Earn 5-7 million/day, is the Tet orchid arranging job 'easy'?

PROFESSION WITHOUT A DEGREE

Born in 2002, although only 19 years old, Nguyen Viet The (Ha Tinh) has spent 3 Tet seasons working as an orchid arranger. The started his career as a flower arranger when he was not yet 16 years old, after graduating from secondary school. “My academic performance was not good, and I wanted to work to help my parents early, so I dropped out of school and went to Hanoi to work at a flower shop. During my time working here, I realized that I liked this job and decided to use all my salary to pay for tuition and study this profession properly,” The confided.

To have fast orchid plugging speed, Viet The believes that the worker needs to have technique, concentration and pre-visualization of the product. Photo: DT

According to Thế, each orchid arranging course in particular and flower arranging in general has a tuition fee of 15-25 million VND for 15-30 days of study. During that time, students will both help out and learn the trade. Considered to be talented, Thế learned quite quickly and mastered the job after only about 10 days of study. Thế is currently working for a flower shop and can take advantage of working extra shifts in the evening or on holidays at other stores. With a salary of 15,000 VND/orchid branch, Thế can earn an additional 1.5 million VND in 3 hours.

Photo: DT

With no qualifications or formal training, Mr. Dinh Van Quynh (Ben Tre) - an orchid arranger has built his name solely on the dexterity of his hands. Every year, theNovember of the lunar calendarHe and his group of friends went to Vinh to plant orchids for hire. He shared: “I have been doing this job for 5 years now, and before I also charged 15,000 VND/branch, but now I have more skills and more people hire me, so they pay me 25,000 VND/branch. Working about 20 days before Tet, each person will have about20 - 25 million VND”. Although the cost is higher, on average it takes Mr. Quynh about 1 hour to arrange 10 flowers and the most time is spent choosing the flowers.

Besides short-term training courses, many amateur orchid growers learn their skills by observing and researching on the internet. Photo: DT

Although they do not have degrees, at least The and Quynh have both gone through training courses to become craftsmen. As for Nguyen Thi Lan (Ha Huy Tap ward), knowledge of the profession is accumulated only from observation and imitation skills. Lan smiled: "I used to work in the business of selling offerings and flowers for the Full Moon Festival. A few years ago, I went to arrange Tet flowers for hire, and I observed how others did it, so I did it myself. When I got home, I opened YouTube to watch and imitate. I felt I was good at the job, so this year I bought 500 cups of orchids to sell." According to Lan, knowing how to arrange orchids is not difficult, but to arrange them beautifully, the craftsman must have aesthetic thinking and dexterity.

PASSION IS NEEDED

With the diverse needs of customers, orchid pots are arranged in all kinds, from small pots for tables to large pots displayed in the lobby, from elegant 1-color pots to bright 5-color pots, from 1-layer flower pots to 3-4-layer flower pots... Not only that, the flower pots are also attached with themes such as "Success", "Wealth", "Prosperity", "Smooth sailing"... to attract customers.

Orchids are arranged in a variety of ways according to customers' needs in terms of price, type, theme... Photo: DT

To arrange an orchid pot, the craftsman will rely on what he has and the customer's requirements, from there think about the overall shape, layout, color... to suit. The first step will be to stuff foam into the pot to create the height for each layer of flowers. After reaching a reasonable pot bottom height, the craftsman will use a thin wooden stick to pin the orchid cups tightly to the foam. From the pots, flexible metal bars will be inserted to shape the orchid branches. Attached together with small crab clips or thin wires, the orchid branches will stand up or fall down depending on the shape of the metal bar. The "make up" stage will be the final stage. The craftsman will use decorative materials to cleverly cover up the unsightly spots and make the orchid pot more lively, more cheerful and more closely related to the Tet theme... With works of arranging orchids on driftwood, it is even more elaborate and requires higher techniques.

Temporary living and working place of a group of orchid growers in the South. Photo: DT

The job of arranging orchids, especially large pots of orchids, requires the worker to stand continuously for many hours, the body is often in tiring positions such as stretching, raising the head, bending, stooping... Therefore, health and flexibility are an advantage for those who want to do this job. For orchid arrangersTet, peak days mean not eating on time, not sleeping on time, not even having time to eat and drink. "Even though it's cold and rainy and there are many mosquitoes, we still set up a tarp to sleep right at the store for convenience. Usually, people will go to bed exhausted" - Mr. Dinh Van Quynh pointed to the bed made from simple planks, confided.

Orchid arranging during Tet has a high income but the worker needs to have passion and learn the profession. Photo: DT

Only by witnessing the orchid arranger can one understand that, compared to the effort put in, the income from this job is not as "profitable" as people think. Caressing his hands full of calluses and scars, Nguyen Viet The confided: "The job of arranging orchids for Tet is seasonal, but to stick with it until the end, you need passion. I'm glad I found it early.passionof mine and will be determined to pursue it to become a famous florist".