Classical feng shui belief dictates that there are no benefits from having a cactus plant inside your home or the office.
The prickly plant is said to be a hotbed of negative energy, emanating ‘poisonous arrows’ from its spiky appendages in all directions.
Silver couple Lee Kee Boon, 70, and his wife Lim Kiat Har, 61, beg to differ.
Apart from the 30 potted cacti in their home, they’ve also been rearing the spiky plant in the thousands at a 0.2-hectare farm in Sungei Tengah since 1996.
They make their money by selling the plants wholesale to other plant shops, while selling their more prized varietals retail at pop-up events.
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According to the bubbly Kiat Har (speaking on behalf of her stoic, but smiley, hubby), married life has been made all the sweeter thanks to The Glass Garden; a name inspired by the hard plastic sheets shielding the farm’s precious thorny flora from the elements.
"Our children are grown up and have all graduated and found good jobs. So if you ask me, what’s there to be pantang (Malay for "taboo") about cacti?
"Not that I’m complaining – we get to work together every day, in the sun and fresh air using our hands to make a living."
While in some cases familiarity may breed contempt, with Kee Boon and Kiat Har, it’s quite the opposite.
"People always ask me why I call him my sweetheart. I’m not paiseh (Hokkien for ‘embarrassed’) about it. I call him sweetheart because I still have a chance to call him that!"
Not horticulturalists by trade
Despite their green fingers today, the couple never started out as horticulturalists by trade.
Kee Boon was a fish farmer before moving into construction, while Kiat Har worked at her dad’s travel company and mum’s minimart.
Unique cultivars available at The Glass Garden
The green-fingered duo initially set up shop in a Johor Bahru plantation circa 1988, back when it was still possible to own land in Malaysia as a foreigner.
The cactus, which were already Kee Boon’s interest during his days at the fish farm, was the plant of choice for the most practical of reasons.
"It’s only the two of us – if we had to water them every day, we wouldn’t be able to keep up."
The hassle of shuffling back and forth every weekend eventually drove the couple to shift operations to Singapore, where they’ve remained to this day. Cacti, however, remained their cash crop.
By then, the couple had accrued enough experience to begin cultivating specimens with unique hues and patterns using a combination of selective breeding, propagation and random mutations that occur between generations.
While most of their run-of-the-mill plants can be had for $20 or below, their most highly prized “Toufu” cactus – which Kiat Har says is unique to The Glass Garden – retails for a cool $120.
Farming keeps them healthy
Kee Boon used to work from about 5am to 5pm daily, with Kiat Har joining when she could, while juggling other duties like raising three children. The couple have since scaled back their operations.
They’re at The Glass Garden from the morning to the early afternoon – just enough time to water the cacti, spray a little organic pesticide (made from a concoction of herbs) and get rid of some weeds.
Still, the activity is enough to keep both silvers spry and in the pink of health.
There’s no certainty how long they’ll be able to keep operating, as the lease at their current location ends in less than four years.
