'Everything's gonna be plastic'

Flowers have always fascinated me, for some strange reason. No, not for their colour, beauty or fragrance, but for their more earthly uses.

After referring to Pete Seeger's song "Where have all the flowers gone?" last week, I kept wondering what really would happen if flowers indeed were to vanish.

Well, we Chinese need not be alarmed, for unlike certain other Asian communities, we don't offer flowers in temples. We don't use flower garlands to welcome VIP guests. Nor do our maidens use them to add beauty to their flowing locks. In short, flowers (as found in nature, that is) are not part and parcel of our daily lives.

We mastered the art of making flowers with paper long before the plastic ones replaced the real thing in our living rooms, offices, showrooms and restaurants.

I accept flowers and many parts of the plants and trees they grow on are eaten as food, mixed with beverages or used as medicine jasmine and chrysanthemum tea, for instance.