Vistica said the exhibition helps give people a place to get rid of, yet keep safe, emotionally laden items, adding that getting donations in largely conservative Singapore was not any more difficult than any other city.

“People are a little bit hesitant, but when they come and see the exhibitions, sometimes it gives them the courage to give something later,�?she told Reuters.

From Singapore comes a brown teddy bear named “My Malay Bear,�?which is all that remains of a failed romance between a Malay woman and a Chinese man who met in this multi-racial state where marriages between different ethnic groups are uncommon.

The woman kept her relationship a secret from her disapproving family and, unable to keep photos or other mementos of their relationship, only had the bear she received from her boyfriend as the sole symbol of their love.

According to the description tagged to the bear, nobody even noticed when she no longer kept the toy on her bed after breaking up with her boyfriend.

Sad.