The Living
ArtForm
RELAX
Misunderstood and
dismissed in the
modern era, bonsai is
an old art form that
occurs when man and
nature bond together
to form a beautiful
sculpture. We speak to
a bonsai enthusiast who
reveals many surprising
things about bonsai.
Before he became the director of Bonsai Gallery, a bonsai
garden, nine years ago, Jack Lee was a bonsai enthusiast
who enjoyed buying and keeping these works of art. He and
his father, Lee Liak Kwang, would travel overseas just to
indulge in their passion simply because the bonsai market
was almost non-existent in Singapore, save for one garden
that didn’t stock many of the varieties they wanted.
“I realised that there was a big gap in the market for bonsai
enthusiasts such as myself that I could capitalise on,” says
Jack. And so, he co-founded Bonsai Gallery together with
his father, L. K. Lee. Today, the garden welcomes people
from all walks of life, who wander in out of curiosity or
who searched for him online – Jack fondly remembers a
five-year-old boy interested in bonsai who found his garden
on the Internet and asked his parents whether they could
bring him to Bonsai Gallery.
Lest you think that only the Chinese are interested in
bonsai, Jack reveals that a large majority, “50 percent”,
of his customers are expatriates. “A big portion of them
are French!” he says. “They appreciate the beauty and
aesthetics of bonsai.” Even American television dramas
such as White Collar have featured the bonsai in the show.
Therein lies the appeal of this old art form that for so long
has been shrouded in folklore and myths – natural beauty
moulded by human hands. The first historical mention
of bonsai was from a Japanese work of fiction written in
1970 titled The Tale of the Hollow Tree: “A tree that is
left growing in its natural state is a crude thing. It is only
when it is kept close to human beings who fashion it with
loving care that its shape and style acquire the ability to
move one.”
A tree that is
left growing
in its natural
state is a
crude thing. It
is only
when it is
kept close to
human beings
who fashion
it with loving
care that its
shape and
style acquire
the ability to
move one.
26
Family & Life • Sep 2014
Contrary to popular belief, bonsai does not necessarily
have to be a miniature version of an existing plant species.
Rather, bonsai is about growing small trees from regular
stock and seeds. Some bonsai trees, though, can grow
rather large; the Bonsai Gallery has a 120-year-old
podocarpus that towers over four metres.
From Japan and China, the bonsai art form started
spreading to Europe and America in the 19th century
when the Japanese participated in various international
exhibitions and brought along the bonsai trees. At the
closing of the fairs, many of these trees found their way
into Western hands. It was only after World War II though
that the art became more accessible, penetrating deep into
the suburbs of Western neighbourhoods, thanks to a glut of
prominent bonsai exhibitions.
Jack reckons that the straightforward care one needs to
display to a bonsai plant helped to accelerate the art form’s
popularity – a bowl of water once a day, the occasional
prune and a dash of fertiliser once a month. “It’s a simple
hobby and is also rather therapeutic, especially for the
older people in the family. Take for example my Dad who
is turning 70 soon, yet who is still very healthy. Taking care
of the bonsai plants actually keep his mind sharp and his
body active,” says Jack.
Bonsai plants are also incredibly hardy, even hardier than
cactus according to Jack. And while bonsai used to attract
an older crowd, Jack now reports welcoming younger and
younger customers. The average age of his buyers range
between 20- and 30-years-old. All of his customers have
also become his friends as they repeatedly come back for
help and advice to extend their plants’ longevity; bonsai
plants are a long-term investment and can outlive most
people – one of the oldest-known living bonsai trees is over
1,000 years old and can be found within the confines of the
Mansei-en bonsai nursery in Omiya, Japan.
Bonsai Gallery, which recently won a silver medal at a
2014 bonsai competition, is the only garden to sell the
Ponamella, a species that can last for up to six months
without sunlight, making it ideal for homes and