Yesterday an ex flatmate asked if I knew the hostel he stayed before was to be demolished. I couldn't confirm this news, and this brought me back to 1978 and this lantana bush that was growing near our flat.
The name is Lantana. originally from Mexico. In Malaysia and Singapore, the common name is Bunga Tahi Ayam or in Cantonese, KAI SEE FA, both meaning Chicken Shit Flower.
I remember this with fond memories of my flatmate of two years, G. from Penang.
One summer, her parents and sister came to visit her. The sister went to pluck this pretty flower outside the garden to put as a centre piece on the dining table. We were have a big feast cooked by Grace's mum.
Then she said," CHOW! CHOW!" meaning smelly. She had to take a shower becuse she felt smelly all over. Even then, she still felt smelly.
As for the bunch of flowers, needless to say, it was thrown as far as we possibly could.
And the food, we waited for the bad smell to dissipate before we ate them.
When I was living on the campus of Nanyang University, I was the secertary od the gardening club and had a online gardening journal. I wrote about why people would want to plant this KAI SEE FA. There was a bush in NTU.
In Australia, Lantana is a obnoxious weed, and there is a lot of studies devoted to this plant.
http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.co.nz/
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