SINGAPORE: Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia and China have agreed on a single draft document that will be the basis of negotiations on a South China Sea code of conduct.
This was announced by Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday (Aug 2) at the start of an annual ministerial meeting between China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Besides being the ASEAN chair this year, Singapore is the country coordinator of ASEAN-China dialogue relations.
China has overlapping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea with several ASEAN members, including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Negotiations on the code of conduct began in March, and both sides arrived at the first draft during talks held two months ago at China’s Changsha city, said Dr Balakrishnan.
Calling it “yet another milestone”, the minister said the single draft negotiating text will be a “living document and the basis of future code of conduct negotiations”. Both sides also agreed on the key modalities for future rounds of negotiations.
Dr Balakrishnan, who is the co-chair of Thursday’s meeting, said ASEAN-China cooperation have “had a good run” over the past three years.
Relations have been underpinned by robust economic linkages, he said.
China has been ASEAN’s top trading partner for eight consecutive years, while the regional grouping’s free trade agreement (FTA) with China was upgraded in 2015.
Both sides have a joint target of US$1 trillion in trade and US$150 billion in investment by 2020.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan speaking at the event on Thursday (Jul 2). (Photo: ASEAN2018 Organising Committee)
ASEAN and China have also renewed their commitment to expedite negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), as part of efforts to promote economic integration and trade liberalisation.
There was also close cooperation in other areas, including anti-corruption, connectivity, education, human resource development, science and technology.
However, Dr Balakrishnan said such “strong and substantive cooperation is only possible with mutual trust and confidence”.
“Where there are disagreements from time to time, the key is to seek out common ground, focus on practical cooperation and resolve differences peacefully and in the spirit of goodwill,” he said.
These include efforts by the ASEAN member states and China to work towards a full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea, as well as an early conclusion of an effective code of conduct.
The DOC was inked in 2002, calling for disputes to be managed by peaceful means and in accordance with international law, but ASEAN and China have been seeking to make progress on that declaration with a code of conduct.
In 2016, both sides also adopted a code for unplanned encounters in the South China Sea, followed by the operationalisation of an emergency hotline for maritime emergencies in the vital waterway in 2017.
“China is one of ASEAN’s most substantive dialogue partners,” said Dr Balakrishnan. “All in all, ASEAN-China cooperation has enjoyed a very good run over the last three years but there is much more to be done.”
For instance, officials on Thursday will endorse a statement for a vision that outlines the broad and strategic overview of cooperation between ASEAN and China until 2030.
“We look forward to the leaders adopting this statement at the 21st ASEAN-China Summit in November 2018,” the minister said.
Singapore will hand over the coordinatorship to the Philippines after Thursday’s meeting, which is held as part of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and related meetings under way at the Singapore Expo this week.
SINGAPORE: The man suspected of trying to rob a pawn shop while wearing a pink turban is a Bangladesh national who overstayed, the police said on Thursday (Aug 2).
Sheikh Md Razan, 29, allegedly tried to rob the shop near Boon Lay MRT station last Saturday.
He later went to an HDB block in Jurong West and left his items in a backpack among potted plants outside a resident’s home. A few hours after the incident, the resident noticed the backpack and alerted the police.
This led the police to get a clearer picture of what the suspect looked like, the police said during a press conference on Thursday.
Razan, who was working as a construction worker previously, and had overstayed since December last year, was arrested on Wednesday along Muscat Street at about 7pm.
Deputy Commissioner of Police and director of the Criminal Investigation Department Florence Chua said the suspect was surprised when he was caught.
The suspect’s backpack and the pink turban he used to disguise himself were among items seized by the police. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)
“He didn’t think we had caught on to his disguise,” she said.
Razan is accused of entering a ValueMax pawn shop outside Boon Lay MRT station at about 4.30pm last Saturday, armed with a knife and a gun assembled with plastic parts, and demanding that an employee hand over cash and jewellery.
When the employee refused, Razan allegedly said he had an explosive device and would blow up the shop. He fled the scene after throwing an object on the counter.
Investigations found that the object only contained some electrical components, authorities had said on Saturday.
A knife and a “bomb” the suspect used to threaten the employee at the pawn shop. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)
The incident prompted the closure of exit C of the MRT station near Jurong Point mall.
The pedestrian square near Jurong Point and several shops were also cordoned off. Police officers could be seen walking in and out of the shop to take photos.
After the incident, police appealed to the public for information on the suspect, whom they described as 1.75m tall and wearing a pink turban, blue jacket and long brown pants.
Razan was taken to the scene of the crime by the police on Thursday afternoon. He is expected to be charged in court on Friday.
The feature will create a listing of jobs pulled from more than 1,500 sites including Government job matching portal MyCareersFuture and recruitment agency Randstad.
A logo is pictured at Google’s European Engineering Center in Zurich, Switzerland July 19, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
(Updated: )
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: For those seeking new career opportunities, another job search tool is now available at your disposal: Google for Jobs in Singapore.
Launched on Thursday (Aug 2), the feature, which is directly built into Google Search, sees job listings pulled from more than 1,500 sites including MyCareersFuture.sg, FastJobs, JobsCentral, LinkedIn, Monster, Payscale and Randstad.
When users perform a search for job roles or skills, a special module will pop out to display a snapshot of the positions available including information like when and where they were posted.
The module can be expanded to display more information such as location, whether it is full-time or part-time, and links to reviews and ratings of the employer gleaned from Glassdoor and Payscale.
However, job seekers will have to apply directly through the website that first posted the position.
“There’s a clear need from Singaporeans to be able to go online to find a job. Job seekers already turn to Google Search when they’re looking for a job, and in the past year we’ve seen 14 per cent growth in mobile searches for jobs and career queries compared to the previous year,” said MsJoy Xi, product manager atGoogle Search.
The feature, which works on both desktop and mobile, was introduced in the United States in 2017.
The launch in Singapore is its first in Southeast Asia.
SINGAPORE: A 34-year-old man was fined S$12,800 for illegally importing and keeping tarantulas in his home after he was caught at Tuas checkpoint with six live tarantulas in a sling bag.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a joint press release on Wednesday (Aug 1) that when stopped at the checkpoint for checks on Jan 4, Tam Jiaming told an ICA officer that he had nothing to declare.
However, the officer found six live tarantulas, kept individually in containers, in a sling bag in the rear passenger seat.
The live tarantulas were hidden in a sling bag. (Photo: ICA)
In follow-up investigations at Tam’s house, AVA found and seized another 92 tarantulas.
Tarantulas are not approved to be kept as pets in Singapore.
Some of the tarantulas were species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the agencies said. The spiders have since been placed under the care of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
AVA said in the statement that demand for wild animals such as tarantulas would fuel illegal wildlife trade, which severely impacts the wild populations of numerous species.
“Wildlife are not suitable pets as some may transmit zoonotic diseases to humans and pose a public safety risk if mishandled or if they escape into our dense urban environment,” it said. “Non-native animals may also be a threat to our biodiversity if released into the environment.”
For keeping and trading illegal wildlife, offenders can be fined up to S$1,000 and have to forfeit the animals.
Importation, possession or sale of any CITES-protected species without CITES permits is also an offence punishable with a fine of up to S$50,000 per CITES-listed animal – to a maximum total S$500,000 – and up to two years’ imprisonment.
If the animals were subjected to unnecessary suffering or pain, those convicted may be liable to an addition fine of up to S$10,000 and up to 12 months in jail.
SINGAPORE: Disguised as a Sikh in a turban, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi national who was staying here illegally attempted to rob a pawn shop outside Boon Lay MRT station last Saturday (Jul 28).
He later went to an HDB block in Jurong West and left his items in a backpack among potted plants outside a resident’s home. A few hours after the incident, the resident noticed the backpack and alerted the police.
This led the police to get a clearer picture of what he looked like, the police said during a press conference on Thursday.
The man, who was working as a construction worker previously, and had overstayed since December last year, was arrested on Wednesday along Muscat Street at about 7pm.
Deputy Commissioner of Police and director of the Criminal Investigation Department Florence Chua said the suspect was quite surprised when he was caught.
The suspect’s backpack and the pink turban he used to disguise himself were among items seized by the police. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)
“He didn’t think we had caught on to his disguise,” she said.
The man had entered a ValueMax pawn shop outside Boon Lay MRT station at about 4.30pm, armed with a knife and a gun assembled with plastic parts, and demanded that an employee hand over cash and jewellery.
When the employee refused, the man allegedly said he would blow up the shop, claiming he had an explosive device. He fled the scene after throwing an object on the counter.
Investigations found that the object only contained some electrical components, authorities had said on Saturday.
A knife and a “bomb” the suspect used to threaten the employee at the pawn shop. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)
The incident prompted the closure of exit C of the MRT station near Jurong Point mall.
The pedestrian square near Jurong Point and several shops were also cordoned off. Police officers could be seen walking in and out of the shop to take photos.
After the incident, police appealed to the public for information on the suspect, who they described as 1.75m tall and wearing a pink turban, blue jacket and long brown pants.
The suspect is expected to be charged in court on Friday.
SINGAPORE: “We are slow,” EZ-Link CEO Nicholas Lee said, straight-faced, when asked if the company is trailing market competitors in being innovative.
In an interview with Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday (Jul 31), Mr Lee said it has been hard work to get the electronic payment system provider to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive marketplace, where it was once the market leader together with NETS.
EZ-Link, set up in April 2002 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority (LTA), was not able to press home its market advantage.
Today, a whole host of competitors, ranging from tech giants like Apple, Google, Alibaba and Tencent on the mobile payments end of the spectrum to service providers like Grab and Carousell with their own digital wallets, generate the buzz in the e-payments space. Banks like DBS, OCBC and UOB also offer their own products.
LIMITED BY LEGACY INFRASTRUCTURE
It’s not something that has gone unnoticed by the company. Mr Lee said, candidly, that its efforts to modernise its offerings – including the ability to top up an ez-link card using its mobile app – has been somewhat limited by an infrastructure developed more than a decade ago.
For instance, the Contactless e-Purse Application, more commonly known today as CEPAS, was introduced as a standard for e-payments by the-then SPRING Singapore in January 2006 and EZ-Link was the first company to adopt and sell CEPAS-compliant cards in 2008.
However, the CEO pointed out that CEPAS was developed as an offline stored value wallet, and the dollar value stored is linked to the SIM embedded in the card. This means it’s not possible to offer the convenience and ease of use provided by other rival mobile payment options from Apple and Google, and more recently, NETS.
Instead, what it has today is giving consumers the ability to top up their ez-link cards via its EZ-Link mobile app. And it is keen to highlight efforts to make the user experience appealing for commuters.
The EZ-Reload service via the EZ-Link mobile app allows commuters to top up their stored value cards by tapping their Android smartphones. (Photo: EZ-Link)
Mr Lee said the activation of one’s ez-link account on the app has been shortened and, for Android smartphone users, they can top up their cards with their mobile devices and without having to visit a general ticketing machine.
“It’s not ideal (to still need the physical card for top ups), but we work with what we’ve got,” Mr Lee said.
System limitations aside, external factors are also making its efforts to remain relevant a challenge.
For instance, LTA’s account-based ticketing pilot which took off with Mastercard as partner in July 2016, would appear to make the need for ez-link cards for transport increasingly unnecessary. The initiative allowed Mastercard holders to tap their contactless credit and debit cards to pay for train and bus journeys and track their fares via an app or portal. Visa and NETS came on onboard in June this year after “encouraging” pilot results.
LTA has also trialed the use of mobile payment – specifically Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay – with a select group of Mastercard users since March this year.
When asked if account-based ticketing will make ez-link cards redundant for commuters, Mr Lee maintained that it does not.
“We will still have space to play in,” he elaborated. “There will always be people who aren’t comfortable having credit cards as well as those holding concession cards.
“There will always be a need.”
Commuters may soon be able to use their mobile phones to pay for public transport as part of a trial by LTA. (Photo: TODAY)
“WE ARE NOT HERE TO COMPETE”
The company, he said, has been embarking on a digital push, in terms of making things more seamless and quicker. These include tying up with NTUC and its LinkPoints rewards programme, as well as mobile virtual network operator Circles.Life . It has also introduced EZ-Pay, which enables motorists to pay for ERP fees using their credit cards.
“When we extend our ecosystem, we hope to cater to different age groups and demographics in our society,” the CEO said.
“We are not here to compete with others, but to stay relevant,” he added, saying that EZ-Link does not need to meet the needs of people at every point of their lives so long as it remains relevant at different stages and for different needs. For example, a young adult may use other payment methods for various activities but they may turn to EZ-Link for their motoring and parking needs, he said.
“We want to make sure in the whole cradle to silver (generation) journey, people remain with us and that it’s a seamless experience.”
Mr Lee also pointed to two other initiatives the company is looking at to encourage people to go cashless.
Besides cutting down the ez-link activation period from days to a mere minute, EZ-Link is also looking to do away with charging a convenience fee of 25 cents per top up via the app from August. It is already being done for DBS, POSB and Citibank account holders, but it will be extended to other banks as it wanted to “incentivise people for going cashless”, he said.
The company has also tied up with local convenience store chain Cheers to introduce loose change top ups. Consumers who receive change from their purchases there have the option of topping up their ez-link cards with the coins they will otherwise have to pocket, and for free, he explained.
This was first announced in February this year, and the service is now available at all Cheers outlets, he said.
That’s not all. The company has a roadmap extending into 2019 to digitalise its stored value card offering.
Mr Lee said his people have been migrating the systems into a cloud-based one, so consumers can create a digital wallet linked to their existing CEPAS ez-link cards. In the future, people can go to a general ticketing machine, tap their cards and convert their offline wallet to an online one. The physical card can then act as a credit card of sorts, with value that can be topped up remotely.
That, at least, is the plan.
“We want to do this, and will, but the surrounding infrastructure for public transport will have to be upgraded too,” he said.
SINGAPORE: The SingHealth cybersecurity breach that affected 1.5 million patients last week was allegedly carried out by attackers scheming to get the Prime Minister’s health information.
The breach stirred up a discussion on social media, where netizens expressed frustration and lamented that this attack should cause Singapore to rethink its Smart Nation plans.
But as the old adage in cyberspace goes:
It is not if, but when, a system gets attacked.
In our push to become a digitised and Smart Nation, cyberrisks are an inevitable hazard we must manage. As systems become more connected, they create a greater surface area— some might even say “a tempting target” — for belligerent actors to attack us.
It has thus been encouraging that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong have been steadfast and reassuring in their response, telling us that despite this setback, we must be bold and continue making strides in digitisation.
This incident is of course not isolated. As databases become more valuable, they will naturally attract the attention of hackers who wish to exploit them for commercial or political reasons.
However, hackers are also looking for the path of least resistance to achieve their objectives. To prepare ourselves, we should look at not just patching the systems at SingHealth but also identifying the sources of weakest vulnerability across the entire nation.
This breach involved data systems within a hospital. Although the details retrieved are worrying because they were personal details and information, it is hardly surprising.
People waiting for their prescriptions. (File photo: TODAY)
As independent health care security researchers Scott Erven and Shawn Merdinger has shown, this is a global problem as hospitals around the world systematically leak information due to lacklustre patching and insecure device configuration.
There is no malice in doing so, only that medical devices deployed are often optimised for usability (rightfully so), with security often as an after-thought
The most famous example of this is the pacemaker, which mimics the functions of a heart to allow an individual to survive without it. Although a significant medical breakthrough, news reports have highlighted that security was not built into the system, revealing vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to remotely alter information which could kill an individual.
Similarly, because medical professionals need to perform life-saving work that is time-sensitive, dealing with the complexities of using tech and IT may naturally be de-prioritised. In the UK, cyberattacks have halted operations of at least 16 hospitals last year, causing many industry watchers to call hospitals an “easy target”.
Even though SingHealth, and many other hospitals and healthcare providers in Singapore’s regional healthcare system, have made efforts to invest in cybersecurity measures, they are dealing with complex systems that need a lot of time to patch, and integrate into a workflow that might be at odds with how doctors work in order to optimise care for patients.
And with the National Electronic Health Records progressively rolled out since 2011, these healthcare systems involve not just doctors but nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare staff including General Practitioners, polyclinic staff, therapists and technicians, just to name a few.
According to the Ministry of Health, healthcare professionals from over 1,200 healthcare providers have access to patient records under this system as of December 2017, which is a significant attack surface if appropriate access controls are not put in place.
A doctor inspects an x-ray machine at a hospital. (Photo REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Besides hospitals, one of the most vulnerable targets is educational institutions. Due to the large amount of research and information exchange carried out at these educational institutions, they are susceptible to attacks when students and staff visit non-secure sites or click on non-secure links to retrieve information (in downloading a journal paper from a free site instead of using a subscription for instance).
In cases where professors are performing groundbreaking or politically-sensitive research, professors and students can be targeted in cases of industrial or political espionage. Harvard, for example, has been hacked multiple times due to the value of its precious research data.
Just earlier this year, four local universities reported that their systems have been compromised. Even though no concrete details were released about the hack due to operational security reasons, experts interviewed suggested that the valuable research in these universities may have great commercial value.
Given the pioneering biomedical and defence research performed in labs around Singapore, we can reasonably expect more hackers trying to probe these systems.
A researcher plants a semiconductor on an interface board placed under a microscope. (File photo: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)
NATIONAL DATABASES NEED SECURING
Other than educational institutions, one should also worry about national databases held by the Government. The Government has done a fantastic job to provide reliable databases in order to deliver better services — our e-filing tax system under IRAS, for example, is much more accurate and updated than most governments.
In the last few years, in order to push out more citizen-centric services, government agencies such as HDB and the Silver Generation Office have also worked closely with each other to share information in order to provide public services more efficiently.
While the Government probably has a rigorous process to share, use, and destroy information, every instance of information-sharing creates a potential vulnerability.
Hypothetically, for example, in the Medishield Life scheme, if CPF has to match information about our insurance policies with private sector insurers, data has to be duplicated to facilitate better working and testing, which creates an added opportunity for precious information to be stolen.
MIND YOUR LIFESTYLE APP
Finally, one of the spaces to watch is also that of lifestyle apps. Singaporeans are increasingly reliant on applications like Grab and FoodPanda in daily living.
Knowing one’s commute or eating patterns can be of immense value to a hacker — the hacker can use one’s travel history to predict what time one will be at home, or answer security questions from the bank about the dates of your last travel.
File photo of a person using the Grab app. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Fyrol)
Just last year, Uber announced that there was a massive data breach of 370,000 users in Singapore, which suggests that at least these many people in Singapore might now be susceptible to financial or commercial ransom.
As we move towards driverless cars, the situation could get more severe. As white-hat hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek famously showed us, a driverless Jeep Cheroke can be hacked remotely through its internet connection, putting the driver potentially in danger on the highway.
The growing number of hobbyists of drones could see their worst nightmare come true as their pride and joy are instead hijacked to become potential weapons or at very least instruments of mischief.
DON’T RETREAT
Risks are to be accepted and mitigated, but not be feared. Prime Minister Lee has shown astute leadership on this front, urging the country to press on with its digitisation plans.
In a digitised country like Singapore, unplugging ourselves is not the option — in cybersecurity terms, “security through obscurity” is a fool’s errand.
Instead, we should more aggressively push for companies and governments to adopt secure architecture practices, comply with international standards for data security, and enforce stringent data management standards.
As then FBI Director Robert Mueller said in 2012
There are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked, and those that will be.
The fact that we are targeted shouldn’t be cause for alarm; that it encourages us to retreat away from a digitised world, should.
Benjamin Goh is a passionate technologist and former Research Assistant to Harvard CTO James Waldo.
SINGAPORE will once again find itself at the centre of Korean diplomacy this weekend with the start of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), at which both North and South Korea’s top diplomats will be in attendance.
More than two dozen diplomats from across Asia Pacific are due to arrive in Singapore over the coming days in preparation for the forum kick off on Saturday.
One notable attendee will be North Korea, a country usually appearing on the agenda as a key regional concern.
It will be the regime’s highest profile diplomatic outing since leader Kim Jong Un met with US President Donald Trump on June 12, also in Singapore.
According to Yonhap News, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in the city state on Tuesday night.
When asked about the mood of the conference, she said it was quite different to last year’s gathering in Manila, Philippines.
At that time, North Korea was considered a major threat to regional security. Pyongyang was in the middle of an intensified series of missile tests, resulting in increasingly confrontational rhetoric between the North and the White House.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance as he visits a nursery in Kangwon Province in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 24, 2018. Source: KCNA via Reuters
The change in twelve months has been a radical one. Kim signed an agreement at the US-DPRK Singapore summit to work towards denuclearisation. And the two Koreas are working towards a formal end to the Korean War and implementing a full peace process.
After announcing in April that his nuclear ambitions had been realised, Kim has shifted his focus towards the economy of his struggling nation, visiting construction projects and potato farms rather than nuclear testing facilities.
His efforts to redirect his country’s fortunes has included a flurry of international diplomacy that has seen the young leader meet with diplomats from America, Russia, China, and South Korea in recent months.
One of North Korea’s top diplomats, Ri Yong-ho, is expected to arrive in Singapore on Friday. Given the warming ties between the two countries, it’s expected that Ri will meet with the South’s Kang on the sidelines of the one-day summit, but Pyongyang is yet to confirm the meeting.
“(We) have offered a bilateral meeting (through a diplomatic channel). There’s no response from the North Korean side yet,” a South Korean foreign ministry official said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will also be in attendance at ARF. The US is expected to urge the international community to keep up sanctions pressure against North Korea amid concerns that Kim has made little progress towards denuclearisation.
Crew and officials from the United Nations Command and U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) secure UNC flags over transit cases of remains thought to be of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, before returning them to the United States for further processing and identification, in Wonsan, North Korea, July 27, 2018. Picture taken on July 27, 2018. Source: U.S. Forces Korea/Handout via Reuters
According to US intelligence agencies, new satellite images show that Pyongyang is continuing its production of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and may be storing its nuclear warheads in hidden locations in a bid to dupe inspectors.
Following through on one promise, the regime handed over what are believed to be the remains of 55 American service members who were killed in the Korean War between 1950-53.
Initial forensic analysis on the remains show they are likely American, a US official said Wednesday.
SINGAPORE: If laksa, Hokkien mee and chilli crab are some of the things that make you proudest to be Singaporean, you’re in good company.
This year, a number of local chefs and their restaurants have chosen to celebrate National Day by offering luxuriously souped-up versions – pun intended – of favourite hawker dishes and down-home classics that celebrate Singapore’s culinary heritage.
Think Iberico Chee Cheong Fun, White Laksa made with somen, and Nasi Lemak Arancini. These are fervently embellished love poems to the country – which, happily, we diners can also taste.
WHITE LAKSA AT THE SPOT
The Spot’s White Laksa. (Photo: The Spot)
Laksa, as we know it, is a delightfully dirty dish in the best sense of the word. But at modern European restaurant The Spot, executive chef Lee Boon Seng has created a version that is “clean and white”, just like the Singapore in his mind, he said.
Faced with the impossible choice between the two versions of his favourite dish – assam laksa and Nyonya laksa – Chef Lee decided to combine their distinct flavours in one bowl, using selected ingredients from both. “And I made the choice to lighten the broth in both flavour and texture,” he said.
He explained: “I’ve followed the traditional methods of making the laksa, but adapted them to make it lighter. For example, I used chilli padi to add heat instead of sambal, which makes it less oily. Then, I foamed up the sauce. I also deliberately used a more delicate noodle – Japanese somen – and added some brighter flavours in a salsa made from pickled ginger flower, pineapple, cucumber, beansprouts and chives. I then added an extra touch of luxury with butter-poached Boston lobster.”
In addition to the White Laksa (S$42), you can also sample “Orh Luak” Oyster Omelettes (S$9 per piece) featuring salt-baked French oyster on creamy scrambled eggs.
Mixologist Drazen Alingasa is also in on the fun, offering up Kopiko (S$16), a drink of espresso and spice-infused reduced dark beer, served with a side of kaya toast; Gulamerah Sling (S$16), which mixes bandung up with gin, Cointreau and Cherry Heering; and Mr Bean (S$16), featuring soy milk and grass jelly with Famous Grouse whisky and a hint of pandan.
“Hokkien mee is one of the local dishes I cannot live without. It is one of the few things that I seriously miss and crave when I am overseas,” said chef-owner Jeremmy Chiam of French-Japanese restaurant Le Binchotan. It’s also his go-to supper food, so he’s rolling it out as part of a Supper Special, available from 9.30pm onwards.
“I would say that it is all about the broth in Hokkien mee,” he shared. “I make it in way that’s similar to how I would make lobster bisque. Stock-making is one of the fundamental techniques in French cooking, and I apply the same methodology and principles to create the stock that forms the base of my broth.” The stock is made from carrots, onions and celery. “I also use lots of premium ingredients such as lobster shells, fresh prawns and prawn shells, scallops, bacon and pork belly.” The ingredients are then simmered for 10 hours.
In addition to Hokkien mee (S$18), there’s also Chinese satay-inspired skewers of Iberico pork collar (S$17 for three skewers) marinated in gula melaka, garlic, lime, nutmeg and turmeric, grilled over Japanese binchotan charcoal and basted in French butter, served with a sauce of kicap manis with shishito, banana shallots and a dash of togarashi spice.
Top it all off with a Bubur Cha Cha cocktail (S$16, available from 6pm onwards) made with taro-infused vodka, coconut, pandan and house-made tapioca jelly chunks.
The humble chee cheong fun studded with bits of char siew is probably one of the last dishes you’d think of fancying up, but Chef Sujatha Asokan of contemporary European restaurant Botanico has chosen to do that as part of a National Day Exclusive Communal Brunch menu for Aug 9 (S$53 per person).
“To me, chee cheong fun is a dearly beloved childhood dish, and is still one of my favourite dishes for breakfast and lunch,” Chef Asokan said. “It’s so flexible – you can serve it plain, with shrimp or with pork, or even dough fritters.”
For Chef Asokan, it’s all about putting a new spin on it. “Our version has strong European elements. We’ve actually used cannelloni shells instead of the traditional rice sheets,” she explained. “The stuffing is also elevated – we’ve used Iberico pork belly cooked char siew-style with our own house-made marinade in our Inka oven. This filling is very rich and flavourful, so I serve this dish with some lightly pickled Japanese cucumber to refresh the palate.”
In addition to the Iberico chee cheong fun, the National Day brunch menu also includes dishes such as Red Bass Conchiglie in XO sauce and a cold laksa pasta with poached prawns, inari, oyster aioli and laksa leaf crumbs.
There are also special a la carte dishes from Aug 1 to 9, such as Crispy Baby Squid (S$13) with curry leaf in salted egg aioli; Stockyard Wagyu Petit Tender (S$34) featuring asam gelugur, tamarind sauce, charred leek flowers and potato terrine; and Lemongrass Panna Cotta (S$10) with ginger ice cream.
A la carte dishes are available from Aug 1 to 9, and the National Day Exclusive Communal Brunch menu is available on Aug 9.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Italian cuisine and Singaporean hawker fare had a lovechild, the special brunch menu at Italian restaurant Latteria Mozzarella Bar will satisfy your curiosity.
Start with a nasi lemak arancino, or stuffed rice ball, served with sambal aioli, move on to a chilli crab panzerotti or savoury turnover, and build up to laksa bucatini with mixed seafood piccante. End with deconstructed ice kachang or the tarik panna cotta with gula Melaka.
“The ingredients and elements I use for the menu are mostly ingredients based on local elements, while the cooking technique is based on Italian and Mediterranean cuisine,” explained head chef Sunny Tiu.
For instance, “Arancino is a dish from Sicily which is rice filled with ragu, tomato sauce and mozzarella, then coated with bread crumbs and deep fried. The rice elements of the Arancino inspired me to incorporate fragrant rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaves, and serve it with aioli flavoured homemade sambal and other side dishes.”
“The nasi lemak is cooked with the same technique used to make risotto, but I replace butter and onions with coconut cream and pandan leaves.”
As for the panzerotti, a dish typical of the region of Puglia consisting of fried dough usually filled with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, “the texture and flavour of the panzerotti are quite similar to that of a curry puff, so I was inspired to replace the usual filling with Singapore’s famous chilli crab instead,” Chef Tiu said.
At his restaurant Folklore, Eurasian-Peranakan chef Damian D’Silva is presenting a new and different set lunch every week for the month of August, with each featured dish honouring a different culture: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Peranakan and Eurasian.
The adventure kicks off with the Chinese dish of Braised Pork Trotters with Mooi Choy during the week of Jul 30 to Aug 3. The following week, there’ll be the Malay dish of Nasi Minyak with Lamb Rendang and Sayur Lodeh. Then, it’s the Indian dish of Dry Goat Curry with Briyani and Dhalcha, followed by the Peranakan dish of Nasi Ulam and the Eurasian dish of Birthday Noodles.
This weekday set menu (S$30) is for two to share and includes two desserts and locally-inspired drinks.
The dishes were chosen to showcase diversity, said Chef D’Silva, and many are family recipes. For instance, the Nasi Ulam, a rice dish of wolf herring, prawns and herbs, is made according to his maternal Peranakan grandmother’s recipe and features kaffir lime leaf, turmeric leaf, lemongrass, daun pegaga, pucuk gajus, ulam raja, kacang botol and long beans.
“Nasi Ulam is supposed to be eaten slowly as the rice releases different flavours with every chew; these can be sweet, bitter, salty and sour all at once. It is a mind blowing experience,” he said.
Eurasian Birthday Noodles, also known as Mee Anu in Cristang, is a less commonly known dish; it is eaten on birthdays to signify longevity. “Chopped garlic is fried with oil till fragrant, before pork and prawn stock are added and brought to a boil. Next, finely sliced pork tenderloin is added together with fresh peeled prawns to cook, followed by bean sprouts and egg noodles,” Chef D’Silva explained. “The dish is then cooked until the gravy has been absorbed by the noodles.”
The final garnish is thinly fried omelette that is julienned, sliced green and red chilies and Chinese parsley. “There is also a relish that is made out of cubed pineapple, cucumbers, chilies and sambal belacan that cuts the richness of the dish.”
But the Braised Pork Trotters with Mooi Choy is the dish that he remembers best from his own birthdays, when his paternal Eurasian grandfather used to make it. “I believe it’s done the Hakka way, where dry spices like star anise, cinnamon and Chinese brown cardamom are braised together with dried fungus, dried scallop, orange peel, dates, dark soya, galanghal and sand ginger on a low flame until the pork trotters are meltingly tender.”
Available from Jul 30 to Aug 31 on weekdays for lunch.
Yan’s Steamed Xiao Long Bao in Laksa Stock. (Photo: Yan)
Cantonese restaurant Yan’s annual National Day dim sum menu is getting a recharge this year with dishes like Steamed Xiao Long Bao in Laksa Stock accompanying popular favourites like Steamed Hainanese Chicken with Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf.
The laksa xiao long bao (S$5.80 for four) riffs off the well-received bak kut teh xiao long bao that they rolled out two years ago. This year, the delicate steamed dumplings feature fresh shrimp and a laksa broth prepared with house-made laksa chilli base, coconut milk and dried shrimps, said executive Chinese chef Lai Chi Sum.
On the dim sum menu, there are also dishes like Pan-fried Singapore Chilli Crab Meat Bun (S$9 for three) and Deep-fried Chicken Satay Wonton (S$6.80 for three).
But we wouldn’t blame you for hankering after the Steamed Hainanese Chicken with Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf (S$4 apiece). The glutinous rice in this dish is steamed for an hour with ginger, garlic, lemongrass and pandan leaf. Chicken thigh, which has been stir-fried with a blend of traditional chicken rice spices, is then wrapped up with the rice in a lotus leaf, which adds its fragrance to the mix, and steamed further. It’s served with dark soy sauce, house-made chilli sauce and ginger sauce.
Available from Aug 1 to 31 for lunch, 12pm to 2.30pm.
SINGAPORE: The liquidators of oBike have made “significant progress” in the removal of the company’s bicycles from public spaces, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Wednesday (Aug 1).
The bike-sharing operator had previously been given an end-July deadline by LTA to clear its abandoned bicycles from the streets, an extension of the previous deadline of Jul 4.
In response to Channel NewsAsia’s queries, the LTA said that more than 35,000 bicycles of the “estimated oBike fleet size of about 40,000 to 50,000” have been removed to date.
“Since Jul 5, 2018, the company’s provisional liquidators have made significant progress in the removal of oBike bicycles from public spaces,” said the statement.
“LTA will continue to monitor the situation closely and step in to remove the remaining bicycles should the company’s provisional liquidators fail to do so in a prompt manner.”
When Channel NewsAsia visited areas in the east of Singapore on Wednesday, there were still some oBikes left along sidewalks and at bus stops.
oBikes abandoned in Ubi seen on Aug 1, 2018, a day after the Jul 31 deadline for the company to clear its bicycles off the streets. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
LTA said the liquidators have arranged for a meeting on Thursday to address questions from oBike’s creditors on its winding up in Singapore, including on the issue of user deposits – which oBike founder Shi Yi “had personally committed on Jul 1 to provide a full refund”.
“LTA and the relevant agencies/organisations, such as PDPC and CASE, will continue working closely with the company’s provisional liquidators and oBike’s global office to ensure that oBike exits the market in a responsible manner,” LTA added.
