Let’s take this opportunity to know more about the new Community in Bloom Ambassadors! For a start, I shall share with all readers of this blog the detailed profiles of Mr Albert Quek and Mdm Gina Ong…
Mr Albert Quek
Mr Albert Quek, 46, is the founder and facilitator of Gardening club, Yokogawa Engineering Asia Pte Ltd). Albert is very passionate about gardening and his DIY vertical garden. His willingness to share his ideas has benefited many community gardening groups and homeowners in their gardening projects. His efforts helped spread the gardening bug to other local and multi-national corporations to convince them that gardening is fun and worthwhile activity for staff.
He has helped facilitate community gardening projects through conducting gardening talks and sharing his experiences with start up gardening groups. He also cconducted garden visits and show & tell for staff of other MNC’s and foreign visitors, to the garden at Yokogawa premises. Albert also invented the DIY Vertical garden that inspired homeowners to garden in their limited apartment spaces. He willingly shared his innovative idea to members of the public through talks at HortPark and Libraries, setting up and maintaining a demonstration of his DIY vertical garden at HortPark, and taking part in the Singapore Garden Festival. He also contributed several articles to local and foreign media and publications to share his DIY vertical garden, including Straits Times, Lian He Zao Bao, Asia Pacific Times, Trubus Magazine (Indonesia), AFP, etc. He also helped the Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden Corporation in Hong Kong to set up its own DIY vertical garden.
Albert’s Quote: ‘Gardening is a real stress buster; it gives us a break from the rush of life!’
Mdm Gina Ong Liat Wah
Mdm Gina Ong Liat Wah, 50, is the leader of Laguna Park Condominium gardening club, as well as, founder & member of Marine Crescent Ville Resident’s Committee gardening club.
Gina has consistently promoted and created awareness through organising gardening roadshows at national events such as Singapore Garden Festival, Clean & Green Singapore Launch and GardenTech and grassroots events. She put in a lot of effort to ensure that her gardening booths are creatively done and attractive to visitors. This includes giving out free plants and seeds, and interacting with visitors. Gina spent time and effort to conduct garden tours and show & tell for members of the public, and foreign visitors to her gardens at Laguna Park Condo and Marine Crescent.
She has helped to galvanise and lead her neighbours at Marine Crescent Ville and Laguna Park Condominium to plant and sustain their own Award-winning gardening projects, allowing them to experience the joy of gardening. The two gardens are used as fine examples for others to model after. In addition, her creativity and sheer enthusiasm has helped win over many others to also embark on gardening.
Gina’s Quote: ‘The joy and satisfaction of being able to harvest fresh herbs and vegetables for our own cooking, and flowers for our table setting is simply fantastic! I wish for others to experience that too.’
