Flowers on pillars along Orchard to be removed
Posted Date: Sep 19, 2011
By: Sheena Chua
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Fresh flowers commonly found on pillars along Singapore’s famed shopping district Orchard Road are now being moved to Sentosa, where they won’t be stolen, according to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
(Orchids were initially used to decorate Orchard Road but when passers-by started snatching them, bromeliads were used instead. Image courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board)
This decision was made after a long battle against “constant flower pilferage”, where Singaporeans and tourists snatching flora off the 20 pillars left the bottom ends with bare patches. The pillars can be found along the pedestrian walkway between Liat Towers and Forum Shopping Mall.
The flowers were installed as part of an Orchard Road makeover in 2009. They made up less than 1% of the $40 million project. Orchids were initially used, but when they started getting stolen, the STB switched to the more cost-effective bromeliads. However, the stealing did not stop. On the occasions when no more flowers were left to be plucked, shoppers took to plucking the leaves.
Speaking to The Straits Times, Mr Augustine Lau, manager of Far East Electronics at Far East Shopping Centre let on that the bald patches were a common sight. “You can see that the bottom part is always empty, I guess people must have taken them.” Another retailer observed that passers-by loved to pick up the orchids. “There were yellow and purple ones, and everyone loved to pluck them,” she said. “They were gone very fast, by the next day.” Ms Nadia Montenegro who works at the Haagen-Dazs ice-cream store located outside the Hilton Hotel said she has seen people plucking the flowers, playing with them and throwing them on the ground. “Tourists, especially, are quite fascinated with the vertical columns,” she said.
Other methods STB employed to deal with the problem include hiring a company to regularly check on the flowers and replacing the flowers several times over the past two years. Eventually, after speaking with various parties like the Orchard Road Business Association, the decision was made to move the blooms.
The flowers will be taken to a nursery, where a landscaping team will prepare them for the weeklong Sentosa Flowers Festival. The annual festival will begin on January 23 next year – the first day of the Lunar New Year. Assistant communications manager of Sentosa Leisure Group Ms Zee Soh Fun said the organisation was “exploring permanent locations for the totems”.
STB revealed that removal work is due to be completed by the end of 2011. Meanwhile, canvasses with flower motifs will be wrapped around the 3.5m steel pillars. Property agent Adeline Tan said it was a pity the flower columns were being removed. “It softens the look of the city, with all the concrete around. There should be some sort of flowers here.”
Commenting on the stealing acts, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement Dr William Wan said he was saddened to know of the situation. While he felt those people did not represent most Singaporeans, “It’ll be good to reflect on the fact that the flowers are for everybody’s enjoyment and not for anyone’s taking,” he said.
“It’s a mindset thing,” he added. “People need to be more considerate and learn to enjoy the beauty of things as they are instead of taking them.”
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