Hop over to Anil’s blog to find out what’s going on with the country once much-acclaimed Penang Botanical Garden.

Eco-stream or eco-tampering? by Anil Netto
…He said he didn’t know what was so “eco” about it when they are clearing the vegetation from the banks of the stream, raising the level of the banks and putting in some kind of matting for the pedestrian walkway…

There’s a new addition to our Vase Bouquets Collection – LeFiores’s Seasonal Lilies!

The same tender loving care applies!

The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) recently held its 24th International Air Cargo Forum & Exposition (ACF 2008) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center last week. The Air Cargo Forum is the world’s biggest biennial air cargo industry event that rotates every two years between Europe, Americas, and Asia.

I was assigned to design the floral centerpieces for Emirates Sky Cargo and Mercator, the IT division of the Dubai-based Emirates Group. Emirates had one of the most impressive stands at the convention centre, where they built up a 2-storey display booth complete with reception desks, bars, and meeting rooms.

To complement the Emirates’ logo, the color theme of the floral centerpieces for Emirates Sky Cargo is red, white, and green. For the reception desks and bars, I’ve used a mixture of tropical crab claws, red gladiolus, white dendrobium orchids, and some fatsia japonicas in elegant frosted glass vases.

As for the meeting rooms and coffee tables, the main flowers used were red roses, carnations, and Casablanca lilies. The overall look and feel of the floral designs that I wanted to achieve was understated elegance. I refrained from using fancy vases of different colors and shapes, as I wanted the focus to be on the flowers and the round clear vases helped complete the look.

On the left (below): Small round centerpieces for the tables. The texture of the full-bloomed carnations enhanced the visibility of the tiny hypericums.

On the right (below): One of the floral displays for Mercator, a blend of golden ramsies and green dendrobium orchids, and fatsia japonicas.

It is every woman’s dream to have a diamond ring presented to them by their man, at least once in their lifetime. The notion that “diamond is forever” or that “diamond is the symbol of love, beauty, and purity” has long been fed to us from the advertising agencies.

Each year, diamond producers spend millions of dollars in advertising to promote their diamonds. Decades of heavy advertising and “brain-washing” had resulted in heightening diamond’s value in the eyes of consumers.

Today, diamonds are often associated with power, wealth, and status in the society and it is a “must-have” item if you’re planning to propose to your girlfriend. But is diamond really that valuable? Do you know the origin of your diamond ring? Is diamond worth your “investment”? I was clueless and ignorant about diamonds until I watched the movie – Blood Diamond. I did some research online about the issue, and it totally opened my eyes about the diamond industry.

According to Wikipedia, “Blood diamond (also called a converted diamond, conflict diamond, hot diamond or a war diamond) refers to a diamond mined in a war zone and sold, in order to finance an insurgency, invading army’s war efforts, or supporting a warlord’s activity, usually in Africa.”

Although not all diamonds originate from the conflict war zones, at present, the diamond industry and government authorities have yet to commit themselves in having a fully transparent diamond monitoring and standardization process. Even with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) established, we can still never be sure of the origin of the diamonds sold in our local jewelry stores today.

Monitoring the Kimberley Process

The biggest weakness of the Kimberley Process is how it is monitored. Any country can become a member of the Kimberley Process just by sending a letter to the organization’s president, currently, the European Commission. Whether or not the country meets the standards of the Kimberley Process, it can still become a member.[16] This means that many conflict diamonds are still getting past the Kimberly Certification Scheme because some countries don’t meet the requirements of the Kimberley Process. However, as of 2007, it is estimated that its share in total trade of rough diamond has come down to only USD 10.2 million.

via Wikipedia

Here are 10 reasons why we should resist the “diamond temptation” by Liz Stanton, CPE Staff Economist – The Ultimate Field Guide to the US Economy.

Campaign Against “Blood Diamonds”

Ten Reasons Why You Should Never Accept a Diamond Ring from Anyone, Under Any Circumstances, Even If They Really Want to Give You One

1. You’ve Been Psychologically Conditioned To Want a Diamond
The diamond engagement ring is a 63-year-old invention of N.W.Ayer advertising agency. The De Beers diamond cartel contracted N.W.Ayer to create a demand for what are, essentially, useless hunks of rock.

2. Diamonds are Priced Well Above Their Value
The De Beers cartel has systematically held diamond prices at levels far greater than their abundance would generate under anything even remotely resembling perfect competition. All diamonds not already under its control are bought by the cartel, and then the De Beers cartel carefully managed world diamond supply in order to keep prices steadily high.

3. Diamonds Have No Resale or Investment Value
Any diamond that you buy or receive will indeed be yours forever: De Beers’ advertising deliberately brain-washed women not to sell; the steady price is a tool to prevent speculation in diamonds; and no dealer will buy a diamond from you. You can only sell it at a diamond purchasing center or a pawn shop where you will receive a tiny fraction of its original “value.”

4. Diamond Miners are Disproportionately Exposed to HIV/AIDS
Many diamond mining camps enforce all-male, no-family rules. Men contract HIV/AIDS from camp sex-workers, while women married to miners have no access to employment, no income outside of their husbands and no bargaining power for negotiating safe sex, and thus are at extremely high risk of contracting HIV.

5. Open-Pit Diamond Mines Pose Environmental Threats
Diamond mines are open pits where salts, heavy minerals, organisms, oil, and chemicals from mining equipment freely leach into ground-water, endangering people in nearby mining camps and villages, as well as downstream plants and animals.

6. Diamond Mine-Owners Violate Indigenous People’s Rights
Diamond mines in Australia, Canada, India and many countries in Africa are situated on lands traditionally associated with indigenous peoples. Many of these communities have been displaced, while others remain, often at great cost to their health, livelihoods and traditional cultures.

7. Slave Laborers Cut and Polish Diamonds
More than one-half of the world’s diamonds are processed in India where many of the cutters and polishers are bonded child laborers. Bonded children work to pay off the debts of their relatives, often unsuccessfully. When they reach adulthood their debt is passed on to their younger siblings or to their own children.

8. Conflict Diamonds Fund Civil Wars in Africa
There is no reliable way to insure that your diamond was not mined or stolen by government or rebel military forces in order to finance civil conflict. Conflict diamonds are traded either for guns or for cash to pay and feed soldiers.

9. Diamond Wars are Fought Using Child Warriors
Many diamond producing governments and rebel forces use children as soldiers, laborers in military camps, and sex slaves. Child soldiers are given drugs to overcome their fear and reluctance to participate in atrocities.

10. Small Arms Trade is Intimately Related to Diamond Smuggling
Illicit diamonds inflame the clandestine trade of small arms. There are 500 billion small arms in the world today which are used to kill 500,000 people annually, the vast majority of whom are non-combatants.

It is not just simply a case of eliminating CONFLICT DIAMONDS ie diamonds produced and sold to finance armed conflicts and gross violations of human rights. We also need to look at what is happening in those non-conflict zones, in the mining of diamonds and human rights violations for the workers in the mines.

Quote from one of the commentators of the movie, “Check out Blood Diamond, your bling may never look the same again”. Very much indeed!

Further readings:
Combating Conflict Diamonds
De Beers Sees Threat of Blood Diamonds
The Jewels in September Elle Come at an Extremely High Price
De Beers Pleads Guilty in Price Fixing Case
History of Single Life: Diamond Engagement Rings
Namibia: Exposing The Corrupt Practices Of The De Beers Diamond Cartel
Why De Beers Wants You ‘Blood Diamond’-Savvy

Am please to introduce the LeFiores Designer Cards. These cards are hand-painted by our designers. The idea is to reduce paper wastage by not pre-printing too many cards which might get “discarded” once they are out of fashion.

The watercolor design above is painted on high quality 200 GSM acid-free watercolor paper. However, these cards are only available at selected delivery area due to geographical limitations. Please contact Ammie for further details, if you’re interested!

The “Vase Bouquets Collection” finally made its debut! This is one of Lefiores’s eco-friendly solution to curb the ever-increasing paper and plastic usage in Malaysia’s floral industry. I for one, strongly believe in living towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Every choice that we make, no matter how insignificant, matters. Saving the environment means ensuring a brighter future for generations to come.

Now, there’s a greener way of sending flowers to your loved ones. If you are used to sending hand-tied bouquets, you might want to know how sending flowers in vases helps you to save more money and save our environment. Here are 5 reasons why you should send flowers in a vase.

For starters, our Vase Bouquets collection consists of dendrobium orchids and imported long stems red roses. These bouquets come together with signature glass vases. Delivery within Klang Valley (Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur) and Melaka is free, yup, even after the petrol hike. For Singapore deliveries, please email me directly at ammie@lefiores.com.

Tell your loved ones how much you love her and the earth by sending a vase bouquet today. Together, we can make a difference towards a greener Earth!

by Chantelle Lim

01 Jul 08 – 1st occasion where I received a bouquet of flowers loosely wrapped with tissue paper which made it necessary for me to do something about it.

1 bouquet of lovely roses of premium quality + 1 vase (leftover from the last time I got a vase of roses) + 1 Chantelle = creativity kicked in till 1.45am.

I had a mission: to take the best shot with the best arrangement. Great deal of fun and with much success. Ode to my dear friend, Ammie, who gave me those roses, I took on with me 1 very important point. Receiving flowers in loose or in a vase brings about great flexibility as oppose to flowers in a bouquet. You can arrange the flowers a million times till you are satisfied. For me, I think I could never attain satisfaction for this cos at different angles and arrangements, the beauty is unique by itself.

True enough, having to wake up at 6.30am for work deterred me from achieving perfection or satisfaction. Falling in love with it, I brought it to work so it was working with this new owner (me) whom I think those roses perceive as fickle-minded, having toyed with it a trillion times. And still not giving up. I’m so proud in to have become its owner. Just like in food, only a cuisine connoisseur will appreciate food with great detail.

Only a flower fanatic will appreciate these premium roses. In this case, my director had a wonderful remark – “These roses are very different from the usual and very beautiful”, having to buy roses for 6 months every Sunday for her church’s centrepiece, thereby gaining tonnes of knowledge. I’m also learning more and liking every bit of it while becoming more of a vase person.

*****
Coming up next: A series of rose pictures taken by Chantelle.

My previous post, 5 Reasons Why You Should Send Flowers in a Vase has gained a few insightful comments from a friend, Marcus. He posed a few interesting questions regarding the feasibility of sending flowers in vases and affordability of flowers in this country. I believe these are good indication of the doubts that many of us have, since there are many of us who are unaccustomed to sending flowers in vases. I’ve shared Marcus’ email comments and also my take on the issues that he has brought up. (Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Marcus!)

Marcus:
I dunno.. coz i still don’t get the idea of sending flower in vase.. ~?~

Me:
Hi Marcus, you’re not the only one here. Most of us Asians are not used to sending flowers in vase. It’s a cultural thing. Hand-tied bouquets have been here for 20-30 years. It’s gonna take some time to shake off the notion that only hand-tied bouquets are appropriate when sending flowers. =)

Marcus:
Apart from that, just a quick review of what’s in our everyday living.. we seldom have vase in our house because most of us will not spend money filling them with flowers everyday. Flowers aren’t cheap anyway due to geographical factor if compared to Europe and other cooler countries.

Me:
Yup, it’s true that most of us will not spend money buying flowers unnecessarily just to fill the empty vases in our house (assuming we even have a vase at home). Like I said before, buying flowers “out of the blue” just to put them in our home is not common at all in Malaysia. It’s mostly because of our culture. We only buy flowers when we need to, say for our loved ones, our best friend’s graduation, or as gifts of congratulating new businesses or condolences. We seldom buy flowers for our own house on normal days just because its not necessary.

My point is, yes, I agree that not many of us will buy flowers everyday to fill them with our empty vases. However, it is a myth that flowers are more expensive here in Malaysia compared to western countries. Contrary to popular belief, buying flowers here are in fact much cheaper than buying flowers in other countries, unless you get the imported ones.

Cut flowers are not expensive here as most local florists get their supplies from Cameron Highlands and to further illustrate my point, let me give you an example of the price. On normal days (meaning no big occasions eg. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day), one stalk of local rose or carnation = RM1.00 each (at most RM1.50 each). The “expensive” part is when you need a floral designer/florist to design, arrange, and deliver the flowers for you. Even so, you can always request the florist to work within your budget. Most professional florist will try their best to satisfy your demand as long as it is not too outrageous.

Sending flowers in vases are more environmental friendly and convenient for the recipients in terms of taking care of the flowers. Flowers in hand-tied bouquets last approximately 3-5 days, while flowers kept in vases can last up to 7 days or more, depending on the type of flowers and the care and conditioning that the flowers receive. Plus, the recipient gets a new vase to begin with so that she can get flowers for herself too!

Below is a very simple and clear step by step guide provided by realsimple.com for beginners on how you can arrange your cut flowers in any vase. For those of you who do not have a vase available at home, do not fret. You can substitute the vase with any empty jars or empty wine bottles available in your kitchen cabinets.

Photo by Natasha Milne

Step 1: Fill the vase with cool tap water, says Emily Weaver, owner of New York City floral design studio Chestnuts in the Tuileries. (Warm water can force unopened buds to bloom too quickly.)

Step 2: Measure the flower against the height of the vase and decide where to snip.

Step 3: Lay stems on a cutting board and, with a kitchen knife, cut on an angle, which exposes the stem to more water. If you prefer, use floral shears instead of a knife.

Step 4: Bind the flowers with a clear-colored elastic and trim any too-long stems. Finally, place the flowers in the vase.

Do take some pictures of your flowers and send them to me once you’ve tried the steps above. Let me know how it works for you. Have fun arranging your blooms and have a great weekend!

1. Increase cut flowers life-span
Cut flowers has longer life span if they’re arranged in the vase as opposed to being wrapped up in a hand-tied bouquet. To keep your flowers fresh, you need to change the water and cut the stems every 2-3 days, and make sure that the leaves should be kept above water level. Sending bouquet in a vase to your loved ones will ensure that the blooms get the necessary care and conditioning they need. The bouquet will have a longer display life in a vase and your loved ones will be able to enjoy the flowers longer.

2. Affordable
Sending flowers in a vase is definitely less expensive than regular hand-tied bouquets. The price of hand-tied bouquets are determined by the quality of flowers (country origins of flower, whether it is local or imported, quality of wrapping accessories used ie. papers, ribbons, laces etc), quantity of the flowers needed, and the florist’s experience on designing the bouquets. However, sending flowers in a vase eliminates the use of wrapping materials and thus, reducing the price of the bouquets.

3. Reusable
Vase is reusable. Your loved ones will be able to keep the vase and reuse it for other occasions after the bouquets are way pass their display life. Sending a bouquet in a vase gives you and your love ones the opportunity to play a part in the effort of environmental conservation. It also eliminates the use of papers and plastic so commonly used in hand-tied bouquets especially in Malaysia.

4. Greener alternatives
Due to the rising concern on environmental issues, it is essential for us to each do our part in saving the earth from further destruction caused by our human-kind. Massive deforestation is happening in many countries and it affects our quality of life and results in the declined of habitat and biodiversity, and is one of the main causes of atmospheric pollution, floods, displaced native tribes, soil erosions, and landslides. Sending flowers in a vase is another greener option that you can choose to help reduce the use of papers and plastics.

5. Hassle free and display-ready
When you send flowers in the form of hand-tied bouquet to your loved ones, he/she needs to go through all the hassle to untie the wrappings of papers, and find a right vase to arranged the flowers again. On the contrary, if your loved ones receive her bouquet in a vase, he/she does not need to worry about all the hassles mentioned above. And what’s great about this is most professional florists will include flower food in the vase which will provide the necessary nutrients for your beautiful blooms.