Staying up all night, orchid arrangers earn a lot of money during Tet
(Baonghean.vn) - Starting from December, stalls selling Phalaenopsis orchids in Vinh city have been bustling with buying and selling. Orchid growers are busy day and night shaping and potting orchids to serve customers. In return, there are skilled workers who earn tens of millions each day from this seasonal job...
For the past ten years, people have been very fond of Phalaenopsis orchids for Tet. Because in addition to their bright, eye-catching colors and high durability, each orchid pot is a work of art arranged by the hands of flower arrangers. Starting from December, the Phalaenopsis orchid market in Vinh city has been very active. Therefore, orchid arrangers have been working tirelessly.
Most of the orchid workers come from Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Hanoi, and Thanh Hoa to Vinh according to the agreement between the flower sellers. Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, owner of 3 Phalaenopsis orchid shops in Vinh, said: “This year, I have to hire 10 main workers and 20 assistant workers to arrange orchids according to customers' requests. Every year, I hire workers from Hue and Da Lat. This year, I found workers in Thanh Hoa and Hanoi. The main workers' wages are calculated based on the branches they arrange, each branch ranges from 20,000 to 30,000 VND; assistant workers are calculated based on the working day or product.”
According to Ms. Thuy, some main workers earn 3-5 million VND/day depending on their productivity. Some workers earn hundreds of millions of VND during the Tet orchid season alone (lasting about 15-20 days).
From Thanh Hoa to Nghe An to tie orchids for Ms. Thuy's Phalaenopsis orchid business, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (from Thanh Hoa) said: "Last Tet, within 15 days of working at full capacity, I earned nearly 100 million VND in wages from tying orchids. On peak days, I could tie 200-300 pots into pots, driftwood, bamboo... Each pot was paid 20,000 VND, which means I "pocketed" 5-6 million VND/day".
According to Mr. Hai, orchid arranging is a seasonal job that “makes money” but the arranger must have creativity, high artistic thinking, knowledge of orchids, knowledge of feng shui… In particular, the worker must be patient, meticulous and careful in his work. To arrange a beautiful orchid pot takes a lot of effort.
“Each craftsman has his own way of arranging flowers, depending on the taste and requirements of the customer. However, it must meet the standards of color, symmetry, feng shui, and the meaning of the shape. Depending on the different materials (ceramic pots, driftwood or bamboo stems...), there are different ways of arranging flowers,” said Mr. Hai.
From the full moon of December onwards, the Phalaenopsis orchid market begins to bustle, people buy a lot of orchids to display for Tet, so orchid arrangers have to work at full capacity, racing against time, sometimes having to work through the night.
Mr. Nguyen Tran Xuan, an orchid arranger from Da Lat, said: “This is the 5th year I have come to Vinh to arrange orchids for Phalaenopsis orchid shop owners. This Tet season, I have agreed to arrange orchids for 3 establishments in Vinh. Every day, I arrange an average of 200 orchid pots, receiving 5 million VND in wages, and the owner provides all meals and accommodation.
But, to “pocket” 5 million VND, I have to work 20 hours a day. To complete the product on time for delivery, it is normal for the orchid making process to last until 1-2am.”
As Tet approaches, the demand for orchids increases, so orchid arrangers are busier. Due to the large amount of work, the arrangers have to work at full capacity, be quick with their hands and eyes, but still have to be meticulous and careful with every detail.
“These past few days, the weather has been sunny and warm, which is fine. Last week, it was very cold. I came from Saigon, not used to the weather, and had to work hard, so I was very tired. Orchid arrangers like us are creative people, so we need quiet. At night, there are fewer customers coming to see the flowers, so we can focus more on our work. Therefore, we only sleep about 3-4 hours every night,” said Nguyen Nhat Quang, an orchid arranger from Saigon.
Hard work, but this seasonal job has brought high income to orchid weavers. Currently, in Vinh city, there are dozens of large-scale establishments selling Phalaenopsis orchids, importing flowers from Da Lat, China and hiring weavers according to customers' requests, accordingly, there are hundreds of orchid weavers in the "money-making" season, most of them are workers from other provinces.
