Ms Nicole Seah was known for being a candidate in the 2011 and 2020 General Elections (GEs), as well as her love for teh-C Kosong.
But did you know that this Workers’ Party golden girl also has very green fingers?
In an video posted by gardening hobbyist channel The Tender Gardener, Ms Seah is seen showing off her indoor garden.
From the house tour that she took viewers on, we could see that almost every corner of her abode was supplanted with a plant.
When the 33-year-old mother of one first got her own place, she wanted to fill it with house plants.
She started with “trendier plants” like Birds of Paradise and Fiddle-leaf figs, inspired by what she saw on Pinterest.
However, her foray into gardening wasn’t always smooth.
Ms Seah learned the hard way through what she termed “a very rude awakening” with her first round of houseplants, when she made the mistake of placing them in dark corners.
“I realised they couldn’t thrive that way,” she said.
She then started obtaining plants from supermarkets and Cheers.
From there, she branched deeper into different plant varieties and forms.
“I just find it very calming and soothing to look at plants,” she said.
Ms Seah initially put some plants in her living room, where they began to wilt. This prompted her to buy a light and humidity meter.
Then, she admitted to toying with the idea of building a custom-made terrarium, which initially caused her husband to panic.
Deciding to settle for a glass cabinet for now, Ms Seah put together her own makeshift terrarium.
She even installed a cheap handheld fan to give her green babies the air circulation they need.
While her plants have made progress since they were uprooted from her living room and moved into the terrarium, the aspiring gardener shared that spider mites were still an issue.
That’s not the only terrarium Ms Seah has – she has another makeshift one in another corner, this time with a transparent plastic covering.
This one has two grow lights with a shade net over them to ensure the leaves endure limited scorching.
If the air-conditioning is on, she will draw the plastic covering and imagine her plants are sitting in a rainforest setting.
Ms Seah does have a favorite plant among her selection.
When asked which is her favourite, she picked up a small pot housing a thin stem with three leaves – not very spectacular.
She even admitted that “this plant isn’t the prettiest”.
She then told the story of his little plant: It had no roots and was sold to her as a wild cutting from some rainforest.
She described how the plant “wasn’t happy” and had withered all the way down to a stem and stayed that way for months.
However, she persisted in watering it just to see if anything would change, and true enough a miracle sprouted. By that, she meant it grew a few leaves.
There’s a lesson to be learnt here, she said,
I always keep this plant to remind me that I need to be more resilient.
Things are looking up, too, as “there’s a fifth [leaf] on the way”, she said cheerfully. She must have really rooted for it.
Ms Seah also said she has started to support local growers, citing Terrascapes and Green Fingers as some of the suppliers she frequently visits.
As for what’s next on her checklist, she shares how she has gotten most of her wish list plants.
Now it’s about expanding her collection and whether she can grow them well.
You can watch the full video of her interview below:
We’re thankful to The Tender Gardener for this video, if not we wouldn’t have known about Ms Seah’s love for plants.
Now that GE2020 is over, and she won’t be an NCMP, she can take a break and spend more time tending to her plants.
But not too long, as we’re hoping to see her come GE2025.
Featured image adapted from YouTube.
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