UNINESS

Video Series

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Brightly-coloured and fragrant flower garlands hang on display racks at the row of small stalls in the lane right next to Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, Kuala Lumpur. A beautiful sight to behold, more often than not passers-by would stop and take an admiring look, even snap some photos.

Petaling Street boasts a mixed-ethnic community area with diverse cultural traditions and religions. Both Chinese and Hindu temples can be sited catercorner and co-exist in harmony for over a century. Hindu temples are established wherever Hindus have settled, and there are sure to be flower garland stalls near Hindu temples.

As dawn breaks, the melodious sounds of a ringing bell and the blowing of a conch shell indicate the commencement of daily ritual worship and prayers. Around the same time, flower garland makers start setting up their stalls, unfolding stall boards and unpacking fresh flowers from cold storage. They observe the same opening hours as the temple, working up to 15 hours per day to make a living, snatching a rest when there are no customers, and working overtime during busy festive periods. Hindu devotees visiting the temple would stop by and purchase flowers as offerings to deities.

Mr Anamalay Nadaraj, also known as Kartik, is an old-timer among the flower stall owners in the Petaling Street vicinity. He came from a family with three generations of flower garland makers, namely his grandfather, his mother, and himself. Flowers such as jasmine are planted beside their family house. Since a tender age, he helped to pluck fresh flowers early in the morning before going to school. As Mr Kartik grew up, he gradually acquired flower garland-making skills. Upon completion of secondary education, Mr Kartik set up his own flower stall at Brickfields. A few years later, he was offered a license to operate in Petaling Street, therefore he shifted his business to its current location and has since remained for over 25 years.

Flower garland makers have skillful hands and nimble fingers, working with delicate fresh flowers, and stringing them together to make a small garland in just under five minutes, or a large one in about twenty minutes. In Mr Kartik’s opinion, everybody can master the basics if they are willing to put in the effort. There is no certain formula, any colour or combination is possible, depending on the flowers available, and in accordance with the customer’s purpose and budget.

In Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, flowers play an integral role in rituals, ceremonies, and daily worship. The flowers in use may be the same, but they carry symbolic meanings that can vary across cultures. Different flowers could be used to propitiate different deities. Mr Kartik’s clientele consists largely of Chinese, who always purchase lotus flowers for GuānYīn. An interesting point he noted is that the Chinese prefer white flower wreaths for funerals and red for weddings, and vice versa with Hindus.

Since 2003 Petaling Street has developed into a vibrant tourist-oriented shopping destination, Mr Kartik sometimes receives flower garland orders in bulk from tour guides as a token of welcoming foreign tourists to Malaysia. Recently Mr Kartik observed a trend of buying flower garlands for graduation ceremonies instead of bouquets from florists, even Malays are following this trend.

As Mr Kartik is getting on in age, he hired a young helper to assist in his daily operations. Due to local youths shunning long working hours and mundane, repetitive tasks, Mr Kartik had no choice but to engage foreign labour from India, who already mastered flower garland-making skills. His eldest son, who is still studying, shows an avid interest in taking up the family business and will help whenever he is free, mostly doing deliveries. Mr Kartik hopes to pass over the reins into his son’s hands when he retires.