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Further to Colin Hamilton's comments, Teoh Eng Soon in his book "A Joy Forever - Vanda Miss Joaquim:
Singapore's National Flower" [1982 - Times Books International - ISBN 9971 65
113 0] wrote:
Page 12:
"A Deserving Choice
Though it is not ensconced in any myth or legend, no orchid is
more worthy of being Singapore's national flower than the Vanda Miss
Joaquim. It is the oldest, and the sole, indigenous natural hybrid. Like a
typical Singaporean, its ancestral roots are foreign, yet it is totally at home
in Singapore, adapted to the equatorial, lowland climate."
Further on..
"Perhaps it may come as a surprise to some people that most of
Singapore's native orchid species have insignificant, evanescent flowers (the
exception being the giant orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum which is extremely
rare)."
Page 4:
"Vanda Miss Joaquim has been known by various names: Miss
Joaquim, the "Wah-Kim" orchid, Vanda Agnes Joaquim, and the Princess Aloha
Orchid. On April 15, 1981, it became the national flower of Singapore
following an announcement by the Minister for Culture, S.
Dhanabalan.
Its proper name is Vanda Miss Joaquim, the national flower
being the variety Agnes.
According to the Minister for Culture the designation of
national flower was "part of an overall effort to foster national pride and
identity". After years of deliberation, a national committee comprising
representatives from the Ministry of Culture, the Parks and Recreation
Department, the Singaporean Tourist Promotion Board, The Singapore Institute of
Standards and Industrial Research and the Orchid Society of South-East Asia
chose Vanda Miss Joaquim from 40 other contenders, including some thirty
orchids, "because of its resilience and year-round blooming
quality".
This did not come as a surprise. A tour of the Singapore
Botanic Gardens will show that many of the flowering shrubs are not
indigenous. Malaysia had already chosen the beautiful hibiscus as its
national flower, while the Philippines selected the fragrant jasmine, Sampaguita
(Jasminum sambac). The Thai national flower is yellow sassia. In this part
of the world, Singapore has been the trend setter in orchids for nearly a
century and it hosted the Fourth World Orchid Conference in 1963. What was
more logical than to have an orchid for its national flower?"
Cheers
John
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