Glorious garlands
- Jayaselvam can tie a flower garland by hand in three minutes
- He has 34 years of experience
- He made garlands for the Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schoolong
Former machinist, Jayaselvam started making garlands in 1978, teaching himself how to carry out this craft and opening his own shop in 1994. Making traditional garlands is a way to support the religious life of the local Hindu community, as flowers play a central role within the community and also to contribute to the local diversity of Singapore. Garlands are a necessity in many Hindu rituals to honour deities, offered to people as a sign of blessing and honour for traditional ceremonies such as weddings. For instance, the bride and groom will share the same garland as a symbol of unity. The bride makes her entrance beneath a bright red canopy of flowers which symbolises purity, protection and bravery.
Interview
- Why did you choose this craft?
- I studied machining and my first career was working as a machinist at the Singapore Bus Service. During the year 1978, while I was helping out at Jothi Flower Shop, my passion for this art was born. From then on, I slowly started to pick up the skills before deciding to dedicate myself to mastering it.
- What are your specialisations?
- I specialise in crafting wedding garlands. These garlands use a significant amount of flowers and can only be done several hours before the event to retain their freshness. There is a variety of tying methods for garland making. One of which includes tying the flowers only using banana fibre and raffia strings.
- What do people not normally know about your work?
- The garlands that I sell are made by my own two hands. As flowers are highly perishable products, it is not that easy to master the skill of garland making. Long hours, hard work and the determination to not give up to produce garlands with huge time pressures may not be known to people.
- Can you tell us a memorable moment in your professional life?
- The thing that springs to mind, was when I was given the chance to craft an orchid garland for Singapore's first Olympic Gold Medallist, Joseph Schooling. Knowing that athlete would wear the garland I made for him using my bare hands gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
Jayaselvam R. is an expert artisan: he began his career in 1978
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Jayaselvam R.
