Tag: prosperity

Say it with flowers

 

Spring is here: Wan Zi Qian Hong conveys good health, happiness and longevity

By Foong Pek Yee

30 Jan, 2022

SHENTI JIAN KANG, WAN SHI RU YI (good health, all the best in Chinese),  a trader greets customers doing their last minute Chinese New Year (CNY)  shopping.

His sales pitch – good tidings  with flowers – draws customers to his flower stall in the SPPK market in Ipoh on Sunday morning (30 Jan).
The flower –  Wan Zi Qian Hong (tens of thousands of purple and thousands of red ) – an idiom on a garden in full bloom is among his most saleable items.
He says the flower conveys  good health,  happiness and longevity.
A pot of Wan Zi Qian Hong is priced at RM12 and RM35 for a pot of lime tree or  Kum Kut.  
Add value:  Good service brings business
According to him,  it takes six months to grow the Wan Zi  Qian Hong.
The timing is such that they will bloom during  CNY.
I bought his last three pots of Wan Zi  Qian Hong while another shopper snapped up the last two pots of Kum Kut   ( a symbol of prosperity
On a more serious note,  he says farmers and traders are treading cautiously this round.
Besides the pandemic, he says the increase in the price of  fertilisers and  pesticides and labour shortage have also  dampen the market.
A trader who sells cut flowers says there are not many varieties this round.
According to her, economic uncertainty,  financial constraints and  labour shortage saw many farmers cutting down on their production.
Her advice is to buy flowers early as stock is limited.
Among her saleable items is the yellow hulu (gourd) fruit – a symbol of good health, productivity and wealth.
Striking colour: The Hu Lu  fruits of different size  represent several generations together.

Gold fish brings good luck to the villagers

By Foong Pek Yee
14 Dec, 2021
ORNAMENTAL FISH is a symbol of all things good;- from abundance, prosperity , good luck  to success.
In  Gopeng – an ex mining town-  it has given it  a new lease of life.

The world tin market crash in the mid 1980s saw many mine workers turned to  gold fish rearing – turning ex mining ponds into fish farms.

Gopeng, about 18 km from Ipoh city centre,  gradually rose to become one of the top exporters of gold fish .
The rest is history.
Watching their graceful movements  is simply therapeutic, says Roy Lee of how ornamental fish can be a de-stressor.
On top of things: Roy is hands on in the business.
Keeping ornamental fish is a way to de-stress, says Roy who
rears ornamental fish in  Gopeng.
He also imports and exports the fish to countries like  India, Vietnam, Thailand and  Philippines.
Chalking up 20 years in the industry, a
 typical working day for him starts at 8.00 am and he only calls it a day 12 hours later.
 Remarkable:  Villagers turned ex mining ponds into fish farms in Gopeng.
Perseverance: Ornamental fish rearing is labour intensive.
At 51, Wong Choon Ming has chalked up 30 plus years as a fish farmer, and is still counting.
He says he started off with gold fish and has switched to Arowana some time ago.
Choon Ming says Arowana, also known as dragon fish (long yu in Chinese ), is a symbol of good luck and prosperity, and majority of the Arowana from Gopeng  go to the China market,
Fish farmer Chin Kean Wei, 56, says it is a tough business and he is glad that farmers in Gopeng are close and help each other to stay competitive in the market.
Kean Wei says he also counts himself lucky as his wife Aw Chen Chen, 48,  helps him in the fish farm .
Caring  touch : Chen Chen learned  to look after ornamental fish when she and Kean Wei started dating.
Kean Wei says the demand for ornamental fish peaks  during winter and ahead of the Lunar New Year.
It may be end of year and holiday season but work comes first, says Kean Wei.
A typical working day for Kean Wei is between 7am and 9.00pm.
 Law Tong Hai says his  passion for ornamental fish brings joy in the business.
This is  important as the line between work and personal time is blur in the life of a fish farmer.
“We must be hands on though we have workers to do the job,” says Tong Hai.
Apart from experience, he says continuing research  to upgrade fish rearing methods is also important.
Using  pandan plants to filter the excretion from the fish is  a result of research, he says, drawing my attention to the fresh aroma of the plant during my visit to his farm.
 While large scale fish rearing using concrete ponds is inevitable, Tong Hai believes there are  ways to create an environment that is as close to nature as possible for the fish.