Gala time for election souvenir collector

KUALA LUMPUR: Since 1999, the general election for Adrian Ung is a time for him to carry out his citizen duty and to indulge in his favourite hobby of collecting election souvenirs.

Be it campaign posters or copies of manifestos which are strewn all over the country now, Ung will happily acquire a copy each as he believes these items will become valuable over time.

As a staunch collector of such specialised articles which come only once every five years, Ung gleefully awaits the 14th general election to expand his collection of political party campaign materials.

“I look for items such as badges, posters, mugs, keychains and other GE souvenirs as they represented creativity to entice voters,” said the 43-year-old manager of an import-export company.

“I began collecting old items such as watches, coins and stamps when I was young before branching in GE campaign materials after I was inspired by a friend with his collection of pre-independence items,” he told Bernama.

It all began with an old mug printed with the face of the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, he found in a flea market in the federal capital in 1997.

“The mug which is more than 60 years old is my first collection and it sparked me to research into the history of the country as the mug was printed with Tunku Abdul Rahman declaring independence at Merdeka Stadium in 1957.

“From there I got to know the Alliance up to Barisan Nasional and since them, I collected the campaign materials of BN at every GE,” he said.

“Most items in my collection were from 1950’s to 1980’s and among my prized articles is a 1970 election campaign leaflet with the picture of Tun Abdul Razak with the People’s Republic of China Chairman Mao Zedong,” he said.

Today, Ung has more than 200 BN campaign items which he acquired by exchanging with friends or from the flea market locally and abroad.

“Some of my items are on sale online via Carousell but I will never part with those from 1950s which I found in the flea market,” he said. - Bernama