GO Chicken Pendant by Casey Chen

The food creations of Singapore bring people together, suggested industrial designer Christopher Lim at the opening of the exhibition Makan Time! Tuck in to Good Design. They create heritage, he said.

Fostering that heritage is a chief aim of the Little Thoughts Group’s latest exhibition, which showcases the local food-inspired products of 18 designers.

Koocook – The Perfect Breakfast Helper by Erene Teo

The Little Thoughts Group is a collective of Singapore-based product designers who seek to share a unique perspective on everyday design through the quirks of Singaporean culture. The group hopes to connect with people on the street through locally themed design stories.

Singaporean identity, history and contemporary lifestyles inspire its exhibition-based activities.

NOTA Mug by Lee Hae Seung, Scott

Noticeably absent from its work, said group spokesperson Lim, is the Merlion symbol. The aim of the Makan Time! show was to create potential icons via heritage, and to produce objects that Singaporeans can relate to, he said in his opening address.

The intention of creating a more ‘iconic’ Singapore through familiar themes would certainly seem to be a smart way to bring people together through design and creativity.

Tok Kong by Christopher Lim

The exhibited work offered some clever ideas that brought more than a few smiles on the exhibition’s opening night. Among them was Lee Leong Chye’s breakfast tray, Our Humble Breakfast (pictured at top), which neatly accommodates kaya toast, 2 half-boiled eggs, teh (tea) or kopi (coffee), and bottles of sauce and pepper.

Lo Hei Dining Set by Yuri Kim

Singapore-based Korean designer Yuri Kim celebrated the Chinese New Year tradition of lo hei (a shared tossed salad, literally meaning ‘tossing up good fortune’) with the Lo Hei Dining Set. It contains 10 individual porcelain plates that can be used for dining after the ‘tossing’ of ingredients.

$1.50, $2.50 & $3.00 by Nathan Yong

Nathan Yong reminisced about his childhood with the $1.50, $2.50 & $3.00 collection of porcelain lamps on wooden trays. Each lamp takes the shape of a familiar processed food – tinned luncheon meat, plastic sauce bottles, and cup noodles, for example. To this day, Yong considers these items ‘comfort foods’ and values the associated warmness of familiarity and family togetherness.

Fly Away with Love by Yang Tah Ching

Yang Tah Ching created a dual-function food cover. Fly Away with Love also functions as a flower vase, and aims to make the ubiquitous kitchen item more appetising. For the loved one who is late for makan time (eating time), it can offer an emotional dimension to one’s meal.

Soup Instinct by Celia Law

Celia Law’s Soup Instinct is a herbal soup cooker for 1-to-2 people. It targets young couples keen to sharpen their culinary skill and enjoy home-cooked food with minimal effort after a long day at work. It consists of a cast iron external pot that acts as a boiler and warmer, and a porcelain container for the soup’s herbal components. Within the porcelain pot is a bamboo-look basket that sifts the ingredients after cooking. A porcelain cover doubles as a bowl.

Ta-pao No Plastic by Ng Pei Kang

Makan Time! Tuck in to Good Design is on show at the Concourse @ National Museum of Singapore until 27 January 2013. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 8pm.

Top image: Our Humble Breakfast by Lee Leong Chye.

Little Thoughts Group
littlethoughts.org