A Singaporean TikToker was shocked to see chrysanthemum flowers on sale as Mother’s Day gifts in Australia, sharing with her audience that the same flowers are often used in Chinese funerals.
“I found the bai bai hua in Australia,” said TikToker @bombiibii in a video posted on Thursday (May 5).
“But who is this flower for or not?” she continued.
The TikToker then lifted one of the bouquets on sale and revealed it was for Mother’s Day.
“And it’s all the different breeds of the bai bai hua,” she added.
Members of the online community agreed that people come from different cultures, although one should not risk mixing some practices across cultures, such as giving the same flower to an Asian parent.
“I can’t imagine if we give it to Asian mom,” wrote a netizen.
“If given to Asian mom or dad hahaha we are gonna be bai bai for real,” wrote TikTok user @av.akaru, the comment getting over 1,370 likes.
TikTok user @Daniel shared his close call of almost giving the same flowers to his girlfriend. “I didn’t know these flowers were for prayers, and I almost bought it hahahaha thank god the florist saved me,” he wrote.
“Different countries, different beliefs. Just respect them,” reminded a commenter, with another netizen clarifying that “chrysanthemum” had the word “mum” in it; hence it is a popular gift for the special day.
Tiktok user @5amflowers even added that chrysanthemums are beautiful and used by brides overseas.
“In Malaysia, we will buy the flower for funeral and prayers,” wrote TikTok user @Kausy. “Also for dining table deco laa.” /TISG
@bombiibii 😳😳😳
Totally unacceptable: Asian university students given ang paos with hell money for CNY