Changi Junk Store

Contrary to what its name suggests, very little in the Changi Junk Store could be considered junk.

The unassuming little store on Joo Chiat Road is piled high with antiques salvaged from everywhere, stuffed so full that patrons have to enter in single file and exit the same way. However, with antiques ranging from Victorian-era four-poster beds to dolls made of Ming dynasty coins, the asthma inducing narrow trail through the shop is definitely worth it. 

Run by collector and dealer Pak Haji Basman, this decades-old shop contains high-value antiques of different styles, time periods, and cultures including local antiques like coins from the colonial times and Peranakan rice baskets. There are also relics of the region like the kris (knives) of Indonesian princes and Qing dynasty porcelain, as well as curiosities from distant lands like European typewriters and WWI bayonets.

A former boxer, Mr Basman also provides restoration services for furniture, which he often does singlehandedly, with a specialty in Asian, Peranakan, and blackwood pieces. He has been collecting antiques for the past 40 years and most of the shop’s inventory is stored in a warehouse in Kallang.

Sadly the warehouse is rarely opened to the public. However for updates for when it might be open or on new items in the store, subscribe to their Facebook page.