Crazy Rich Asians' florist showcases live work for the first time in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA (Oct 6): Over 150 people showed up to watch Amtrol Flower Designing principal Eunice Teo perform live demonstrations of her floral creations that graced the set of Hollywood blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians at the “Crazy Rich Asians is Crazy Flower Power” event here today.

Eunice who is an American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD)-certified florist presented 15 floral arrangements — 14 of which were recreations of designs featured in the movie — while narrating the stories and significance behind each bloom and design.

One of her masterpieces is the “Tan Hua” flower as seen in during the conservatory party in the movie.

The Tan Hua is a cacti that blooms once a year at night before wilting at dawn. It is believed to bring those who witness its blossoming good luck.

After seeing how fake and plastic the artificial flowers that were originally slated to appear in the movie appeared, she rolled up her sleeves to create a more natural-looking sample.

After fine-tuning the process, she was commissioned to make 26 flowers in varying stages of bloom.

Eunice created the artificial flowers completely from scratch using parts of five types of flowers, working late at night to create the flowers in three stages of bloom for the scene.

Each flower required Teo’s full concentration — it took about four hours to make one.

"Every night I asked my daughter to switch on the Korean drama for me while I work on the flowers during the night as the during the day I was running classes and day-to-day business," Eunice said with a chuckle.

She faced plenty of drama on set as well — at one point literally scouring the streets of Singapore to track down a specific flower for a last minute arrangement she had to complete seconds before the camera rolled!

Despite the challenges in her debut journey in Hollywood, she is grateful for the opportunities.

"I am so overwhelmed and so honoured by this whole process. I have presented this overseas but this is the first time I am doing this in Malaysia" said Eunice.

In a question and answer session with EdgeProp.my managing director and editor in chief Au Foong Yee asked Eunice if her work on Crazy Rich Asians had changed her life and what was the most memorable part of her journey.

"My life hasn’t changed, now I just have to work faster. One of the three nights when I was called to be at Carcosa Seri Negara for the shooting of the [conservatory] party, my mum was admitted to the hospital. Thankfully, she is ok," Eunice shared.

She worked closely with Hollywood set designer Nelson Coates, whose video testimony was also played during the event, saying that she is the best florist he has worked with in his entire career.

Held at the Paramount Property Gallery at Section 13, PJ, the event is presented by EdgeProp.my and supported by Paramount Property.

Also present during the event was Paramount Corp Bhd chairman Datuk Teo Chiang Quan and his wife, Datin Esther Teo as well as Paramount Property Division chief operating officer Wang Chong Hwa.

Guests also took the opportunity to take photos at the first Crazy Rich Asians-themed photowall created especially for the occasion.