It appears that ‘Self Storage’ is catching on all over the world…
In a self-storage space in Toa Payoh, there is a room filled with things associated with a circus.
Unicycles, plastic saucers of various colours, spinning reels (called diabolos), and balance boards (called rola-bolas) are among the many bulky props that belong to Circus Outreach. The non-profit youth organisation conducts school workshops for “at-risk” young people who need guidance in life.
The group also performs at street and clown festivals in Singapore and overseas. The items in self-storage once cluttered up the group’s studio and office in Tanjong Pagar. They were moved to a ‘Self Storage Facility’ in 2006. Said Circus Outreach founder and professional comedy juggler Knik Pang: “We used to have a studio and office in Tanjong Pagar but rental became very expensive in 2005.”
Home for the props is a 60 sq ft storage unit.
The group keeps many props at any one time, with most of them stored in the various schools where they conduct their workshops, which typically last 10 weeks each. But the group faces a storage problem during the school holidays. “It is during December when students are on holiday and there are no workshops being held that we have a problem keeping our props,” said Mr. Pang. “That’s when the storage space comes in really handy.” Now that the group has given up its office-cum-studio in Tanjong Pagar, where do the members rehearse their performances? “We go to a free space at Toa Payoh Lorong 1 for our rehearsals. We practice on Wednesdays from 8pm to midnight,” said Mr. Pang.
The group would rent a studio only to make props that are too huge to be constructed in the self-storage space, such as a big backdrop for a performance. Having affordable storage space is important for the group as it is a non-profit organisation. “We’ll be here for a long time. The space is fantastic for our props and we are really happy to keep it this way,” said Mr. Pang. “If there is any shortcoming about renting a self-storage space for all the group’s props, it would be this: a growing collection as a result of the availability of space.” Said Mr. Pang: “When you have this space to store things, you just keep buying more. “As we don’t keep an inventory of the items, we have lost count of what we have.”
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