Ting’s life in blooms

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Ting Poh Ing

WHAT started out as a practical thought to decorate and add ambience to her late husband’s furniture showroom became, for retired teacher Ting Poh Ing, a passionate and relentless pursuit of a unique art form – an expression of the connectivity of life and Mother Nature through Ikebana floral arrangements.

In 1991, while still teaching at SMK Serian, Ting took western floral arrangement lessons in Kuching so she could decorate her late husband’s furniture showroom and help him cut costs.

Two years after completing the course, she felt, in her own words, that “I have not learnt enough; there is a lot more I can learn.”

It was then that a local floral artist, Kitty Sim, introduced her to Ikenobo, a traditional school of Ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangements.

This was
to be a beginning of a love affair that took Ting on a long, challenging but completely fulfilling journey of artistic excellence. The Ikenobo, and later the Sogetsu school of Ikebana, transformed Ting’s perception and appreciation of floral arrangements.

Working with flowers and plants enables the artist to “relate” deeply and spiritually with Mother Nature. Every arrangement is a creative expression of “life in blooms” – the artist’s perception, understanding and interpretation of life.

Bu after 50 lessons, it was an abrupt end to Ting’s pursuit of her passion when her teacher (Kitty Sim) had to emigrate to Taiwan with her family.

By now totally inspired and deeply in love with Ikenoba, Ting started a search for a teacher-master. This took her to China, the UK, and eventually in 1993, to Kuala Lumpur where, after some fruitless enquiries, she chanced upon an article in a local magazine about a Sogetsu school.

Sogetsu is a “modern” and more “liberated” form of Ikebana. Without hesitation she enrolled. Over the next six years, Ting took lessons (she could only do so during school holidays) under the guidance of a monk, the renowned Ikebana master, the late Rev Phra Wong.

 

Inspiring episode

 

It was to be an inspiring episode in Ting’s life. She started from the Elementary, moved on to Teacher Diploma 4th grade, 3rd grade, 2nd grade A & B.

The final phase of Ting’s training and development took place in Singapore under the coaching and guidance of Kazue Kato Kim, a master of the Sogetsu school of Ikebana and president of the Singapore Sogetsu Association.

Kim who was also the teacher of the late Rev Wong, took Ting under her wings upon the recommendation of the latter, for he found an “exceptional flair for floral arrangements” in this little known teacher from Sarawak.

After two years of further training and exposure, Ting finally obtained the “Somu” which is Teacher Diploma Grade 1. She is believed to be the first Sarawkian to achieve that distinction.

Since then, she has been a frequent participant in various international Ikebana exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Singapore.

Ting seldom takes part in competitions but in Dec,1999, she joined the Western and Eastern categories of the 2nd BIMP-EAGA Floral Arrangement Competition. The event was organised by Kuching City and saw entries from Brunei, Indonesia, the Phillipines, and Malaysia.

Ting took the first prize in both categories (she didn’t participate in a third – the Local Category) and she was also judged overall champion of the whole competition.

Ting lives in Serian with her two boys. She does floral arrangements and is still pursuing lessons in Ikenobo.

WINNERS: Ting’s prize-winning floral arrangements