A savior of waste gives used objects a new purpose

At another part of the Shanghai International Hobbycraft Expo, Ma Jiqiu's booth containing an eclectic range of items such as lamps, wall hooks and objects that he made from old fans, telephones, machinery parts and thermos drew a horde of curious visitors.

"I would like to buy a lamp for my new cafeteria," says a woman after consulting about the price and delivery conditions. "His design is unique and nostalgic at the same time. It will surely catch the eyes of some people at my cafe."

The 40-year-old Ma is, in his own words, a "waste collector" who got into the business of repurposing objects after his company went bankrupt years ago.

But he didn't just collect whatever people discarded-every object needed to be aesthetically pleasing by his standards.

"I didn't care how old an object was. I was more interested in the form and design than the age," he says.

When Ma first started, he would repair some of the items he picked up just to make them functional so that he could sell them at a better price, but he soon realized that too many of the items he collected could not be repaired. Reluctant to discard them, he decided to give them a new lease of life-as something else.

"I like to make lamps the most, because they make you feel warm, safe and they create an intimate ambience," Ma says.

Ma, who also works as a prop designer for films, named his workshop Save the Waste Studio, and himself "the savior of waste", because he believes it is his mission in life to give used objects a new purpose.

The most important objects that he has salvaged are electric meters. He even founded a private museum for them, the first of its kind in China.

Located at No 99 Donglin Street in the Sanlin old town in suburban Shanghai, the museum showcases 1,000 vintage electricity meters, which is only one-fifth of Ma's whole collection.

Ma says that these meters tell about the story of how electricity was developed, not just in Shanghai, but in human civilization, because they were made in 16 different countries. The first electricity meter he found was a delicate item that was covered in glass and made in the 1940s in Canada.

"I was struck by its beauty and design, but didn't know what it was," Ma recalled. "I was later told it was a 'fire meter', an old colloquial name for electricity meter in Shanghai."

Since that moment, Ma kept a constant lookout for these old meters. As there were hardly any people interested in this object, he managed to build up his collection quickly.

All the meters in his collection were salvaged in Shanghai. And the oldest was made around 1905. The majority of them were made between 1910 and the 1940s.

As his unique collection grew, so did his knowledge of the city. For example, he shared that it was through these meters that he learned about the opening of the first power plant in Shanghai in 1879 and the inaugural lighting up of 16 road lamps on the Bund in 1882, which marked the beginning of power supply in the city.

"Shanghai was the first city in China to use electricity. Soon after the technology was developed in the West, it was introduced to Shanghai," says Ma.

"With the introduction of electricity meters, electrical power could be measured, widely used and merchandized. These objects remind us of the past and the importance of electricity and saving power," he adds.

"These meters belong in a proper museum, but because there is no museum about electricity in Shanghai, I built one myself. It is my mission to keep these objects as evidence of the city's history."