By Vir B. Lumicao
For the first time in 15 years, the
Philippines is not represented in the Hong Kong Flower Show, an annual
two-week spring spectacular at Victoria Park that attracts more than
half a million visitors.
The floral festival opened to the public
on Mar 16 with the theme “Joy in Bloom” expressed in the display of some
400,000 flowers, including about 40,000 of the theme flower, the
dahlia.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam led the
opening ceremonies also graced by Acting Secretary for Home Affairs Jack
Chan; Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Michelle Li; deputy
chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Anthony Chow; and Miss Hong Kong
2017 Juliette Louie.
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| The last Philippine participation last year. |
“We wanted a participant from the
Philippines but that did not push through, so, we pulled out. Soon
after, you informed me that Knights of Rizal were removed,” Vice Consul
Robert Quintin, head of the cultural section of the Consulate, told The
SUN in reply to an enquiry.
“When I asked LCSD about it after you
told me, all they did was confirm that KOR were no longer part of the
show. We are not privy to anything more that transpired after that,” he
added.
Since 2003, the Philippines had been represented in the show by the KOR, which always had its own imposing booth.
But in January, top KOR officer, Dutchman
Pieter Nootenboom, told The SUN that the organization had been notified
by LCSD it would no longer be able to join the fair and that the
Consulate would take on the role.
The Consulate was invited to put up its
own booth at the flower show last year, and its display, an
everlasting-studded replica of a jeepney, won a “Special Award for
Design Excellence”.
The KOR also had its own display marquee
featuring a garden with a giant billboard of Presidents Xi Jinping of
China and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines shaking hands as the
backdrop.
On Sunday, Mar 18, tens of thousands of
local and foreign visitors crowded Victoria Park to enjoy the colorful
tapestry of flowers and floral designs displayed by more than 200
participating groups and businesses.
The weather went as high as 29.9 degrees
Celsius during the day, but the crowd pressed on with their
picture-taking beside the flowerbeds, in particular the circular plot of
multicolored tulips imported from the Netherlands.
Guests also swamped the country's Van
Gogh-themed under a big white tent featuring a fenced off plot planted
to rows of ripened wheat, pink tulips, and purple and yellow anthurium.
The flower show will run until Mar 25.
Organizers say they expect the number of visitors this year to be about the same as last year’s 650,000.
