GEORGE TOWN, Sept. 2 -- Carefully cultivated for years, orchids can cost several thousand ringgit, with award-winning blooms fetching prices as high as RM30,000.

Once found clinging to trees or growing wild on the forest floor, these delicate plants are now prized collections, admired for their dazzling variety of colours, shapes and sizes -and cared for with patience and dedication.

There are more than 300 serious collectors under the Federation of Malaya Orchid Society (Fomos), each tending to hundreds of orchids in their gardens with the devotion usually reserved for pets.

These collectors showcase their prized blooms at the annual Penang Orchid Show, which serves as a 'beauty pageant' for orchids.

"These collectors do not want to ...