Father-and-son duo give new light to antiques at East Inspirations in Chinatown

PK Cheong, 72, and his son Jacob, 37, run East Inspirations, an antiques and lifestyle shop along South Bridge Road in Chinatown. The shop is known for transforming damaged antiques and vintage objects into table lamps, preserving their stories and cultural significance.

PK Cheong, 72, and his son Jacob, 37, are the father-and-son duo behind East Inspirations, an antiques and lifestyle shop in Chinatown known for transforming imperfect antiques and unexpected vintage objects into table lamps. The shop, located along South Bridge Road, opened in 1993 and has been in its current shophouse since 1997.

PK, who prefers to be called by his initials, began his lamp-making journey in the 1970s after completing National Service, working as a machinist at a factory that specialised in table lamps. He started his own table lamp company in 1981 with his wife and several friends. During a work trip to China that same year, he first encountered antiques on a large scale and began collecting them.

“I saw so many antiques. I was shocked. At that moment, my heart was a little moved. They were so beautiful,” PK recalled. He began studying antiques and visiting dealers, gradually building a collection that includes pieces dating to the Tang and Song dynasties.

In 1985, a friend brought a batch of damaged porcelain from Guangzhou. Instead of seeing the pieces as waste, PK saw an opportunity to give them a practical purpose. Drawing on his technical skills as a machinist, he developed a process for transforming the fragile pieces into lamps. “Why not turn these broken porcelain pieces into something functional, while also passing on the culture?” he said.

The shopfront is packed with Chinese porcelain, antique furniture, decorative objects, teaware and vintage household items. Towards the rear are two intimate spaces: PK’s personal corner, where he drinks tea with old friends and keeps some of his most cherished pieces, and Jacob’s tearoom, where visitors can join him for tea appreciation sessions.

Jacob joined the family business around 2016 after a corporate career at a bank did not work out. He now oversees the company’s social media, marketing and online presence, and introduced structured tea appreciation sessions. “In a way, my father gave me a lifeline through the business, and I also gave him a lifeline, because joining extends that business,” Jacob said.

Father and son travel together to discover new pieces and draw inspiration for the business, regularly visiting Jingdezhen, a Chinese city renowned for its porcelain. While demand for vase lamps has declined, PK continues to design new pieces and the shop accepts requests to transform customers’ objects into lamps. “Technically, anything can be made into a lamp – even a piece of stone,” PK said.