The Big Read in short: Digging into the DIY culture

SINGAPORE — A pinhole leak in a pipe leading to her bathroom sent Ms Sabine Chen into a state of panic one night in April.
Apart from being clueless about plumbing, she also did not have any tools for quick fixes, such as sealing tape or a clamp.
“It was a lost cause,” the 25-year-old public relations executive admitted. “We tried to fix the situation by using sheets of flexible plastic and zip ties to contain the leak, but it didn’t work.
“We even taped a sanitary pad around the area to try and absorb as much water as possible.”
When her father called a handyman the next day, it took the latter less than half an hour to fix the leak — caused by a rusty pipe — for S$80.
The incident served as a wake-up call for Ms Chen on the need to have some basic do-it-yourself (DIY) skills, and she is now trying to find time to take up courses on basic home repairs.
Her DIY journey in fact has already started, with Ms Chen learning how to sew, patching up clothes that she might have otherwise thrown away.
She is part of a growing number of Singaporeans dabbling in DIY pursuits to save money amid concerns about the rising cost of living and growing environmental awareness, several hardware stores and community group leaders told TODAY.
The DIY activities include furnishing their home and repairing household goods.
A rising number of social media influencers and users who have been documenting their journey in renovating their homes all by themselves — garnering millions of views and thousands of followers along the way — have also given the DIY movement here a boost in recent years.
TODAY looks at Singapore’s DIY culture, long viewed as a niche area due to its people’s busy lifestyles and availability of professional help.
While slowly but surely on the rise, the DIY culture here still pales in comparison to that in countries like Australia, the United States or New Zealand.
Back in 2019, the lack of interest in DIY here was seen as contributing to the demise of household name Home-Fix, a hardware chain.
Retail experts told TODAY then that the consumer base in Singapore interested in DIY home improvement and repairs was too small. 
Months prior to its closure, Home-Fix founder Low Cheong Kee told The Business Times that while older generations are “competent with tools and woodworking”, younger persons do not have these skills and would rather pay for a service.
After all, finding a handyman is a phone call or message away, DIY enthusiasts and hardware stores told TODAY.
However, DIY is one way to reduce Singapore’s domestic waste generated, said a spokesperson from SG Climate Rally.
Fixing broken items can also reduce the demand for new consumer products, “saving the emissions involved in making such products”, added the spokesperson.
For Mr Izwan Firdaus, 38, and Ms Nadirah Baharin, 32, doing their own renovations helped to ensure that the quality was up to their standards.
The couple documents their DIY renovation journey on TikTok through their account The UnderWanRoof, garnering over 53,100 followers. Their most popular video, which shows the couple refurbishing an old cabinet using vinyl stickers, has 5.2 million views
While their DIY process had its fair share of mishaps and redoes, it also meant that they knew how everything would play out step by step.
However, the couple acknowledged that cost was the main reason behind their decision to go DIY for their flat.
“When we asked a few interior design companies, we were quoted S$25,000 to S$45,000 for some basic furnishings. For our ideal home, it would have easily been S$70,000,” said Ms Nadirah.
The quoted figures were a far cry from the roughly S$5,000 they had spent on their home thus far.
Hardware stores told TODAY that reducing costs is a major factor behind the slowly growing DIY culture here.
“Nowadays it’s so expensive to hire someone to do up something in your home because labour cost is expensive,” said Mr Boon, an employee at Yong Heng Hardware Engineering in Marsiling.
“We get a lot of young couples in their 30s looking to do some simple work in their new homes when they move to their BTO (build-to-order) flat. Because they need to save the money for the house,” added the 50-year-old who did not want to give his full name.
Growing concerns about wastage and sustainability are also pulling people into the DIY space, said some enthusiasts.
Mr Issac Lim, 45, a sociologist and founder of human insights company Anthro Insights, said: “It’s really a waste of resources, from an environmental point of view, to chuck something out just because a small part is broken.
“I think fixing it is less wasteful, and at least something can last longer. It’s both cheaper and environmentally friendly.”
However, climate activist group SG Climate Rally noted that there can be some negative impacts of DIY culture.
“If untrained people try to DIY projects that are beyond their capabilities, they might waste the repair materials and end up having to throw away the items anyway, increasing consumption as a result,” said the spokesperson.
SG Climate Rally suggested that a right of repair legislation should be “carefully crafted” to allow people to repair their products without breaking the warranty.
Right of repair is a growing worldwide call for companies to produce parts that allow people to repair their devices or appliances without needing to replace them entirely.
This movement is gaining momentum alongside increasing criticism of planned obsolescence, where companies are accused of contributing to electronic waste by making certain electronic devices unrepairable.
SG Climate Rally’s spokesperson also called for ensuring sufficient training classes are available to equip people with the skills to DIY so there is less waste.
This, they said, could be done by enhancing programmes in schools to inculcate DIY culture in Singaporeans from young.
EDR2 is one of the many groups trying to grow Singapore’s DIY culture.
For one, the group that started in May, has organised several events to encourage people to explore the DIY space, such as a portable charger building class.
It is also building up a community workshop in Pasir Ris — such as making benches for the workspace — in hopes that having access to equipment that can be too bulky in a typical HDB flat can help grow the interest in DIY among Singaporeans.
Mr Danny Lim, 55, one of three partners of EDR2, said that the initiative was born from the Singapore Home DIY Facebook group, which has over 100,000 members. In it, people can share about their DIY struggles and also give tips.
“The motivation is just that we have this hobby that we love a lot and want more people to get to know and learn about doing things themselves,” said Mr Danny Lim.
He added: “A lot of the time people just don’t know where to start. But there’s groups like us out there, and online resources. They just need someone to guide and teach them, and that’s what we hope to do.”