“It’s about clearing as much as possible, leaving only things that are useful or those that spark joy,” the part-time healthy-eating advisor and mother of two tells FMT.

Ong was carrying her first child when she started the journey towards minimalism and felt the need to declutter her house before her son was born.

She says that although decluttering was a task she did on a yearly basis, she realised there was still a lot more to decluttering after reading the book, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’, by Japanese organising consultant and author Marie Kondo.

Ong began by clearing the things her late father had left behind.

“I don’t want my children to go through the burden of having to clear my things someday,” she says, adding that she was also inspired by the book, ‘The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning’, by Margareta Magnusson.

When decluttering, Ong follows Marie Kondo’s strategy – going through clothes first, followed by books and paper, and miscellaneous items.

“I leave mementos for last because they take up the most time,” she says.

Ong says she tries her best to get rid of at least one item a day.

“If I miss a day or two, I’ll make up by decluttering more items,” she says, adding that she has managed to declutter 90% of her belongings.

When she was decluttering paper records, Ong realised that she had been keeping credit card bills long after she had cancelled the card, and added that she felt good after getting rid of them.

Decluttering paper has been challenging for her because “besides the task of scanning them, it takes time and energy to decide which ones to keep”.

Ong eventually purchased a high-speed scanner and has since scanned 90% of her pictures.

“Memories are in our hearts and minds; just one photo will remind me of everything,” she says.

She managed to let go of more than 500 books when clearing out the storeroom which was later rented out.

Ong confesses to being a shopaholic in her pre-minimalist days.

“I used to buy things to cheer me up, but that’s just instant gratification. After a while, those things no longer brought me joy,” she says.

Now, she doesn’t keep items thinking she might need them in the future. “I gave away about 60% of my son’s baby things.”

Six years later when she had her second child, a daughter, she posted the things she wanted on the Beli Nothing Project Facebook group and other mothers in the group offered their pre-loved baby items.

“I will give these things away as soon as my daughter outgrows them,” she says, adding that 90% of her daughter’s babywear are pre-loved and that using pre-loved items also benefits the environment.

One of the many reasons people hoard things is because of the guilt they harbour about paying so much for it, Ong says, pointing out however that the moment an item is purchased, it depreciates in value.

“I used to keep this expensive dress that I could no longer wear, thinking I would someday do something with it, but every time I looked at it, it drained my energy,” she says.

“So, I got rid of it, and now there’s one less outfit that doesn’t fit,” she says, pointing out that there’s no need to punish oneself by holding on to that guilt.

“I look at it from the positive side – the lesson has been learnt. I’m not going to do that again,” she says, laughing.

Ong says she and her husband decided to sell their camping gear just before their daughter was born.

“It made me realise that I bought all that because I wanted my son to experience nature, but it wasn’t something I personally enjoyed.

“If I store it in the closet, it’ll be a form of stagnant energy, and I won’t be able to attract something new into my life because there’s just no space,” she says.

Ong and her husband want a house that is easy to clean and manage so they can spend more time with the family.

“We don’t want to be burdened by our possessions. The home is meant to be relaxing; it’s supposed to make you feel good,” she tells FMT.

After being a minimalist for five years, Ong and her friends Ai Jou, and Adelynne Ong co-founded the Minimalists Malaysia Facebook group.

“We decided to create a community that could support and inspire each other,” she says.

For those interested in adopting a minimalist approach to life, follow Minimalists Malaysia on Facebook.