SINGAPORE: This weekend, as dining out at restaurants finally becomes a delicious indulgence again in Singapore, James Tan is dreaming of the day he can reopen his food business.

When that day comes, however, he will not be pinning his hopes on dine-in customers — not after seeing how his mala restaurant became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 40-year-old envisions a kiosk-style takeaway joint instead, with “just a few seats” for diners. “Takeaway might be the new normal until someone finds a cure for the virus,” he said.

“With social distancing measures … let’s say you have a capacity of 50 people, but you can only seat 25. That’s cost and space wasted.”

His new plan is a far cry from what he had intended when he opened his 32-seater restaurant, Peppercorn, in 2018 — his first stab at running his own business.

With its Chinese-inspired decor meant to encourage patrons to “eat more mala tang”, the brightly lit space in Kandahar Street served up bowls of soup-based mala, made halal to cater for Muslim customers.

Tan had invested about S$150,000 in the business, with high hopes of eventually increasing his menu options and even opening other outlets. But the COVID-19 outbreak put paid to all that.

The restaurant closed its doors on April 25, during the circuit breaker. What seemed to make sense pre-pandemic, despite the challenges, no longer did in the cold light of COVID-19 days. He was crushed.

FROM CHINA TO KAMPONG GLAM

Tan first came across mala tang while working in China, doing procurement for a chemical engineering firm. “There was a stall selling it just below where I lived,” he said. “I tried it, and it was amazing.”

It stuck with him. When he returned to Singapore in 2016, after nine years in China, he resolved to open his own mala tang stall, but with a difference: He wanted to target Muslim consumers.

“There were mala shops opening all over Singapore, but they sold mainly mala xiang guo,” he said, referring to the stir-fried version of the dish.

“I also couldn’t find any mala shops that catered for Muslims … so we decided to have a go at it. But ours would have to be soup, and halal-certified.”

He chose his location with that customer base in mind: A shophouse in the Kampong Glam area, where many Muslim-owned businesses operated. He also anticipated that worshippers from the nearby mosque would come over for meals after their Friday prayers.

So he went about perfecting his offerings. He developed his own chicken soup base and experimented with his self-made spicy mala sauce, before finding a halal-certified supplier at the last minute.

He was excited when Peppercorn opened in August 2018, and over the months, received positive reviews from food bloggers and influencers. But from the start, it was challenging.

Peppercorn received its halal certification only more than three months after it opened. This meant, he said, that he could not attract his customer target group. Furthermore, the restaurant’s location was not proving to be working in his favour.

“It’s quite quiet along Kandahar Street compared to Arab Street or Haji Lane,” he said.

“We started there because we wanted to expose ourselves to the Muslim crowd. But it turned out that there were more tourists than locals in the area.”

The expected surge of business on Fridays also did not materialise; he realised free food was being served at the mosque after Friday prayers.

Tan, who started the restaurant with two friends but oversaw the day-to-day operations, continued to work on his product, refining and enhancing his mala sauce and soup base.

Over time, things began to look more promising as he built up a following, particularly among those who worked around the area, and lunchtime often saw the place buzzing with activity.

Up until December, the restaurant was “doing okay”, he said. But it was not ready to weather the coming storm.

TAKINGS FELL TO ‘ALMOST NOTHING’

Tourists had never been a big part of Peppercorn’s business, but when Tan noticed fewer of them coming by, that was the first inkling of trouble.

Things got worse as Singapore’s COVID-19 case count increased, and he had to halve the number of seats in his already small space to comply with safe distancing regulations.

With more people working from home, his customer base — of which about 70 per cent was made up of regulars, he estimated — shrank even more.

He became reliant on delivery apps for business. But his restaurant was not within the delivery radius of many of his regulars, nor was it in a residential area.

The commissions charged by the delivery platforms also added up, at an average of 30 to 32 per cent. “I couldn’t find anyone (else) to do deliveries for me, so I just used them and bit the bullet,” he said.

His lease was ending in April, and he had been planning to renew it even though he had only one profitable month last year. But not any more.

“We’d still have been able to … ‘tahan’ (endure) if not for COVID,” he said.

Despite his landlord offering to reduce the rent — which was between S$6,500 to S$7,000 a month — by five to eight per cent upon renewal, Tan knew there was nothing he could do.

“By early March, I told my staff I could no longer hold on,” he said, recalling how painful it was to break the news to his two full-timers and one part-timer.

“I’d done so much for the shop … our brand was up and people were starting to know us, but we had to stop.

“We’d done our calculations and thought about it. And we realised it wasn’t worth doing it because we had no idea when the virus would end and if things would get worse.” 

His last month of operations, with dining out prohibited, was his worst yet as “business dropped to almost nothing”.

“In a day, I’d have two to three delivery orders, and three to four people would drive by to get food … but we still had to prepare everything,” he said ruefully, referring to the ingredients typically displayed in a chiller for customers to choose.

Governmental support, such as the Jobs Support Scheme and S$750 Foreign Worker Levy rebate, helped to lessen his load in his last month of operations.

He also used the Facebook group, Hawkers United – Dabao 2020, to sell jars of his mala sauce, which gave him some new customers who bought more than once.

But ultimately, he said, all this came too late to save Peppercorn.

A NEW FOCUS

The end of April was a bittersweet time for Tan. He remembers being “very depressed for a while”. But four days after the restaurant closed, he and his homemaker wife Bettina welcomed the birth of their daughter, Eleanor.

“I guess the timing was just right,” he said.

After 14-hour days running the restaurant — giving him little to no time to paktor (go on dates), he quipped — spending time with his wife at home and helping out with the newborn was a good change.

But they have had to control their spending, and as he was quick to stress, he has had “enough rest” now.

As messages of support poured in from regular customers asking about buying his mala sauce or if he will reopen elsewhere, he became determined to resurrect his business.

In the first instance, he plans to rent a friend’s kitchen space to cook his mala sauce to sell to regulars. And looking ahead, he is eyeing a different location, one with a higher local footfall.

“This time, I want to focus on the heartland areas,” he said. Woodlands, Tampines and Clementi are some locations he is considering.

“I’ll need a space with a kitchen big enough for me to cook and sell my sauce, but in terms of seats … just a few,” he noted, adding that he is also considering packing individual ingredients in reusable packets before displaying them for added hygiene.

While location and business model are changes he believes he must make in a pandemic-shaped food and beverage landscape, he does not wholly lay Peppercorn’s closure at COVID-19’s door.

“Maybe I didn’t do a good job running the place (and) didn’t control costs efficiently,” he said with a chuckle.

He is optimistic, however, about his future plans, which he hopes can be achieved soon — ideally, within the year.

Amid all the uncertainty in the industry, the one thing he will persist with is the type of food he will sell. “I just want to focus on one thing and make it good,” he said.

This is the first of several CNA Insider stories on micro enterprises in different sectors that have closed or changed drastically amid COVID-19. Know of any others? Let us know at DigiFeatures@mediacorp.com.sg

Looking for help with your business? Find out more here at https://www.gov.sg/article/4-ways-the-resilience-budget-is-helping-singapores-businesses-stay-afloat

SINGAPORE: I will be taking my students next week on a tour of the Borobudur heritage site in Central Java, Indonesia.

We will climb the vast hilltop monastery and admire the many Buddha statues and bas-reliefs depicting ancient tales of sacred lives.

We won’t wear face masks or worry about social distancing since we will travel together virtually using a combination of Zoom and the recently digitised heritage site on Google Maps.

While COVID-19 represents an unprecedented challenge for the arts, culture and heritage sectors in Singapore, it has been striking that in defiance of the pandemic, we have still found new technological ways to turn to the arts and humanities for inspiration, solace, and fellow feeling.

Cinematic performances, shows and podcasts have filled the spaces of our coronavirus circuit breaker period.

LISTEN: Singapore enters Phase 2 – what’s behind rules on gatherings, dining, weddings and more?

READ: Politicians who appeared on OKLETSGO podcast say remarks on women were wrong, some sponsors concerned

The recent fracas about whether the arts are an essential service only points to the value many see in them.

This is an excellent juncture to think more critically about the nature of the digital arts and humanities, their role in society, and their potential to serve Singapore’s interests on the international stage too.

1. MORE THAN A SUPPLEMENT

The widespread application of digital tools and technology in the arts and humanities is a fairly recent development. Within the last ten years, Singapore’s cultural institutions have achieved remarkable success in several ambitious digital initiatives.

The National Library has digitised some of its collections and has made them publicly available through BooksSG. The Tamil Digital Heritage Collection, in particular, is a wonderful community-led initiative that digitised Tamil works composed in Singapore between 1965 and 2015.

Galleries and museums too have curated digital exhibitions and have developed a digital archive of their artefacts in roots.sg, the interactive heritage portal launched in 2016.

COVID-19 has brought new attention to these resources and has reinforced the fact that digital projects are more than simply an embellishment.  With no way to leave our homes, virtual objects, whether images, films or recordings, have become a replacement for the real thing for many of us.

In our Digital Humanities Minor at SUTD, many students have been working with such digital objects and using their computational skills to draw new insights from them. The absence of many comprehensive digital collections, however, suggests there is still fundamental work to do.

READ: Commentary: Arts and humanities can set you up for life in post-coronavirus world

READ: Commentary: The coronavirus is sending universities back to school

We should also start to think of digitisation not simply as a back-up but as a means of enhancing and improving access to our collective knowledge. 

While historical documents in the National Archive are being usefully scanned and uploaded on its website, many of them are not searchable and some have been stamped with digital watermarks.

Without modification, this form undermines the utility of these documents for more advanced forms of computer text analysis. There is scope going forward to think carefully when digitising about how to maximise the analytical potential of archives, especially as new technological tools develop.

2. A LUXURY WE CAN AFFORD

Like the arts, the humanities are sometimes unfairly viewed as a societal luxury and the “non-essential” service of academic disciplines. This is understandable. 

When national circumstances are humming along, the cultural and historical aspects of social cohesion can become something we take for granted.

Yet in times of crisis like the outbreak we’re living through, tensions bring to the fore society’s faultlines, which may be primarily economic but are also deeply entangled with culture, religion and history.

The arts and humanities thus play an incredibly important civic role as a public source of authoritative knowledge, in promoting mutual understanding, and in providing a representative platform for social inclusivity.

Digital tools provide an opportunity to expand and enhance this core work. During the COVID-19 crisis, culture has become far more accessible through new digital platforms.

A wonderful example is the National Arts Council’s A List platform that has brought together digital content from Singapore’s arts and culture scene.

READ: Commentary: The case for universal digital access, as home-based computing becomes a post-pandemic norm

READ: Commentary: The rise and rise of Netflix in a time of coronavirus

Moving ahead, digital platforms have the potential to provide a more inclusive and diverse cultural space than is possible in physical libraries, galleries, and museums.

There are already good examples of how this can be done. Ishvinder Singh’s Sikh Heritage Trail mobile app is an excellent resource for understanding the story of Sikhs in Singapore, a history marginally represented in the National Museum.

And yet, while digitisation may increase accessibility and inclusivity, attention must be paid to the potential risks and problems of digital platforms.

The push to digitise as a means of free distribution risks making the arts and culture sectors less economically viable.

If smaller entities allocate more of limited funds or grant money to digitisation, it could also lead to less support for high-quality content and research.

Digitisation then does have an economic cost. If it cannot be more strongly supported by the government on top of current funding, greater private sector involvement could be encouraged, perhaps by offering tax incentives.

3. REACHING OUT BEYOND THE NATION

One consequence of the perceived civic value in the arts and humanities is that cultural institutions can often be inward-looking places focused only on national stories. Even when collections cut across vast regions and cultures, such as in the British Museum, the nation still plays a symbolic role as civilisation’s custodian.

More recently, however, culture and heritage institutions are reaching out into the international arena, taking collections and exhibits on tour as a means of sharing knowledge, fostering cultural understanding, and strengthening diplomatic ties in ways traditional politics cannot.

As part of this cultural diplomacy, new collaborative digitisation projects between regions and nations have sprouted up, creating virtual platforms that support local heritage while making it universally accessible.

As many retreat into competitive nationalism after COVID-19, Singapore could think more actively about leveraging its digital expertise to lead digital cultural diplomacy in the region.

READ: Commentary: Reading can be a useful escape from the circuit breaker in more ways than one

READ: Commentary: Malaysia succeeded in suppressing COVID-19 but here comes the harder part

In 2018, for instance, ASEAN launched its Cultural Heritage Digital Archive (ACHDA), established with the help of the Japanese government and the NTT DATA Corporation. 

There is no reason why Singapore cannot be at the forefront within ASEAN in exploring similar projects where digital technologies offer common ground in heritage cooperation.

What is much needed however is for ASEAN’s Committee for Culture and Information to better support regional collaboration between universities and cultural institutions in a similar way to its Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation.

While there are some encouraging digital ventures within ASEAN, regional institutions often look elsewhere for partners. The National Library of Laos recently collaborated with the German government and the Berlin State Library to create the Digital Library of Laos Manuscripts, an online collection of 12,000 historical texts.

The support of global partners is essential for cultural work in the region though the absence of ASEAN in many of these initiatives is perhaps a missed opportunity for greater regional collaboration.

With its expertise in technology, its interdisciplinary world-class universities, and its successful culture and heritage institutions, Singapore could spearhead digital culture in ASEAN as a means of forging regional ties at a time of increasing nationalism.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the novel coronavirus and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

Alastair Gornall is an Assistant Professor in the Humanities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and the lead of its Digital Humanities Minor.His research focuses on premodern South and Southeast Asian intellectual history.

SINGAPORE: It’s only 4am in Kembangan but Ms Liyana Stuart is already up. She is on one of her early-morning walks, a ritual she has observed daily since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

On these walks, Ms Liyana will buy coffee and sometimes groceries, and by 5am, she’s back home and her work day begins. For the next hour or so until her children wake up, it is quiet in her home office save for the clickety sounds of the mouse and keyboard as she reads and replies emails.

Ms Liyana is a client relations director at corporate training firm Anagram Group. She and her husband Mark, who is the head trainer, founded the company seven years ago. Until the “circuit breaker”, the duo worked out of a co-working space in Dhoby Ghaut, with Mr Stuart travelling an average of 10 times a month to deliver his workshops in person. 

But in February, as information about the novel coronavirus trickled in, their bookings trickled away. 

“Our once-full, in-person training calendar was left empty as we experienced cancellations. First the cancellations came from Singapore, then Asia, followed by the Middle East as the virus spread around the world,” Ms Liyana told CNA. The loss of income was “devastating”, she added. 

Fortunately for the duo, they had already begun working on a “hybrid solution” that combined in-person training workshops in Singapore with online webinars for participants in other parts of Asia. 

Anagram had introduced it as a “more cost-effective mode of training” that brought regional teams together while saving on travel, accommodation and printing costs. 

“We never imagined webinars would be the default mode of training in 2020 and this would provide valuable learning for what was about to happen this year,” said Ms Liyana. 

For the launch, Anagram first approached the long-term clients who were most receptive to and supportive of the new options.

“Some clients have been slower to convert to virtual training as they want to wait and see if in-person is going to resume soon or they still hold the belief that virtual training can’t be interactive,” said Mr Stuart. 

READ: Commentary: Is COVID-19 the final straw that breaks the Orchard Road camel’s back?

Anagram’s first webinar went live on Mar 19 and since then, it has held more than 20 sessions for clients including banks, international schools and multinational corporations (MNCs) on topics like Innovation and Design Thinking, and Leadership in the Digital Age. And the requests keep coming. 

“Over the past month we’ve experienced a larger increase in enquiries as clients get more comfortable with online options and accept that this might be the status quo until 2021,” said Mr Stuart. 

​​​​​​​”MURPHY’S LAW IN ACTION”

For Anagram, survival meant making changes to its business model, but for another husband-and-wife team, the very nature of their business had been ripped apart and as the pandemic wore on, their optimism began to wear off. 

Ms Siti Nadzirah Hassan and Mr Khairul Amri Mohd Sidik are the founders of Picneeds, which evolved since 2014 from a bespoke private picnic planner to a full-fledged events company taking on weddings and events such as Twilight Feast and Late Night with SAM. 

When they first caught wind of the virus, the company began encouraging clients to have intimate picnics in parks, away from the crowds, with each set-up wiped down and hand sanitisers provided. Clients who had pre-paid were allowed to postpone their events to another date within the year. In March, when gathering restrictions were announced, the company moved to convert existing large-scale wedding bookings into home solemnisation packages. Plans to host what would have been its biggest project, a local music festival, were scrapped. 

“(That event) gave us hope that 2020 would be the year of growth. We were ambitious but it was a challenge we had been ready to take,” Ms Nadzirah told CNA. 

But the worst was yet to come. 

READ: Commentary: When economies reopen for business but families are reluctant to spend

“When circuit breaker measures were introduced in early April, we had to cease all operations. It was truly heartbreaking and difficult, not only from the financial perspective, but also emotionally because it dawned on me that we had both become jobless overnight. 

“From having our schedules filled, with days starting in the morning and ending past midnight, we were suddenly sitting on the floor of our home with no real plan for the future,” said Ms Nadzirah. 

Eventually, they got to planning again and came up with the DIY Picneeds rental kit. The idea was that customers would receive a curated collection of decorative items that they could easily use to set up their own events for special occasions at home. 

The response was “pretty encouraging”, said Ms Siti Nadzirah. “We had a number of bookings within days of announcing on social media.” 

But amid the hope, there remained a sense of civic responsibility that drove Ms Nadzirah to check with the authorities on their ability to continue operating in this way during the circuit breaker. The answer was no, they could not as it was not an essential business. 

“We offered refunds and the option to turn their booking into credit for use in the future. Most opted for the refunds and we ended up back to square one,” said Ms Nadzirah. 

By then, Mr Amri had started work as a food delivery rider, but Ms Nadzirah continued to feel “hopeless” as the days went by, worried about overheads that were still running, such as warehouse rental, the Picneeds van, as well as their own home expenses and basic daily necessities. 

“Having invested a large portion of our revenue into new inventory, we were not in a very financially secure place. Besides that, the anxiety was real – losing the job that you have built from scratch and actually enjoyed doing was a mental fight,” she said. 

When the circuit breaker was extended, Ms Nadzirah decided she had had enough of “feeling down and lost” and explored the idea of going into the food business. 

“I thought of what I enjoyed having that would also be visually appealing for social media,” she said. 

After “playing around with Photoshop” to get the branding going, testing recipes and assessing the feasibility of mass production, creating an Instagram page, taking pictures, and toiling over copywriting and website building, an online store selling dessert tarts was born. Just then, the Government announced more circuit breaker restrictions, effectively putting home bakers temporarily out of business. 

“It truly felt like Murphy’s Law in action. Anything that could happen would happen,” said Ms Nadzirah. “While waiting for the ban to be lifted, I took the time to further refine the recipes, improve the packaging and work on branding. 

“Upon launching, we were able to sell and a new vertical was added to Picneeds.”

BRINGING MAGIC TO HOMES

His name is Derick Ho Su Han, but many know him as Mr Egg – “Singapore’s favourite children’s magician”. Mr Ho is also the director of Secret Skills Enterprise, which provides party equipment and services such as bouncy castles, candy floss, mascots and popcorn.

Before the outbreak, “there was constant and steady cash flow”, Mr Ho told CNA. “We would book seven to 10 magic shows a week.” 

But like most other businesses in the industry, the number dwindled to practically nothing due to the circuit breaker and “that was when we knew we had to change what we do”, he said.

Mr Ho took to Facebook in April, where he began to perform free weekly magic shows live “to give back to society, as well as to bring joy to all the kids stuck at home”. 

“I told my audience they could donate to us, but reminded them that there was no pressure to do so,” he said. 

“After the first few shows, we received a lot of feedback, with parents and children telling us that they really liked what we were doing and wanted to see more of Mr Egg,” he added.

Mr Egg started receiving bookings for virtual magic shows conducted over Zoom for children’s birthdays. Then, enquiries began to come in from MNCs who wanted to throw virtual parties and events.  

“With the increase in telecommuting, the response for our online events has been fantastic,” said Mr Ho. “We were recently engaged by an insurance company for a virtual show as a token of appreciation for their customers.”

PREPARING FOR A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD

Much of the world has had to play catch-up with technology and social media in order to stay informed, connected and relevant during the months of lockdown. 

For Anagram, this goes far beyond learning how to use video conferencing apps like Zoom.

“In order to pivot the business, we had to come to terms with reality and innovate – in-person training will not be the same for the next year or so as the world grapples with the pandemic,” said Ms Liyana. 

“We had to put ourselves in our clients’ shoes. Many participants would find wearing masks uncomfortable and would rather be working from home. Companies would not want their staff to be at risk of getting infected and we would no longer be going to clients’ offices to deliver training as most of their staff would be working remotely,” she added. 

To prepare for this “post-pandemic world”, Ms Liyana said the company customised the training topics so they would be more relevant, including topics such as how to manage remotely, how to present virtually and how to navigate change. 

Training sessions were also shortened and complemented with fun activities such as quizzes, games, breakout rooms and discussions. 

Beyond procuring the right video and lighting equipment, the couple also needed a “silent and conducive” environment so they could turn their home office into a live filming studio – a challenging feat as the circuit breaker shut down schools and kept their twin toddlers at home.  

“This provided a time management and logistical challenge,” said Ms Liyana, adding that she had to think out of the box and rent kids’ gym equipment from a preschool to keep them occupied and entertained.

READ: ‘A great relief’: F&B and retail businesses welcome Phase 2 but say it will take some time to recover

READ: No buffets and testing of beauty products: List of Phase 2 safety guidelines released for retail and F&B outlets

Keeping children entertained was also a concern for Mr Egg.

“We had absolutely no clue how to perform in a virtual environment.

“We had to come up with a new way to present our show in order to get the message across. A new show was also created for each livestream as we did not want to repeat our material considering we were likely to have repeat viewers,” said Mr Ho. 

As Singapore gears up for a “new normal”, Ms Nadzirah said she believes that “nothing comes close to physical interaction” and that Picneeds will still have a role to play, “once we can figure out a safe way to co-exist with the virus threat”. 

This weekend is the first of Phase 2 of Singapore’s reopening. The COVID-19 task force had announced on Monday that most businesses and activities would be allowed to resume starting Jun 19. 

Restaurants would be allowed to reopen, though social gatherings remain limited to no more than five people. 

Since the announcement, Picneeds said it has opened up bookings for outdoor picnic set-ups for up to four people, but will be waiting at least a week into the phase before operating proper. 

“We hope for the intimate private picnics to continue in parks or at home and we will also continue providing small set-ups for home solemnisations and ROM as we have done over the years. 

“Mass public events will probably take a backseat so we will have to play by ear. The Tarter Tales is here to stay as well and who knows, it could amount to something unexpected. That’s the beauty of being in business – your work is not cut out for you and opportunities lie where you seek it,” said Ms Nadzirah. 

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the COVID-19 outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

SINGAPORE: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on Singapore’s food and beverage industry.

Most eateries breathed a sigh of relief with the announcement earlier this week that dining-in can resume in Phase 2 on Jun 19, if rules are followed.

Takeaway meals and deliveries from familiar haunts have been indispensable these two months in bringing a semblance of normalcy to our lives.  

But as youths concerned about sustainability, one thing has become increasingly discomforting: Takeaway boxes, carriers and cutlery are often used once then thrown away. We’ve seen first-hand how a single takeaway meal for the family results in an astounding amount of waste.

LISTEN: Entering Phase 2: What’s behind rules on gatherings, dining, weddings and more?

LISTEN: Repairing and recycling to reduce e-waste: A pipe dream in Singapore?

A recent study by NUS alumni found that Singapore households generated an extra 1,334 tonnes of plastic waste – the weight of about 90 double-decker buses – from takeaway and food deliveries during the two-month circuit breaker.

Overall household waste had also soared with the restrictions on dining out. The National Environment Agency reported that 73,000 tonnes of waste was generated in April, up 11 per cent from the previous month.

While some businesses have switched to more “eco-friendly” packaging like “biodegradable” containers, such packaging may move the environment needle. In fact, many of these options take more resources to produce, with their benefits unrealised since waste is incinerated in Singapore.

COVID-19 REVERSES MOVES TOWARDS ZERO WASTE

Prior to the pandemic, Singapore was making slow but steady progress towards zero-waste.

In 2010, non-governmental organisation Zero Waste SG started the Bring Your Own (BYO) Singapore movement to nudge businesses and consumers towards reusable containers, cups and bags.

The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources declared 2019 to be the Year Towards Zero Waste, which saw FairPrice extending its plastic bag charge trial after a successful month-long pilot, and chain bakeries like BreadTalk and Duke Bakery rolling out new schemes to reduce plastic bags.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 seems to have undone many of these efforts. Businesses and consumers have become more cautious about hygiene, wary of the risk that reusables could be contaminated with the virus.

Some customers have expressed discomfort at the sight of personal containers placed beside disposable ones. Stores that used to support BYO like Koi placed a temporary ban on reusable cups.

But experts say well-washed reusables are safe when the coronavirus can be killed with regular dish soap and sanitisation

READ: No evidence COVID-19 can be transmitted through food or packaging: SFA

READ: Commentary: The humble bar of soap is a powerful weapon against COVID-19

HOPE YET FOR BYO

However, the surge in packaging consumption has also spurred positive change.

Earlier in April, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing urged people to BYO for their takeaways to “be more environmentally sustainable”.

The pandemic has also highlighted practical reasons for businesses to reduce single-use packaging. Hawkers and F&B operators are grappling with higher packaging costs, given that suppliers have been overwhelmed by a surge in demand for food containers.

READ: Commentary: The enormous growth of plastic packaging as take-outs and food deliveries surge must stop

Even our previously unconcerned family and friends have taken action. Our fathers have never taken to BYO and would even dismiss our calls to do so in the past.

But our families’ sheer number of takeaways during the circuit breaker have made them see how much waste is generated, and how beneficial BYO can be, from ensuring food safety to supporting local businesses. BYO has now become second nature to them.

F&B OUTLETS’ ZERO-WASTE STRATEGIES

These habits may well outlast COVID-19, as the momentum to cut waste grows.

While consumers are doing more to BYO, F&B outlets are also making efforts to cut packaging.

Shops like The Veggie Dojo offer reusable containers for food to be delivered in. Upon arrival, customers simply transfer the food onto their own plates and return the containers immediately.

Establishments like Bollywood Veggies let their customers return them on the next delivery.

READ: Commentary: We are becoming a ‘dabao nation’ – why does it feel like a bad thing?

LISTEN: How many stars will you give Singapore’s F&B industry this COVID-19 season?  

Container-sharing services like Muuse and barePack aid restaurants and diners in reducing plastic waste.

Operating on a subscription model, these services charge diners for unlimited use of their reusable containers and cups. barePack, for example, charges users S$5 per month or S$36 per year – but during the circuit breaker made their service complimentary.

Diners rent the reusables to take away food at participating outlets, and return them after eating. Diners can also request the food be delivered in reusables from restaurants that offer them.

The container-sharing services lend reusables at no cost to restaurants, saving them the hassle and cost of investing in their own inventory of reusables.

These services have been running before COVID-19, and have gained traction over the circuit breaker. Muuse currently has over 40 F&B outlets under its belt, while barePack has over 60.

Most of the participating outlets are restaurants and cafes in the city, but since the circuit breaker kicked in, both companies have expanded into eateries in residential areas and have launched delivery services, partnering with names like Salad Stop and the Coffee Club to come up with daily menus.

PUSHING FOR WIDESPREAD ADOPTION

Unfortunately, F&B outlets dedicated to waste reduction remain a minority. Many are still deterred by the perceived hassle and cost, and see little benefit to cutting packaging. After all, why change when the status quo works fine?

However, taking steps to reduce single-use plastic can fatten bottom lines by reducing packaging costs in the long run. Moreover, they can appeal to a new wave of eco-conscious customers by expounding socially responsible values.

Operating more sustainably need not be daunting. Eateries can start small and scale up along the way.

READ: Commentary: Why some plastic packaging is necessary

For starters, eateries could stop giving cutlery and napkins by default.

They could also get creative in reducing excess packaging. For example, multiple portions of rice can be put in one large container instead of being individually packaged.

This period is an opportunity for F&B outlets to experiment, test receptiveness and build habits among customers and staff.

READ: COVID-19: Delivery and takeaway models unsustainable, say restaurant owners

THE ROLE OF CUSTOMERS

Customers also have a huge stake in turning the plastic tide.

With social distancing measures set to continue for months, customers who purchase takeaways should BYO whenever possible.

The process is straightforward: Bring a clean and dry container large enough for your purchase. Hand it over to the staff when ordering and request for your food to be put directly into it. Say that your aim is to reduce waste, so that staff will avoid packing disposables altogether.

Of course, your attempts may occasionally be rejected by companies citing hygiene concerns. In this case, take it in your stride and do not be demoralised.

Beyond changing our own habits, we could encourage our favourite restaurants to adopt more sustainable measures. As non-profit zero-waste chef Anne-Marie Bonneau says: “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

READ: Commentary: Wasteful practices of affluence must stop

READ: Commentary: Recycle or reduce waste? Why Southeast Asia’s ocean plastic pile has no easy answers

INDIVIDUAL ACTION IS NOT ENOUGH

For some, seeing plastic boxes and bowls stacked up in their cupboards have made them rethink their consumption patterns and begin cultivating eco-conscious habits.

Yet individual effort will not suffice in the fight against the growing mountain of waste, especially if food deliveries become the default post-pandemic.

Mr Chan’s call to action was a move in the right direction. If we were serious, we would consider more aggressive policies to shift the needle: Levelling taxes on packaging waste, financial and infrastructural support for zero-waste systems and whole-of-government adoption of zero-waste measures.

The rise of food takeaways and deliveries presents us an opportunity to accelerate our nation’s zero-waste journey – but they will count only if we seize them.

Coco Oan is an Environmental Studies student at Yale-NUS College. Ang Li Shan is a Business student at the National University of Singapore. They are both members of Project bECOme, a youth-run organisation that works to promote environmental sustainability among businesses and consumers.

SINGAPORE: Several political parties were undertaking outreach activities on Saturday (Jun 20) as speculation grows that the next General Election is imminent. 

Singapore moved into Phase 2 of reopening on Friday following a two-month “circuit breaker” period. Some parties were out and about on that day, with the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and the PAP’s Henry Kwek and MP for Nee Soon GRC at Mayflower Market and Food Centre, and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) carrying out house visits in Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC).  

READ: Political parties say they will adhere to new campaign rules, but some repeat calls to defer General Election

The SDP continued its activities at Holland-Bukit Timah GRC on Saturday.

Chairman of the party Paul Tambyah and member Benjamin Pwee were giving out flags and flyers at Ghim Moh Road hawker centre and nearby coffee shops in the vicinity. They could be heard telling people that “elections are coming”. 

Speaking to the media, SDP chairman Paul Tambyah said that the party’s first priority is people’s health while conducting its walkabouts. 

“We want to make sure we don’t start a (COVID-19) cluster and we have a super spreader knocking on doors. That’s something we definitely do not want happening,” he said. 

“These are the things that, when you’re doing an election in the middle of a pandemic, you have to be prepared for.” 

He said that the party has “no choice” but to go door-to-door to meet constituents as “older people don’t go online”.

He added that the bread and butter of an opposition campaign has been rallies. At rallies, voters get a chance to to hear for themselves from the candidates, the parties, and engage with them, he said. 

The Elections Department (ELD) said on Thursday that there would be no physical rallies if the election is held during Phase 2.

The SDP is expected to continue its ground work on Sunday and the coming week. 

The Singapore People’s Party’s (SPP) Bishan-Toa Payoh team was also out on a walkabout on Saturday. The party introduced secretary-general Steve Chia, vice-chairman Williamson Lee, and members Melvyn Chiu and Osman Sulaiman to residents there. 

Out of the four constituencies the party says it will contest, three – Potong Pasir, Marymount and Mountbatten – are Single Member Constituencies (SMCs), while Bishan-Toa Payoh will be the only GRC the party will contest. It will be the SPP’s third time gunning for the GRC.

The walkabout followed a Facebook Live session with chairman Jose Raymond on Friday night. 

The PSP, which unveiled its first batch of political candidates on Thursday, was out and about in Boon Lay on Saturday. 

READ: Progress Singapore Party unveils first batch of potential candidates for General Election 

The party’s secretary-general Tan Cheng Bock said on Friday that the PSP will not shy away from three-cornered fights should the situation arise.

Dr Tan was Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah for 26 years, when he was with the People’s Action Party (PAP). The ward is now part of West Coast GRC, where the PSP has begun conducting weekly meet-up sessions via Zoom with constituents. 

At the last General Election in 2015, the West Coast GRC was contested by the Reform Party (RP) and the PAP.

RP garnered 21.4 per cent of the vote against a PAP team led by then-Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran, Mr Patrick Tay and Ms Foo Mee Har.

READ: PSP will not shy away from three-cornered fights: Tan Cheng Bock 

RP said on its Facebook page that it would have a meet and greet session with residents of West Coast GRC on Friday. It also said it would continue its virtual outreach via Facebook Live on Saturday. 

Elsewhere, at least one member from the Workers’ Party was also out and about on Saturday, according to a Facebook post.

Former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Yee Jenn Jong said on his Facebook page that for the first time three months he was in WP gear to do cooked food distribution in Marine Parade GRC, and campaign engagement after that.

SINGAPORE: In addition to bringing along their badminton racquets and shuttlecocks for a leisurely game at Our Tampines Hub’s courts on Saturday (Jun 20), Mr P Shreekant and Mr GM Viswanath made sure to pack hand sanitiser as well. 

“We brought our own sanitisers because even though we have safe distancing, we will be exchanging shuttlecocks … and we are also perspiring during the game,” said Mr Shreekant. “So I think we should take care too.”

Saturday marked the first weekend since the start of the circuit breaker that members of the public were allowed to use sporting facilities as well as visit public beaches.

In pictures: Phase 2 of Singapore’s reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic 

But wet weather throughout the island on Saturday morning and early afternoon seemed to have kept most home.

When CNA visited Pasir Ris Park at 11am, beaches at the park were largely bereft of people, save for a couple of fishermen. Fitness facilities were also largely empty and unused.

As part of efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, all beaches in Singapore had been closed since Apr 11.

READ: 218 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore, including 2 community cases

“It’s great to go out again, rather than just go to work and come back,” said angler Haizilharizad Hairul Zaini. “It’s a good time for us to just destress.”

Along with a few of his friends, Mr Haizilharizad had decided to brave the rain to fish. 

“We were thinking even if it rains, never mind we will wait it out, once the weather calms down we will start,” he said. “Since yesterday was the first day, we figured that it would be quite packed.”

West Coast Park was similarly quiet. Not all the tape had been removed from some of the playgrounds in the park, while one other playground was open but empty.

Other areas in the park also remained cordoned off from the public, with only a handful of joggers out and about.

READ: Crowds return to Orchard Road, long lines at mall entrances as shops reopen after more than 2 months

“IT’S VERY REFRESHING”

As part of Phase 2 of Singapore’s reopening, sports facilities have been allowed to open under several conditions, Sport Singapore (SportSG) said earlier this week.

In an advisory, the national sports agency said that most sport and recreational facilities, whether managed by public, private or commercial entities, could reopen on Friday. These include swimming pools, stadiums, fitness studios, gyms, indoor sports halls, outdoor courts, bowling centres and golf courses, including those in condominiums. 

READ: Sports and physical activities in Phase 2: What you need to know

Most ActiveSG facilities are also allowed to reopen, but dual-use facilities in schools and some facilities listed below will remain closed.

For premises larger than 50 sq m, “the maximum number of persons allowed … shall be limited according to its gross floor area based on 10 sq m per person or 50 persons, whichever is lower”, SportSG said.

This limit is imposed “to minimise the risk of large clusters forming”, it said.

All visitors to the reopened facilities will have to use the SafeEntry digital check-in system, said SportSG. Temperature checks will also be conducted and those who appear unwell will be turned away. 

The constant downpour meant that there were no members of the public using the track at the Bishan Stadium, with a handful seen heading to the gym or badminton courts.

When CNA visited Our Tampines Hub at 9.30am, it was largely free of foot traffic, save for a few members of the public brisk walking and jogging at the indoor running track on the fifth floor. 

“It’s actually very good coming back because for almost three months we were sitting at home with no physical exercise,” said Mr Viswanath, who along with Mr Shreekant and three friends enjoyed a two-hour session of badminton.

All of the badminton courts were in use, with about 30 people on the premises. Two of the four tennis courts were in use. 

“During the circuit breaker, we could only do jogging and solo exercises but now (we can play sports) with a bit of interaction and safe distancing. It’s quite a new change and very refreshing to be able to come back at play again,” said Mr Fendy Chandra, who used to play tennis regularly before the circuit breaker. 

“The feeling is good, just that the weather is not very helpful. But I’m quite looking forward to this.”

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

SINGAPORE: Four Singaporeans have been arrested after the authorities seized a drone carrying drugs at Kranji Reservoir Park, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a joint news release on Saturday (Jun 20). 

According to the release, the police detected “unusual unmanned aircraft activity” in the vicinity of the park at about 5.45pm on Wednesday. 

Officers from the Woodlands Police Division were dispatched to investigate and they observed a drone, with a bag attached to it, hovering in the air. 

The police subsequently found and arrested two men, aged 29 and 34, believed to be operating the drone. The drone and a black bag attached to it were retrieved. 

Investigations showed the bag contained substances suspected to be controlled drugs – about 278g of Ice. CNB officers searched one of the men’s car parked in the area and found an assortment of controlled drugs – about 35g of Ice, 8g of heroin and 195 Ecstasy tablets. 

“The two men were suspected to have operated the unmanned aircraft from Singapore, to import drugs from Malaysia. The flight data retrieved from one of the suspects’ phone showed that the unmanned aircraft had flown from Kranji to Johor Bahru and back again to Kranji that day,” the release stated. 

Both men were charged on Friday with trafficking Class A controlled drugs.

TWO MORE ARRESTED

A follow-up operation on Jun 18 led to the arrest of another man and a woman. The 24-year-old woman, a suspected drug abuser, was arrested in the vicinity of a private housing estate at Marne Road. The 40-year-old man, a suspected drug abuser, was arrested shortly after in a unit within the housing estate. 

As the man “refused to heed the lawful orders of the CNB officers to open the door”, forced entry was effected, the release said. A total of about 76g of Ice, a small amount of heroin, two Erimin-5 tablets and cash amounting to S$13,230 were found in the unit. 

The total value of the drugs seized in both operations is estimated to be at least S$44,000.

The 389g of Ice seized in total is enough to feed the addiction of about 220 drug abusers for one week, the authorities said.

Investigations are ongoing.