HONG Kong action star Jackie Chan is donating antique wooden
houses from China worth more than $100 million to Singapore's
upcoming fourth university.
The structures, now sitting in a warehouse in Hong Kong, are
from the private collection of gongfu king Chan, a lover of Chinese
history.
They consist of seven wooden housing structures and a performing
stage originating from the Ming and Qing dynasties dating back more
than 200 years. The houses are anchored in stone slabs.
These rare examples of Chinese housing from a bygone era are set
to be displayed at the new university's campus in Changi South when
it is completed in 2011, according to a story in Lianhe Zaobao
yesterday.
The Chinese newspaper also reported Chan's property manager
Simon Kwan as saying that the popular star wanted the precious
objects to be in safe-keeping.
Chan, 54, had originally approached the Hong Kong government
about donating his collection but changed his mind when it did not
respond quickly enough, the report said.
He decided on Singapore because his collection would be of
educational value to the students seeing it on campus.
Mr Kwan declined to go into details about the project when
contacted by Life!.
However, he confirmed that Chan had met local government
officials at the site of the upcoming university last year to
discuss his intended donation.
The tertiary institution will be built on land originally
earmarked for the now-aborted Asian campus of the University of New
South Wales and will offer courses in design, engineering,
architecture and business.
Mr Kwan, 52, who handles Chan's property deals here, said there
should be 'no problem bringing these structures out of China'.
But he added that additional 'paperwork on how to transport
these structures and getting a local architect to put them
together' has to be done before anything can be finalised.
He also said that the collection, which has 'stones taller than
a man, that hold the wooden structures together', had been amassed
by antique-lover Chan over nearly 20 years.
His collecting passion was also influenced by his late father,
who loved old Chinese wooden houses. Chan's dad, Charlie, died in
February last year at the age of 93 after battling cancer.
The star's love of all things historical can be seen in his
property purchases here. He owns the 105-year-old Jinriksha Station
at 1 Neil Road, once the central depot for rickshaw drivers in
Singapore, and the four-storey The 50s complex. Both are historic
buildings within the Neil Road conservation area.
He also has contemporary interests, owning condo units in the
Orchard Road area, and opened Jackie Chan's Cafe, Coffee and Tea at
1 Nassim Road two years ago.
Life! asked Mr Jeffrey Goh, principal architect at local firm GP
Design, about what might be involved in putting Chan's antique
houses on display.
His firm has not been approached about the project but Mr Goh
said that for such old wooden houses, a lot of work would have to
go into conserving doors, walls and pillars which 'might have
intricate detailing because of their Chinese origins'.
The 59-year-old has done conservation work on more than 100
houses here in areas of special architectural interest such as Joo
Chiat, Geylang, Selegie and North Bridge Road.
Rotting wood would also need to be replaced and this has to
blend in with the original structure, he added.
He said: 'The project sounds very interesting and I wouldn't
mind taking it up. But I would need to do a lot of research to find
out more about these houses first.'