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The Karang Guni Man

Karang Guni men were rag-and-bone dealers who went from door-to-door to buy discarded household articles which were then resold. Karang guni men were mostly Malays, followed by Chinese, then Indians. They began to ply their service along with five-foot-way traders and continued until the late 1990s.

History
In Malay, karung or karong means "sack". The term originated sometime before 1940 to describe the travelling hawkers who walked with a sack slung over their shoulders, collecting discarded items. Some of them placed their sacks into cylindrical baskets that was tied to two ends of a pole which was balanced over the shoulders of the karang guni men. During days of five-foot-way trade, the karang guni men were popular with those who wanted to sell discarded goods as well as those wanting to buy second hand things. With time however, the karang guni men became associated with buying second-hand goods rather than selling them to the ordinary patron. People would sell their discarded goods to them but would seldom buy anything from them. With the development of high-rise housing estates and a greater concentration of goods in a smaller area, the karang guni men began using a trolley and driving a van so they could carry more goods.

Job Scope
The rag-and-bone dealer would go door to door in search of sellers. They usually would shout "Karang guni", announcing their arrival so sellers could get their goods ready. Sometimes they had a horn with them which they honked from time to time to announce their presence. The karang guni men would buy anything that could be sold for recycling. Common items they collected were old clothes, scrap metal, furniture, newspapers, cardboard boxes and electrical appliances such as blenders, fans, televisions and video recorders. Later they began collecting computers, VCD players, discarded cell phones and other things that were popular for resale according to the times. Bulky items like used mattresses that were left along the corridors of buildings or at the void deck were also collected. Their trade depended on high repair costs as people usually preferred to throw away a damaged or spoilt item rather than having it repaired. Many Chinese threw away unneeded and old things before the Chinese New Year.

After the karang guni men had finished their day's collection, they would sort out the items to the buyers to whom they were going to sell their things to. Most of the material would be sold to different recycling companies. Things would also be sold to companies which exported certain items to developing countries that converted them into useful products. Some items would be sold in the flea market. Electrical items would be sold to shops who would repair and sell them again. They were popular with foreign workers who wanted to buy second hand electrical goods and clothes for their folks back home. With luck some buyers could get a good bargain for rare antique pieces from the karang guni man. Some traditional rag-and-bone collectors later began collecting discarded office material. Their earnings depended on their collection per day. Their working hours were flexible.

Development
The karang guni men did good business during Singapore's early years till the late 1990s. With the privatisation of waste collection in 2001, many new companies begun entering the field as scrap-trading firms. The traditional rag-and-bone dealer therefore began losing business. Karang guni men now collect mainly newspapers, and even so, the stiff competition has led many to leave the trade.



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References
Ho, M. (2001, October 12). Valuable rejects. The Straits Times, Life!, pp. 10-11.

Siti Andrianie, & Nair, R. P. (1999, April 25). Thriving business in throwaways. The Straits Times, Prime News, pp. 2-3.

Tan, M. (2001, April 13). Karang guni man who gets up to $1000 a day. The Straits Times, Home, p. 12.


Further Readings
Chua, R. (1997, December 13). Karang guni men facing tough times. The Straits Times, Home, p. 61.

Siti Andrianie, & Nair, R. P. (1999, April 25). If it doesn't work, S'poreans junk it. The Straits Times, Prime News, p. 3.


List of Images
National Heritage Board. (n.d.). National Archives Library. Retrieved on December 14, 2002, from http://www.a2o.com.sg/public/html/ 

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Commerce and Industry>>Labour and Employment>>Vanishing Trades
Unskilled labor--Singapore
Manual work--Singapore
Ragpickers--Singapore
Business, finance and industry>>Economics>>Labour economics

Librarian Recommendations
>> Five-foot-way traders
>> Travelling hawkers


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