Oh My Garland, Oh My Garland

Oh My Garland, Clementine

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This sight of hand-crafted garlands from fresh blooms drew my eye immediately - because it looked for all the world like a waterfall of every colour conceivable.

A few months ago I was in Singapore for a little more than 24 hours and so I used that time to walk as many miles as I could, taking as many photographs as possible. Late in the evening, long after the sun had set, I was still soaking up all the experiences of the streets of the island state when I happened to see this pavement store. In retrospect, I reckon it was the scent of the blooms that drew me towards it.

You see, I grew up in India, where the smell of many tropical blooms was a scent that even the most experienced perfume-makers would find impossible to bottle. You could blindfold me, take me to those lanes and I would know immediately where I was.

So I began talking to the proprietor of the store. A gracious man, he told me that many of the blooms were imported from India - just as I had suspected. How many times a month did he import them, I asked. I thought he’d reply that they had one consignment each week.

Nope. They imported the blooms every day. And they sold as quickly as they appeared.