If I get reincarnated, I want to come back as a Ming Dynasty porcelain tea cup.

It was a surreal thought that crossed my mind after spending an entire day at the Heritage Conservation Centre (HCC) last week.

Why? Well, inside this four-storey building along Jurong Port Road, tea cups — not to mention paintings, sculptures, and even rusty old trishaws — are given the ultimate VIP treatment.

They’re doted on and caressed like precious newborns. They chill out in air-conditioned rooms where temperatures are regulated to fit their needs.

If they get so much as a scratch, two or three people immediately come to the rescue.

If there’s so much as a blemish, yet another group will fawn over them.

That and one of the first things that my guide told me upon my arrival was: “The chief occupants are not human.”

Oh, to live the life of a little tea cup.

For other forms of art, getting a new lease on life is much easier. Old albums get re-issued, theatre productions re-staged, classic films reincarnated as DVD box-sets. Even some local movies have recently been adapted into books.

But for Singapore’s ageing pieces of art and historical paraphernalia, their only recourse is to check in at the HCC, which houses the collections of the Singapore Art Museum, National Museum of Singapore and Asian Civilisations Museum.

Since it officially opened in September 2000, the centre has been receiving a steady stream of “patients” in need of makeovers. From an initial inventory of 80,000, it has more than doubled to around 170,000 items.

Roughly a third of these are by local artists or were obtained in Singapore.

IMPENETRABLE

Think of the HCC as a kind of “purgatory” for art objects. In here, these precious collections are kept while they wait for their chance to get “resurrected” for another show.

Our guide, HCC registrar Low Jyue Tyan, said that after eight years, the inventory is still growing. Two more floors will be added this year. Jyue Tyan also let on that the National Heritage Board is “seriously looking” for yet another site.

From the outside, you can’t really distinguish the HCC from the rest of its shoddy, nondescript neighbours, which include a dull-looking warehouse complex and an equally dull-looking sugar factory.

But we reckon this is probably the most tightly-guarded building west of the Istana.

There are closed circuit cameras everywhere though, and there is only a single set of keys for all the rooms.

And by 5.30pm, everyone should be out of the building because the alarm systems will be activated. While there are no laser beam triggers on the floor, there are motion sensors everywhere — which are all linked to Cisco’s main office.

Even Danny Ocean and his gang would have a hard time breaking into this place.

NATIONAL TREASURES

All these precautions aren’t just for show. The museums’ current collection is worth more than $150 million (excluding insurance and actual historical value).

Most of these are stored in the HCC’s 15 rooms, classified according to the materials from which they are made, like metal, textiles and mixed media.

There’s even a Vault Room — which contains an actual vault that houses the jewellery collection.

And no, they wouldn’t tell us the combination for this.

We shuttled up and down the building via a high-tech elevator that could have come straight out of a Mission: Impossible film set (we half-expected to be subjected to a retina-scan, fingerprint analysis, and voice-recognition test). Low estimated that the public gets to see only 5 per cent of the total collection at the museums at any given time.

Which means we were lucky to have been given a peak at some unique items like the swearing-in table used by all of Singapore’s Prime Ministers (now officially an artefact) and statues from the Sri Sivan temple where the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station now stands.

Some works that were previously exhibited have been “recalled”, including those from the previous The Big Picture Show exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum.

The HCC does not give a premium to what’s typically considered “museumpieces”.

Inside one of the two Mixed Media rooms you’ll find old electric fans, a bicycle, a barber’s and dentist’s chairs, a jackpot machine, sleeping bags of unknown origin, four blue drums that were said to hold the equipment of the first Singapore Mount Everest expedition team and ... an empty Green Spot bottle.

BEHIND THE SCENES

But if you think the latter’s just plain junk, we suggest you keep that to yourself if you happen to bump into one of the 19 conservators.

Part-forensic scientist and part-artist, these people painstakingly make sure that a work of art actually looks like a work of art during a show.

According to Claire Lim, 32, an assistant conservator for painting, they can put in “hundreds of hours” on a single work.

Her colleague Selina Halim, 23, added that when they are working, it’s not unusual for them to go over the same paintbrush strokes hundreds of times when restoring a painting.

Claire is a trained artist from LaSalle and RMIT, while Selina has a masters degree in art conservation from the University of Melbourne

They are part of a dedicated team that forms the quietest working environment we have ever witnessed, apart from an empty library.

In all the four laboratories, everyone was hard at work a la CSI: Whether they were testing various abrasives to see which ones causes less damage on plastic, or patching up a painting, or carefully peeling off sticky tape from an old Islamic manuscript.

Right now, the HCC is in the midst of juggling a number of exhibits bound for the museums next month. These include the Singapore Art Museum’s The Artists Village show on Aug 9 and the National Museum’s Weapons of Mass Desire on Aug 28.

For these dedicated behind-the-scenes folk who play second fiddle to a bunch of inert objects, it will always be a race against time.

But as long as they’re there, it’s good news for the building’s “chief occupants”.

Rest assured, Mr Porcelain Tea Cup will be able to cosily stay in “limbo” until the next time it’s needed.

As Selina put it: “This building defies age.”

To visit the HCC for a guided tour, make an appointment by calling 6267 2646. You can also visit their website, www.nhb.gov.sg/HCC,for tips on caring for yourcollection of artefacts. - TODAY/ra