TP business course valedictorian makes sacrifices to juggle studies, running popular flea market
Ms Portia Gabrielle Karl with her parents (right) at her Temasek Polytechnic graduation ceremony. PHOTO: TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC
TP business course valedictorian makes sacrifices to juggle studies, running popular flea market The TL;DR: Ms Portia Gabrielle Karl is the valedictorian of Temasek Polytechnic's 2025 business cohort and also runs a popular vintage market on weekends. She is one of 5,100 students graduating from May 2 to May 13.
SINGAPORE – Every weekend, Bugis Street Art Lane in Victoria Street is brimming with vintage goods vendors selling items like retro digital cameras and unique Y2K fashion pieces. There may even be a musician or two serenading audiences at an outdoor open mic.
Scurrying from booth to booth is 21-year-old Portia Gabrielle Karl, ensuring that everything is running smoothly for the more than 40 vintage goods vendors there.
Ms Karl is one of the co-founders of the Resurrack Vintage Market, as well as a graduating Temasek Polytechnic (TP) business student. She and her business partner and fellow TP business student, Isaac Loh, 21, came up with the vintage goods flea market in 2024.
Resurrack Vintage Market operates on weekends from 3pm to 9pm, attracts up to 500 attendees weekly, and has more than 16,000 followers on Instagram.
Ms Karl is also the valedictorian of TP's 2025 business cohort and the recipient of the Pan-Pacific Award for All-Round Excellence. The award commends and acknowledges polytechnic graduates who excel in their studies and have made outstanding contributions in their co-curricular activities.
She is one of nearly 5,100 students across 37 full-time and 49 part-time diploma courses graduating from the polytechnic from May 2 to May 13.
Ms Karl found her success, both inside and outside the classroom, to be surprising, particularly given her struggles with academic studies during her primary and secondary education.
'I felt like I couldn't keep up with everyone else. It was very demoralising and affected my confidence,' she remarked.
However, Ms Karl found her groove in the hands-on learning environment of polytechnic. 'The way we learn is different. Projects allow me to be more flexible and creative, and I enjoy the collaborative aspect of group work,' she said.
It was at TP that she met her business partner, Mr Loh, through shared classes in their first year in poly.
She found his entrepreneurial spirit 'infectious' and counts him as one of her main inspirations.
Mr Loh was running an online business selling vintage goods online when the two met in their first year of polytechnic. In July 2023, he approached her with a proposal to become his business partner as he sought opportunities to grow his business.
In October 2023, the pair opened a physical store, Resurrack , as a one-stop shop for different types of vintage goods at the now-defunct Peace Centre shopping mall in Sophia Road. The shop was open from Friday to Sunday every week.
The pair sold vintage goods, such as vinyl records, toys and cameras, sourced from over 30 vendors and funded the venture entirely themselves.
Ms Portia Gabrielle Karl and business partner Isaac Loh outside their store Resurrack at the Peace Centre shopping mall, which has since been demolished.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF PORTIA GABRIELLE KARL
However, managing a shop as a full-time student meant that she would often have to complete school assignments at Resurrack during pockets of free time.
The store remained operational until January 2024, at which point Peace Centre permanently closed. Following this, Resurrack went on hiatus as both Ms Karl and Mr Loh went to Vietnam for an overseas internship programme.
The business partners reached out to different malls in Singapore during this period to scale up their business from a single physical outlet to an entire street market. An agreement with CapitaLand was eventually reached for the use of Bugis Street Art Lane.
The Resurrack Vintage Market at Bugis Street Art Lane in Victoria Street attracts up to 500 attendees weekly, and has more than 16,000 followers on Instagram.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF PORTIA GABRIELLE KARL
Ms Karl said: 'We were looking to expand and scale up. Rather than just a single shop, we wanted to be the main landlord and event organiser.'
In order to help manage the new venture, Resurrack Vintage Market, Ms Karl also co-founded events agency Elevents in August 2024, which focuses on organising youth-targeted events in Singapore.
Resurrack Vintage Market ran its first market in November 2024. Ms Karl said that she tries to be on the ground to manage the event as much as possible. The six core team members of Resurrack are mutual friends of both her and Mr Loh, whom she met during her time at TP.
Customers shopping for vintage goods at the Resurrack Vintage Market, which operates on weekends from 3pm to 9pm.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF PORTIA GABRIELLE KARL
Regarding her ability to maintain her grades while managing the business, Ms Karl said that she has had to make sacrifices: 'There were definitely moments when the pressure of juggling school and the business was overwhelming, and many late nights spent catching up on assignments after long days at the market.'
'I've (also) had less time for myself and less time to spend with my friends.'
Ms Karl stated her intention to pursue a business degree at the Singapore Management University. She also plans to continue working on Resurrack and Elevents while studying in the hopes of selling the business once it has grown sufficiently.
Running a business while studying helped to enhance her TP education, she said, as it allowed her to 'directly apply concepts we learnt in class, like accounting, to real-life scenarios'.
She added: 'When I came (into TP), I thought the only path was to work a nine-to-five corporate job. I never thought I could start my own business.'
When asked about the biggest lesson she learnt from her time in TP, Ms Karl said: 'I've learnt not to limit myself and that I can take on more in life. Coming into TP, I never thought I'd be able to do so much.
'Anything is possible.'
Clarification note: Temasek Polytechnic has clarified that 5,100 students are graduating between May 2 and May 13, instead of 5,700.
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