Fong Sheng Hao’s Free Meals For Seniors & Other F&B Stories Of Love In Covid-19

Nandos has started a free meals initiative “to support vulnerable communities and those whose livelihoods have been severely impacted during the Covid-19 crisis.” From now to 1 June, the South African restaurant chain famous for its spicy Peri-Peri grilled chicken will dole out 300 portions of its most popular meal – a quarter chicken with a side of Mediterranean rice – each day. The chain works with local welfare organisations (welfare organisations may contact Nando’s at peri-peri [at] nandos.com.sg to coordinate requests for the free support meals) to reach the most vulnerable, but individuals whose livelihoods have been severely affected can also tapow a free Support Meal at any of Nando’s six restaurants between 2:30pm to 5:30pm daily. This is limited to one meal per person, while stocks last. Each outlet will prep 50 Free Support Meals each day. Simply ask for a “Support Meal” at the door. Nando’s does not ask for any form of verification: they trust that only those in dire need will come forward. Check the eatery’s IG account @nandossg before heading down, to avoid disappointment.

www.nandos.com.sg/covid-free-meals.

Photo: Nando's Singapore

From April 22 until the end of the Circuit Breaker, chefs at a community kitchen set up by private members club Straits Clan prepare 450 meals daily for migrant workers at the Goldmine Energy Tuas factory-converted dormitory. This initiative is supported by The Lo & Behold Group, which owns restaurants such as three Michelin-star Odette, beach bar Tanjong Beach Club, and Restaurant Kin, the latter situated within the premises of Straits Clan. The initiative is led by chef Daniel Sia, the culinary director of The Lo & Behold Group and chef Damian D’Silva of heritage Restaurant Kin. Volunteers at the community kitchen use recipes contributed by a starry cast of chefs – including Odette’s Julien Royer, Le Bon Funk’s Keirin Buck, Esora’s Shigeru Koizumi, Labyrinth’s LG Han, Roketto's Willin Low and Cloudstreet’s Rishi Naleendra – created specially to deliver comforting yet nourishing meals to the workers. And should you think that these big-name chefs only know how to work with fancy ingredients: each meal is produced at a cost of no more than $2, as required by the government of meal suppliers for funding. To do so, they have partnered Ugly Food, an initiative targeted at minimising food waste and making the most of resources. Ingredient wholesaler Classic Fine Foods, together with Impossible Foods have also offered in-kind sponsorship of Impossible meat products. This effort is fully funded by donations from the community, as well as support from the #HOMEFORALL fundraiser led by COME (Collective of Migrant Efforts).

To donate, visit https://straitsclan.com/communitykitchen

Photo: Straits Clan /Instagram

Following the announcement of Circuit Breaker measures, popular Taiwanese chain Fong Sheng Hao that attracts snaking queues daily for its milk tea and fluffy egg sandwiches announced early April that they will be providing 5% off all takeaway orders. On top of that, customers aged 55 and above are entitled to one portion of Braised Pork Rice for free each day, until the end of Circuit Breaker. The outlet at Paya Lebar Square will prepare about 300 portions a day for senior citizens. As of 7 May, they have given out 2476 bowls of braised pork rice to seniors and will continue to do so until the Circuit Breaker is over. To claim a portion at the outlet, you simply need to produce some form of identification to prove your age. The Taiwanese classic is usually priced at $9.90 a bowl, and is now available for ordering at a discounted price of $9.50 through Oddle. In their Instagram statement, the Taiwanese chain’s representatives calls for all to “look out for each other, especially our senior citizens” during this critical period.

Fong Sheng Hao is at #B2-04 Paya Lebar Quarter, 10 Paya Lebar Rd. Tel: 9757-8550 www.taiwansandwich.com.sg

Photo: Fong Sheng Hao /Instagram

While much attention has been given to healthcare workers in hospitals, those working in GP clinics don’t seem to be getting as much love during the Covid-19 crisis. After speaking with friends in the healthcare industry – and motivated by the gratitude he has for a private clinic doctor who has been giving his grandma free treatment (simply because she was babysat by the old lady) – local farmer Shannon Lim decided to pay the medical community back with a #HealthcareCare package for clinic workers. Through his fish and vegetable farming company Onhand Agrarian, he is offering a produce box with 10kg (or more) of “ridiculously fresh fish, prawns, crabs, mussels, clams, leafy greens, beans, fruit, root vegetables and other assorted local staples”, sent to their doorsteps twice a month, for $90/month. This is a 50% discount from Onhand Agrarian’s regular 5kg veggie and 5kg seafood boxes. Apart from the seafood, fruits and vegetables, Shannon also teamed up with local grocery importer and wholesaler Grains Trading to add on a large jar of rice to the produce box.

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Our first #HealthcareCare Packages went out today! We'll get more rice jars next week once Diaso stocks up. We’ve made serveral fuck ups today. For that we apologize, but we’re glad most of you got exactly what you asked for �� Special thanks to Iezekiel Yeo for driving Singapore’s ambulances and Hui Ran Toh for sponsoring this home grown hero �� // #onhandagrarian #farmtotable #feedpeople #healthcareheroes #sgunited

A post shared by OnHand Agrarian (@your_friendlyfarmer) on Apr 4, 2020 at 5:06am PDT

Photo: OnHand Agrarian /Instagram

The young hawkers Jason Chua and Hung Zhen Long behind Beng Who Cooks, a two-year-old “creative zhap cai png” stall at Hong Lim Market and Food Centre, have started a “Beng Who Cares Foundation” with a friend’s financial backing. Their mission: to feed the needy during the Circuit Breaker. The hawker-preneurs might have taken an “80 per cent” hit in business since December, but are doing their bit to help those hardest hit by the Covid crisis by giving out their grain and pasta bowls (normally priced between $6 – $9 each) to the needy for free. Those in need can place their order – no questions asked – a day in advance with @bengwhocaresfoundation on Instagram before 7pm. The meals can be picked up at the stall. For those unable to pick up the food, the duo reach out to friends and even strangers who have volunteered their time to deliver the meals between noon-1.30pm. They do not ask for any proof of one’s financial status, and have only one request: don’t send any monetary donations, just help spread the word so that those who need the meals know who to call.

Beng Who Cooks is at 531A Upper Cross St, #01-44 Hong Lim Food Centre, Upper Cross St. ‘Beng Who Cares’ is on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bengwhocaresfoundation/
To order, visit: https://www.instagram.com/bengwhocooks

Photo: Beng Who Cooks /Instagram

Rong Ma The Curry Rice Stall at Timbre+ announced on its Facebook page that it will be offering free meals to those who need it during the Circuit Breaker. “As the weeks go on and people lose their income, there may be people out there who simply cannot afford a meal,” writes the operator. “If you are hungry. I don’t wanna hear your story. Just tell mine (sic) staffs ‘spare a meal’ – no worries, today your meal is free.” The post has garnered a thousand likes and more than 600 shares – and also inspired her paying customers to donate directly to the business’ PayNow account, to fund the #spareameal initiative. On Facebook, the operator also calls out for those who knows of people who need help to privately message her, and they can help to arrange for delivery for those who are not able to come down to the stall.

Rong Ma The Curry Rice Stall is at 73A Ayer Rajah Crescent. Timbre+ Food Center. Tel: 8776-8082. https://www.facebook.com/pg/rongmathecurryricestall/

Photo: Rong Ma The Curry Rice Stall /Facebook

When one of their regular customers – a senior citizen who used to earn $30 to $50 a day by delivering food to patrons at entertainment outlets in the Geylang district – lost his source of income when all pubs, night clubs and karaoke outlets had to close on 27 March due to new regulations, the owners of Jun Yuan House of Fish hired him as their delivery guy instead. In an interview with Today, Tsering Ng, who runs the hawker stall with her brother and parents, said that the customer affectionately known as Ah Guai (pictured) bought food from her fish soup stall daily, and she noticed last week that he looked distraught after losing his job. Since they were experiencing an increase in the number of delivery orders, she decided to get Ah Guai to be their deliveryman, paying him $1 for every item delivered. After their story went public, they’ve received more than $700 in donations which they have passed to Ah Guai to tide through the period. Separately, donors have also given them close to $300 to fund meals for those who have lost their income during this period.

Photo: Matthew Loh

Ah Guai isn’t the only customer Jun Yuan House of Fish has “employed”. If you live further than 1km away from their Old Airport Road Food Centre outlet (they also have another outlet at Wisma Atria mall and a third outlet at Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre), your order might be delivered by one of their hunky regulars, Jason, who owns a private gym at Joo Chiat which is closed during the Circuit Breaker. He does island-wide deliveries (from $5 for distances within 5km to $12 beyond 10km). In a bid to advocate exercise and healthy living, Jason will give you a $1 discount off your delivery at your doorstep – if you do 10 squats when he delivers your food. Hilarious.

Jun Yuan House of Fish is at Block 51, Old Airport Rd #01-69. Text 9321-1866 to order.

Photo: Jun Yuan House Of Fish /Facebook

While some of us spend more money on takeout orders to #savefnbsg, others lend muscle – literally. When the Circuit Breaker was announced on 4 April, all neighbourhood roll cake café The Plain Jane could organise were takeaway orders. Then along came a knight in shining armour – okay, make that a regular customer with his trusty bicycle. A professional photographer who hasn’t been able to conduct any shoots since the Circuit Breaker measures were implemented, the regular customer (who wishes to remain unnamed) frequents the café for coffee. Since 8 April, he has been doubling up as their pro-bono delivery guy every weekday and on some weekends, helping to send out orders within a 3km radius. He gets “paid” with coffee. Delivery is $10 for a minimum order of $30, while orders above $60 enjoy free-delivery, and so far, this man on a steel horse has been doing an average of four to six deliveries a day (which he says is “super easy”). “I don't wanna be someone who says, 'oh what a shame they didn't survive' after this whole Covid-19 thing ends,” he explains. “Since I have the ability to help them out, just help lor.” Apart from him, the business operators have also roped in a friend with a car for deliveries to further areas such as Bishan.

The Plain Jane is at Blk 211 Serangoon Ave 4 #01-10. Tel: 6281-2477. www.cafeplainjane.com

Photo: The Plain Jane /Facebook

Annette Tan, a food writer (who contributes to 8days.sg) and chef of private kitchen Fat Fuku, came up with MyTreat (@mytreatsg) as she wanted to help the F&B community that is hard hit by Circuit Breaker measures. The concept is simple: buy a meal for someone to spread the love, and support local F&B at the same time. “I figured people might not be compelled to buy a meal for themselves, but if you ask them to buy one for someone else, they are more likely to do so,” says Annette. The movement that started on 31 March has since inspired its own off-shoot fundraiser OurTreat, which seeks to buy restaurant meals for those working in the isolation and emergency wards of Singapore’s hospitals. The latter to convey the community’s gratitude towards those who bear the greatest risks to care for those affected by Covid-19. The appeal raised $14,000 to date, and 100% of the funds received will go towards the purchasing of meals. For more information on the two initiatives, visit http://fatfuku.com/mytreat/ and http://fatfuku.com/ourtreat/

Photo: Annette Tan