‘It’s like heaven to me’

Karen Tambayong is an AIPH member representative in Southeast Asia and Oceania. She is active in the Indonesian Flower Association, starting the Urban Greening Forum and introducing the Green City Guidelines when she led the association. She recently received recognition for her dedication as a Green City pioneer and ambassador of Indonesia’s ornamental horticulture, with a 2021 Silver Carnation Award in the International Business Management category. She recently attended the Singapore Garden Festival and Orchid Show and has written this review.

“I visit the Singapore Garden Festival and the Orchid Show almost yearly. Seeing the Garden Displays new Green solutions and innovations in flowers and plants is always a great pleasure.

This year’s garden festival took place in the first week of August … with a difference. Many of the garden displays were spread in different locations all over Singapore to avoid too much crowding. This decision was favourable as it brought the event to the people, with garden displays on the main Orchard Road, where all the shopping centres concentrate, and some in the local parks.

The Orchid Show is at the National Orchid Garden in the Singapore Botanical Garden. It is organised in partnership with the Orchid Society of South East Asia. The orchid competition features the region’s best orchid plants competing for heritage trophies and award-winning orchid varieties cultivated by dedicated hobbyists and professional growers.

This year they received 528 entries, and the displays of winning specimens and other entries were carefully curated to highlight the orchids’ natural growing conditions.

After two years of lockdown and seeing so many beautiful orchids and new varieties experiencing in a beautiful setting, it’s like heaven to me. I’m so grateful and happy to be among these beautiful living flowers; it’s energising. Flowers genuinely make people happy.

View the highlights on this link, https://youtu.be/aSUo-DcassQ