US $14.99
A story on Chinese yixing teapot--Messy bundles of tea...but they cost a fortune
Antique vases, furniture and porcelain plaques line the walls, or sit pretty on shelves.
Some of them, he tells you, originate from dynasties such as the Qing and Ming.
Mr Loh, 61, is a principal lecturer in engineering at the Singapore Polytechnic. He made headlines in 2000 when, in a world first, he perfected a way of making lilac-coloured gold for use in jewellery. He has since sold the rights of the technique to jewellery chain Aspial.
For a more fascinating aspect of his passion as well as immensely profitable investment in things Chinese, he leads you to a room at the back of the house.
There, piled haphazardly atop one another on the floor are black tea leaves which have been compressed into various forms, such as cakes and bricks. The paper that wraps them is torn in some places and the words on it are faded. But the value of the tea, as he reveals, takes your breath away.
'This tea brick here has a market value of $1,000,' he says. 'I have 1,200 bricks.' When he bought them decades ago from China, they cost him as little as a few dollars each.
'In Hong Kong and China, people, especially businessmen, will now pay a lot of money at tea auctions,' says Mr Loh, who is planning to sell some of his tea at such events.
After over 25 years of collecting, which was driven by a desire to learn about his roots, he reckons that he has the largest collection of pu er tea of its kind in Singapore - about two tonnes.
His pu er tea, which is an expensive variety of Chinese tea, is between 30 and 80 years vintage.
'Once I was in Guangzhou and bought all the tea in a shop for about $30,000. At first, the shopkeeper thought I was joking,' he remembers. An uncle living in China borrowed a truck to transport the tea to a port for shipment to Singapore.
Explaining the value of tea, Mr Loh says tea simply tastes better with age, just as wine does.
Also, it is widely believed to build up anti-cancer ingredients as it ages. And it is reputed to be good for overall health, he adds.
'I've been drinking tea since I was young when my father took me to tea houses in Chinatown. Since then, I've never been on sick leave, and never been hospitalised.'
He adds with a laugh: 'I may live up to 120.'
Reflecting his faith in tea, he has started his six children on it from a very early age.
Indeed, says daughter Loh Xiang Yang, 24, who has just completed her engineering degree at Nanyang Technological University. 'I remember drinking tea from a milk bottle!'
Cradling her father's 11-month-old baby girl, who is her half-sister, she adds that the infant has already had her first taste of tea.
Extensive though it is, Mr Loh's collection of tea has dwindled by half as his family has been consuming it daily.
Occasionally, he would sell some of it for a good profit. His buyers have seen their tea appreciate sharply in value.
'One friend, an associate professor, has stopped drinking the tea because it is so valuable. He would feel a bit of pain when he thinks of how expensive his drink is.'
Along with his passion for tea, Mr Loh also has a keen interest in teapots.
He gets up to bring out a teapot from a glass cabinet in the living room, and enthuses: 'This is art. Look at the calligraphy on one side. And you can admire the form of the teapot and its clay.'
He reveals that the teapot, which is about the size of a beer mug, is worth $90,000. He had bought it in China for about $280 in 1978.
While he was splurging on such items, he was content with living in Housing Board flats until he bought the current home six years ago.
His first wife did not take to his spending patterns, though, resulting in a break-up of their marriage.
Mr Loh started work at 15 as an apprentice welder, and acquired higher academic qualifications through night study.
He won a Colombo Plan scholarship to study in Britain, and in 1977 earned a Master of Science degree in the United States on another scholarship.
He has been doing engi- neering consultancy services, which have earned him more money than his lecturer's pay.
That is how he has been able to fund his passion for Chinese antiques and tea to the tune of $1 million, and reaped gains of several fold.
And he can afford to serve you steaming hot pu er tea. You cannot resist asking how much one cup costs. He thinks for a moment and says: 'About $40'.
Yixing teapot,also called zisha teapot, is known as the best in all of the Chinese teapots or China teapots.
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