Ever surprised a partner with an aisle of roses in your hotel room? Thinking of pampering your friend with a staycation complete with an in-room flower bath? The person likely to be making that happen at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) is 56-year-old Maria Savirimuthu.
The supervisor of MBS’ Bay Floral department gives CNA Women a first-person account of her work and how 18 years of living alone in Singapore has taught her the beauty of life – beyond blooms.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu. (Photo: CNA)
Flowers found me. My mother passed away in 2005. After her death, my eldest sister told me it was time for me to be more independent, to think about my future and how I would give back, especially after my family had taken pains to have me educated.
I was already 38 then, but as the youngest in my family, I was used to being “pampered”. If I needed help, including money, my siblings would step in.
But now that both my parents were gone, I had to step up, my sister said.
After finishing school (in Ipoh), I'd trained in secretarial work. Naturally, I gravitated towards handling money matters at my local church. I also did cashiering work for several years. The people I worked with found me trustworthy and saw me as someone who could get the job done.
One of them was Ivy. I’d always been interested in floristry and was already helping friends and relatives create floral arrangements for occasions like weddings, so my sister encouraged me to get formal training.
One day, I happened to walk by Ivy Florist Art School, so I went in and asked about flower arrangement classes, which I promptly signed up for.
It took me six months to complete the beginner and intermediate courses because I could only go when I had an hour or two to spare from work. After I completed the courses, Ivy asked if I wanted to work with her full-time.
I agreed. It was a flexible arrangement – she only needed me to run the show for a while as she was frequently away.
I also continued to take on personal commissions from relatives. I think I did the wedding decor for about six relatives. It amazes me now how I was able to run my small floral business – without so much as a mentor – and do all the work, including handling the accounts, on my own.
It got to a point where my floral arrangements attracted the attention of influential people. Once, I decorated the palace of the Sultan of Perak, in honour of his birthday.
Maria Savirimuthu continued to further her education in floristry, eventually completing a programme at the Boerma Instituut in the Netherlands. (Photos: Maria Savirimuthu)
I enjoyed the work, but Ipoh is a small town. Compared with Kuala Lumpur and the major Malaysian cities, the glass ceiling was very low. If I desired to own anything costly – like a car – I would have to work harder, and I was already juggling multiple jobs.
Even after all these years, I still remember how frustrating it was to work so hard and yet still struggle to pay the monthly instalments on a car, which I shared with my family.
I’m very attached to my family – I was quite unwilling to be separated from them. But destiny is a choice. I could have remained in Ipoh and led a simple life, cycling to the market every day, but I believe I wasn’t born to do little things. I wanted a better life.
And so, about a year later, I moved to Singapore. I remember spending a hefty amount of time and money, going from florist to florist, asking for a job. Just when I’d all but given up, Shangri-La Hotel called to offer me a job as a florist.
That was my stepping stone. It was also my training ground and where I learned to hone my eye for detail.
But the cost of living in Singapore was rising. I felt I could do better; get a better salary.
Working at Shangri-La Hotel, I’d often have lunch at Marina Square, at a place where I could see the site on which Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was being built. Integrated resorts were the talk of the town then.
As I continued to work at Shangri-La Hotel, I would witness the progress on the building of Singapore’s largest hotel. I would jokingly say to myself: “God, I hope I get the chance to work there.”
It really was just a playful remark but sincere, and already the (three) buildings were shaping up to be quite unique.
In 2010, about four years after I started working in Singapore, I was attending church service at Suntec City when I met the person who had interviewed me for my job at Shangri-La Hotel, standing outside one of the convention halls. She’d left the hotel by then and was recruiting staff for MBS. We caught up quickly and I told her half-jokingly that I was interested in a position.
Things happened very quickly from there. She put in a recommendation for me and encouraged me to apply, and the next thing I knew I was serving my one-month notice at Shangri-La Hotel.
In April 2010, I came on board as floral supervisor at MBS.
04:50 Min
From Elton John’s orchids to a guest who requested a bouquet of 1,000 roses, MBS floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu shares how she and her team come up with the floral arrangements you see all over Marina Bay Sands.
BEAUTY IN THE INBOX
As floral supervisor, I start every morning around 8am checking my email for orders. On-the-day orders are a priority.
(On a busy weekend, Bay Floral receives around 10 to 20 floral orders, which includes balloon arrangements and flower bouquets for special occasions. The department is also responsible for fresh floral arrangements at the MBS hotel lobby, parts of The Shoppes and all MBS-owned restaurants.)
I will then conduct a morning meeting, attended by around 10 people on a regular day. This is the only time when everyone’s together and not off somewhere running work-related errands around the hotel or across town.
During this meeting, we discuss the day’s orders, including potential designs as well as who will deliver the arrangements and how.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu. (Photo: CNA)
One time, we received an unusual request from a man who wanted to surprise his girlfriend for her birthday. He requested 1,000 stalks of roses.
Now, my team loves challenges. A bouquet of 30 roses is a walk in the park. Sometimes, we get requests for 100 roses. But 1,000 roses? That took an extraordinary amount of teamwork. Everyone had to contribute something, including ideas for wrapping and actually preparing the bouquet.
Bay Floral services aren’t just for in-house guests – anyone can put in a request for them. This particular customer had planned his surprise some distance away from MBS.
Can you imagine? We often use a limousine service to send large arrangements but this required a lorry and several men to load it up.
But probably my best memory is from when we served Sir Elton John, who was in Singapore in 2011 to view the orchid Singapore had named after him. We were tasked to produce a masterpiece that required the use of three acrylic towers.
At the time there were few of us, so we had to rally people from the other departments to help.
He was amazed at the final product.
COMING FULL CIRCLE
Living alone in Singapore without my siblings was very hard and nearly two decades later, it still is. Almost every one of my relatives lives in Malaysia and I rarely meet them. I go home only once or twice a year.
One of my sisters, Grace, whom I admire and respect greatly, told me when I was 16 that she chose not to marry so my siblings and I could have a good life.
I will never forget that.
I will also never forget how she’s always the one remembering significant occasions such as birthdays and being the first to send a birthday greeting in our family chats. She’s also the one who initiates family gatherings.
When I recently returned home after being separated from my family due to COVID-19, I found out that our car, which I had been struggling to pay for more than a decade ago, was starting to cause problems.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
My sister didn’t complain about the car but one night, she called, asking me to pick her up. I asked her: Why do you need me to fetch you? You took the car today, didn’t you?”
She was reluctant to tell me but it turned out she’d been having trouble with the car for a while – the engine would shut down at traffic lights and once the car even stopped moving at a roundabout.
I began fearing for her life. What if something happened, especially at night?
I’m going to be honest – I don’t often go out of my way to please people outside of work. I’m also not the kind to make major decisions like buying a new car.
But on my next trip home, a recent visit to celebrate Christmas with my family, I put together a plan to fulfil a dream: To buy my selfless sister a new car.
It was a short trip – just a little more than a week – so I had to be nimble and persistent. Upon my return to Ipoh, I arranged for the same dealer who helped me buy my first car to take me to the showroom. I insisted he put together a financing plan and deliver the car before I left for Singapore.
He was initially reluctant to commit – it typically takes two weeks for a loan request to be processed – but he kindly obliged.
Maria Savirimuthu posing with the new car she bought for her sister Grace in Ipoh. (Photo: Maria Savirimuthu)
The day before I was due to return to Singapore, I drove my old car a distance from home and he met me there with the new car. We swapped vehicles and I drove the brand new car home. I’d wanted the old car to be scrapped but he convinced me to make some repairs and sell it cheaply to an underprivileged family instead.
When I got to the place my sister and I shared, I honked so that she would come out to see who it was.
You should have seen her face. She was so confused. Whose car was this and why was I climbing out of the driver’s seat? Where was the old car?
When she found out I’d bought the car for her, she was shocked. She was also understandably flabbergasted that I’d gotten rid of the old car.
I just told her the car had been sold off. I knew for a while that she’d been thinking about buying a new car but didn’t know how she would maintain the monthly instalments.
She didn’t know how to thank me – despite her being my closest sibling – but I found out later from friends how grateful she was. They thought she was blessed to have a caring younger sister. The truth is, she’s sacrificed a lot for the family.
I believe that life ultimately is a matter of sowing and reaping. People remember the good things you do for them and that’s also part of the beauty of what I do at work.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
GROWING ON THE JOB
Working at MBS has taught me a lot. I was never the kind of person who would take the initiative to really get to know my colleagues.
Before, if I met someone with characteristics I deemed negative, I would just think “aiyah, if you’re like that then you’re like that”. I wouldn’t attempt to try and understand why they behaved the way they did.
But now, I know better, especially when it comes to human behaviour.
Everyone is born and raised in a different environment. Not everyone enjoys a smooth-sailing life. I’ve since learned, through leadership training, not just to accept people for who they are but to also approach them, and ask how life has been treating them. Maybe in front of us they put on a brave face, but things are unpleasant at home. So I check in.
And along the way, I’ve learned that we are all humans. Everybody’s learning, just like me.
FLOWERS ALSO NEED TO BE “OPENED UP”
To do this work, you have to be happy. If you’re unhappy, it shows up in your arrangement. If you’re stressed out, your flowers will look stressed out.
I used to think it was insane to talk to plants. Years ago, when my sister visited me at my office, she told me how her friend would talk to plants, telling them she loved them and coaxing them to stay alive and fresh.
I thought only crazy people talked to plants.
But then I noticed people who talked to their plants had the most beautiful gardens. I could never get my plants to look like theirs no matter how well I watered them, or the quality of my soil and fertilisers.
So I tried it. Once, while planning a trip that would keep me away from Singapore for two weeks, I was at a loss over what to do with my five-or-so plants, especially my ivy. Ivy needs to be kept in a cool environment. I didn’t think mine would survive very long in a hot and humid climate, much less survive being abandoned for such a long period.
My plants are in my room and of course, I had to keep my windows closed and door locked while I was away – there would be no ventilation for two weeks. But I placed them in a few inches of water and spoke to them, telling them I loved them very much and that I would return soon. I asked them to stay healthy and happy.
When I returned home, they were all fine, even the high-maintenance ivy!
Now I believe: You have to connect with your plants in order for them to thrive, which incidentally, is also how relationships thrive.
A detail of an orchid arrangement resembling MBS. (Photo: CNA)
PLAYING FLOWER GODMOTHER
What does it take to do what I do? Passion. If you’re someone who delights in the joy of others, you will be successful in this field.
Every time I see an email from a customer who wants to create something to celebrate a milestone, propose to their partner or mark an anniversary, I always get very excited. Being a part of someone’s special day is so exciting.
And when they write in later to say that whatever they’d planned was a success, that gives me so much satisfaction.
The world is a beautiful place with many options. Failures are a good thing – I truly believe in that. They not only give you a chance to learn about yourself, they also lead you to something great.
Take the example of my car. I could not afford to pay the monthly instalments. If it wasn’t for that “failure”, I would not have made the major decision to leave home and come to Singapore. If it wasn’t for the car, I wouldn’t have dreamt bigger dreams.
When you encounter failure, of course it will take time for you to overcome it, but take that as a stepping stone to invest in your life; to be a better person; to do the things you love.
Don’t let anything drag you down. Always move forward.
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...
The supervisor of MBS’ Bay Floral department gives CNA Women a first-person account of her work and how 18 years of living alone in Singapore has taught her the beauty of life – beyond blooms.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu. (Photo: CNA)
Flowers found me. My mother passed away in 2005. After her death, my eldest sister told me it was time for me to be more independent, to think about my future and how I would give back, especially after my family had taken pains to have me educated.
I was already 38 then, but as the youngest in my family, I was used to being “pampered”. If I needed help, including money, my siblings would step in.
But now that both my parents were gone, I had to step up, my sister said.
After finishing school (in Ipoh), I'd trained in secretarial work. Naturally, I gravitated towards handling money matters at my local church. I also did cashiering work for several years. The people I worked with found me trustworthy and saw me as someone who could get the job done.
One of them was Ivy. I’d always been interested in floristry and was already helping friends and relatives create floral arrangements for occasions like weddings, so my sister encouraged me to get formal training.
One day, I happened to walk by Ivy Florist Art School, so I went in and asked about flower arrangement classes, which I promptly signed up for.
It took me six months to complete the beginner and intermediate courses because I could only go when I had an hour or two to spare from work. After I completed the courses, Ivy asked if I wanted to work with her full-time.
I agreed. It was a flexible arrangement – she only needed me to run the show for a while as she was frequently away.
I also continued to take on personal commissions from relatives. I think I did the wedding decor for about six relatives. It amazes me now how I was able to run my small floral business – without so much as a mentor – and do all the work, including handling the accounts, on my own.
It got to a point where my floral arrangements attracted the attention of influential people. Once, I decorated the palace of the Sultan of Perak, in honour of his birthday.
Maria Savirimuthu continued to further her education in floristry, eventually completing a programme at the Boerma Instituut in the Netherlands. (Photos: Maria Savirimuthu)
I enjoyed the work, but Ipoh is a small town. Compared with Kuala Lumpur and the major Malaysian cities, the glass ceiling was very low. If I desired to own anything costly – like a car – I would have to work harder, and I was already juggling multiple jobs.
Even after all these years, I still remember how frustrating it was to work so hard and yet still struggle to pay the monthly instalments on a car, which I shared with my family.
I’m very attached to my family – I was quite unwilling to be separated from them. But destiny is a choice. I could have remained in Ipoh and led a simple life, cycling to the market every day, but I believe I wasn’t born to do little things. I wanted a better life.
And so, about a year later, I moved to Singapore. I remember spending a hefty amount of time and money, going from florist to florist, asking for a job. Just when I’d all but given up, Shangri-La Hotel called to offer me a job as a florist.
That was my stepping stone. It was also my training ground and where I learned to hone my eye for detail.
But the cost of living in Singapore was rising. I felt I could do better; get a better salary.
Related:
Working at Shangri-La Hotel, I’d often have lunch at Marina Square, at a place where I could see the site on which Marina Bay Sands (MBS) was being built. Integrated resorts were the talk of the town then.
As I continued to work at Shangri-La Hotel, I would witness the progress on the building of Singapore’s largest hotel. I would jokingly say to myself: “God, I hope I get the chance to work there.”
It really was just a playful remark but sincere, and already the (three) buildings were shaping up to be quite unique.
In 2010, about four years after I started working in Singapore, I was attending church service at Suntec City when I met the person who had interviewed me for my job at Shangri-La Hotel, standing outside one of the convention halls. She’d left the hotel by then and was recruiting staff for MBS. We caught up quickly and I told her half-jokingly that I was interested in a position.
Things happened very quickly from there. She put in a recommendation for me and encouraged me to apply, and the next thing I knew I was serving my one-month notice at Shangri-La Hotel.
In April 2010, I came on board as floral supervisor at MBS.
04:50 Min
From Elton John’s orchids to a guest who requested a bouquet of 1,000 roses, MBS floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu shares how she and her team come up with the floral arrangements you see all over Marina Bay Sands.
BEAUTY IN THE INBOX
As floral supervisor, I start every morning around 8am checking my email for orders. On-the-day orders are a priority.
(On a busy weekend, Bay Floral receives around 10 to 20 floral orders, which includes balloon arrangements and flower bouquets for special occasions. The department is also responsible for fresh floral arrangements at the MBS hotel lobby, parts of The Shoppes and all MBS-owned restaurants.)
I will then conduct a morning meeting, attended by around 10 people on a regular day. This is the only time when everyone’s together and not off somewhere running work-related errands around the hotel or across town.
During this meeting, we discuss the day’s orders, including potential designs as well as who will deliver the arrangements and how.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu. (Photo: CNA)
One time, we received an unusual request from a man who wanted to surprise his girlfriend for her birthday. He requested 1,000 stalks of roses.
Now, my team loves challenges. A bouquet of 30 roses is a walk in the park. Sometimes, we get requests for 100 roses. But 1,000 roses? That took an extraordinary amount of teamwork. Everyone had to contribute something, including ideas for wrapping and actually preparing the bouquet.
Bay Floral services aren’t just for in-house guests – anyone can put in a request for them. This particular customer had planned his surprise some distance away from MBS.
Can you imagine? We often use a limousine service to send large arrangements but this required a lorry and several men to load it up.
But probably my best memory is from when we served Sir Elton John, who was in Singapore in 2011 to view the orchid Singapore had named after him. We were tasked to produce a masterpiece that required the use of three acrylic towers.
At the time there were few of us, so we had to rally people from the other departments to help.
He was amazed at the final product.
COMING FULL CIRCLE
Living alone in Singapore without my siblings was very hard and nearly two decades later, it still is. Almost every one of my relatives lives in Malaysia and I rarely meet them. I go home only once or twice a year.
One of my sisters, Grace, whom I admire and respect greatly, told me when I was 16 that she chose not to marry so my siblings and I could have a good life.
I will never forget that.
I will also never forget how she’s always the one remembering significant occasions such as birthdays and being the first to send a birthday greeting in our family chats. She’s also the one who initiates family gatherings.
When I recently returned home after being separated from my family due to COVID-19, I found out that our car, which I had been struggling to pay for more than a decade ago, was starting to cause problems.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
My sister didn’t complain about the car but one night, she called, asking me to pick her up. I asked her: Why do you need me to fetch you? You took the car today, didn’t you?”
She was reluctant to tell me but it turned out she’d been having trouble with the car for a while – the engine would shut down at traffic lights and once the car even stopped moving at a roundabout.
I began fearing for her life. What if something happened, especially at night?
I’m going to be honest – I don’t often go out of my way to please people outside of work. I’m also not the kind to make major decisions like buying a new car.
But on my next trip home, a recent visit to celebrate Christmas with my family, I put together a plan to fulfil a dream: To buy my selfless sister a new car.
It was a short trip – just a little more than a week – so I had to be nimble and persistent. Upon my return to Ipoh, I arranged for the same dealer who helped me buy my first car to take me to the showroom. I insisted he put together a financing plan and deliver the car before I left for Singapore.
He was initially reluctant to commit – it typically takes two weeks for a loan request to be processed – but he kindly obliged.
Maria Savirimuthu posing with the new car she bought for her sister Grace in Ipoh. (Photo: Maria Savirimuthu)
The day before I was due to return to Singapore, I drove my old car a distance from home and he met me there with the new car. We swapped vehicles and I drove the brand new car home. I’d wanted the old car to be scrapped but he convinced me to make some repairs and sell it cheaply to an underprivileged family instead.
When I got to the place my sister and I shared, I honked so that she would come out to see who it was.
You should have seen her face. She was so confused. Whose car was this and why was I climbing out of the driver’s seat? Where was the old car?
When she found out I’d bought the car for her, she was shocked. She was also understandably flabbergasted that I’d gotten rid of the old car.
I just told her the car had been sold off. I knew for a while that she’d been thinking about buying a new car but didn’t know how she would maintain the monthly instalments.
She didn’t know how to thank me – despite her being my closest sibling – but I found out later from friends how grateful she was. They thought she was blessed to have a caring younger sister. The truth is, she’s sacrificed a lot for the family.
I believe that life ultimately is a matter of sowing and reaping. People remember the good things you do for them and that’s also part of the beauty of what I do at work.
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
Marina Bay Sands’ floral supervisor Maria Savirimuthu oversees all the flower arrangements you’ll see around the hotel. (Photo: CNA)
GROWING ON THE JOB
Working at MBS has taught me a lot. I was never the kind of person who would take the initiative to really get to know my colleagues.
Before, if I met someone with characteristics I deemed negative, I would just think “aiyah, if you’re like that then you’re like that”. I wouldn’t attempt to try and understand why they behaved the way they did.
But now, I know better, especially when it comes to human behaviour.
Everyone is born and raised in a different environment. Not everyone enjoys a smooth-sailing life. I’ve since learned, through leadership training, not just to accept people for who they are but to also approach them, and ask how life has been treating them. Maybe in front of us they put on a brave face, but things are unpleasant at home. So I check in.
And along the way, I’ve learned that we are all humans. Everybody’s learning, just like me.
FLOWERS ALSO NEED TO BE “OPENED UP”
To do this work, you have to be happy. If you’re unhappy, it shows up in your arrangement. If you’re stressed out, your flowers will look stressed out.
I used to think it was insane to talk to plants. Years ago, when my sister visited me at my office, she told me how her friend would talk to plants, telling them she loved them and coaxing them to stay alive and fresh.
I thought only crazy people talked to plants.
But then I noticed people who talked to their plants had the most beautiful gardens. I could never get my plants to look like theirs no matter how well I watered them, or the quality of my soil and fertilisers.
So I tried it. Once, while planning a trip that would keep me away from Singapore for two weeks, I was at a loss over what to do with my five-or-so plants, especially my ivy. Ivy needs to be kept in a cool environment. I didn’t think mine would survive very long in a hot and humid climate, much less survive being abandoned for such a long period.
My plants are in my room and of course, I had to keep my windows closed and door locked while I was away – there would be no ventilation for two weeks. But I placed them in a few inches of water and spoke to them, telling them I loved them very much and that I would return soon. I asked them to stay healthy and happy.
When I returned home, they were all fine, even the high-maintenance ivy!
Now I believe: You have to connect with your plants in order for them to thrive, which incidentally, is also how relationships thrive.
A detail of an orchid arrangement resembling MBS. (Photo: CNA)
PLAYING FLOWER GODMOTHER
What does it take to do what I do? Passion. If you’re someone who delights in the joy of others, you will be successful in this field.
Every time I see an email from a customer who wants to create something to celebrate a milestone, propose to their partner or mark an anniversary, I always get very excited. Being a part of someone’s special day is so exciting.
And when they write in later to say that whatever they’d planned was a success, that gives me so much satisfaction.
The world is a beautiful place with many options. Failures are a good thing – I truly believe in that. They not only give you a chance to learn about yourself, they also lead you to something great.
Take the example of my car. I could not afford to pay the monthly instalments. If it wasn’t for that “failure”, I would not have made the major decision to leave home and come to Singapore. If it wasn’t for the car, I wouldn’t have dreamt bigger dreams.
When you encounter failure, of course it will take time for you to overcome it, but take that as a stepping stone to invest in your life; to be a better person; to do the things you love.
Don’t let anything drag you down. Always move forward.
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...