Stop and smell the Bunga Raya

I don’t advise putting your nose too close to the Bunga Raya or you risk breathing in its pollen, but this is an idiom coined with a local identity so that we can better relate to it.

Our Red hibiscus bush in the back garden

“Stop and smell the roses,” is in fact an English idiom that reminds us to relax, to take time out of one’s busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life.

As the Movement Control Order (MCO) with a strict Stay Home Notice (SHN) is keeping people at home, it’s a golden opportunity for everyone to Stop and smell the Bunga Raya.

The Bunga Raya or hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia.

An online search revealed that the Bunga Raya was introduced into the Malay Peninsula in the 12^th Century and was among several flowers nominated by the Ministry of Agriculture as the nation’s national flower in 1958.

On 28 July 1960, the Bunga Raya was declared the national flower by the government of Malaysia.

A trumpet shaped bright blossom

The word, Bunga in Malay means flower while Raya in Malay means celebratory or grand and together, Bunga Raya is known as the celebratory flower in Malay.

I remember learning in school that the Red of the petals symbolizes the courage, life and rapid growth of Malaysians while the five petals represent the five principles of the Rukun Negara.

It’s also refreshing to be reminded of the principles of the Rukun Negara:

·         Belief in God

·         Loyalty to King and country

·         The supremacy of the Constitution

·         The Rule of Law

·         Courtesy and Morality

I cannot forget the Science lessons with Mr Raja who taught us the parts of the flower from a large diagram of a cross section of a flower.

The most obvious part of the flower is of course, its petals and we had to study the structure of the flower, names and functions of each part of the flower from petals, sepals, stamen, pistil, pollen to its ovary.

[By the way Mr Raja, if you are reading this, you should feel very proud that your lessons were so interesting that I can remember you and your lessons to this day!]

Red hibiscus in the morning sun

With several hundred species, the Bunga Raya thrives very well in our tropical weather and I remember the many types of hibiscus species that grandfather had in his garden.

Besides the classic Red hibiscus, there were Pink, Orange, Yellow hibiscus as well as a White one where the outer edges of its petals were trimmed in shades of Pink and Purple.

Among the Red hibiscus, there were species where the five petals were fused together while there were other with petals that were unfused or separate from each other.

One of the prettiest hibiscus species must be what we fondly call the Lantern Hibiscus which is distinguished by its distinctive frilly and finely divided Red petals.

Hibiscus schizoetalus is also known as the Japanese Lantern, Fringed Rosemallow, Coral Hibiscus or Spider Hibiscus, a species of hibiscus native to Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique in tropical East Africa.

Red Japanese Lantern species of hibiscus

When grandfather’s house at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng was demolished, a variety of plants was transplanted to the gardens at the homes of his children.

These hardy hibiscus plants grow quite easily from cuttings and those planted in our garden have grown into sturdy plants with bright and beautiful blossoms.

The Bunga Raya in our garden greet me every morning with their large, conspicuous, trumpet-shaped blossoms and they never fail to remind me of God’s faithful mercies which are new every morning.

Meanwhile the delicate blossoms of the Lantern Hibiscus that were grown from a cutting from the plants in grandfather’s garden, always reminds me of grandfather.

March 30 this year, marks grandfather’s passing 40 years ago on this day.

Grandfather had suffered two mild strokes but as a former sportsman, his fighting spirit helped him to gradually recover and was rehabilitated to walk and talk again.

Another Lantern Hibiscus in our garden

However, the third stroke that he suffered kept him in the hospital for a total of 33 days. Three days under Intensive Care and 30 days in the ward.

After his condition had been stablised, grandfather was moved to the Officers Ward, the building which is now the Hematology Department of Hospital Sultanah Aminah.

My parents were torn between staying or leaving for the UK to attend the wedding of Pearly, our second sister, planned for March 29, but grandmother graciously assured my parents that they should go to the UK to celebrate this joyous occasion.

With heavy hearts my parents, along with Ruby, our eldest sister, left for the UK to attend the wedding, leaving my younger brother and I behind (it was still school term time).

Meanwhile there was a duty roster for family members to take turns to be with grandfather in the ward.

He had a single room and it was quite comfortable by the standards of a Government hospital first class ward, in those days.

Red Hibiscus with unfused or separate petals

Every day I would be on the afternoon shift while our boy cousins and uncles would take the evening and night shifts.

It was also the Qing Ming season where traditional Chinese families would make their annual trip to the cemetery to carry out the tomb-sweeping rituals.

Grandmother then decided that the family would proceed with their annual Qing Ming on that day, so the extended family members were on the tomb visits while I stayed with grandfather.

Qing Ming was usually a half-day outing with an early start and the tomb visits should be completed when the sun was at its height. Then the family should be back home again to have lunch together.

After they got home from Qing Ming, several family members – aunts and uncles – came to the hospital to be with grandfather.

Beautiful bright blossoms of Bunga Raya

Surrounded by these family members (and me!), grandfather left us after suffering a massive heart attack at about 4.30pm that afternoon.

It was understandably, an emotional parting.

I can still remember, going to the public telephone installed in the lobby of the Officers Ward (there were no mobile phones then!) to make that call home to inform grandmother and the family that grandfather had left us.

So today, as we Stop to smell the Bunga Raya, we fondly remember grandfather and his garden where he carefully nurtured his precious orchid plants and a few species of Bunga Raya that continue to bloom and blossom in our gardens.

This MCO is also a good time for us to relax and reflect, to take time out of our usual busy schedule to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of life.