to be transformed into something else becomes a kind of release.\u201d<\/p>\n Pausing thoughtfully, she added: \u201cIt\u2019s like shedding your old identity, your old skin, and bringing in the new. The new you.\u201d<\/p>\n For Tan, 2014 was a moment of transformation, the year everything seemed to converge. She had just graduated from university, started her first job, and was going to Japan with a friend for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nSUSTAINABILITY WITH A SIDE OF STORYTELLING<\/span><\/h2>\n
WABI-SABI, JUST IN TEXTILE FORM<\/span><\/h2>\n