#Siew Mai

[buffetlicious]

Went to Canton Paradise (乐天小香港) at Junction 8 after praying at the temple. We were seated at two different tables, so each ordered their dishes separately. This Braised Peanut & Chestnut was the appetizer they placed on the table. Whole savoury peanuts with sweet chestnuts perked up the tastebuds as we poured ourselves the Glutinous Rice Pu-Erh Tea (糯米沱普洱茶).

We started off with the classic dim sum Siew Mai or Steamed Pork Dumpling (鱼子蒸烧卖皇). The pork and prawn filling with sprinkling of flying fish roe adding specks of colour is both meaty and wholesome tasting. Then came the Har Gow or Steamed Prawn Dumpling (笋尖鲜虾饺) with chunky succulent and crunchy prawn enclosed inside the translucent skin.

The Steamed Xiao Long Bao (上海小笼包) or soup dumpling is also another must order item. Pick it up gently with chopsticks into a soup spoon. Take a small bite in the dumpling skin and proceed to suck out the soup (beware, it's hot) then popped the whole thing into the mouth.

[potential-fate]

May 23, 2036 - Copperhead University

Roman glanced across the table at his friends. They were all happy—excited to move onto newer things—celebrating. Roman himself wasn't really ready to let go of this last year quite yet though.

As terribly as he'd felt at the beginning of the year, it had turned out to be one of the best years of his life—due in no small part to the people sitting around him at the table. He didn’t know what he’d expected when he’d started university, didn’t know what his life might be like, especially after the last year had ended the way it had. But this had been worth it.

The end of sophomore year felt like ages ago even though at the time, it had felt as if the world was ending. Now, he wasn’t quite so sure.

He'd always had his entire life planned out to the exact details, and every plan had always included Abe. Now, he was here, a year without the one person he’d thought he couldn’t live without.

prev / next

[minami97]

Imagine Taking Bucky To Eat Dim Sum With Your Family For The First Time (Also A Special Surprise)

A/N: This is set in the same universe as Bucky being in an interracial relationship with Chinese-Malaysian Reader. Some context: both Bucky and Y/N lives in New York, but he follows her back to Malaysia for holidays / breaks. Bucky is still learning the many dialects of Malaysia and being practically taken into the family.

Y/N and Bucky got their rude awakening when M/N opened the bedroom door, “Ah Girl, James. Wake up! We’re going to eat dim sum with grandma and everyone else!”

Still feeling groggy, Y/N reached out to tap Bucky in the face to wake him up. “Babe, wake up. We need to get ready.” He in response let out a groan.

The couple got ready in the bathroom but still feeling the tiredness from the previous day - being dragged around town to eat and sightsee

By the time Bucky, Y/N, M/N & D/N reached the dim sum restaurant, S/N and her family are already waiting in line.

“Benji, Nana. Popo and Gong Gong are here.” “Popo! Gong Gong! N/N Sim Sim! Bucky Kiu Kiu!” Annabelle was ecstatic to see her grandparents and aunty

Bucky was stunned for a moment, “What did Nana called me?” “She called you Kiu Kiu cause I’m her aunt from the mother side.”

The whole time Bucky had a big grin on his face, Y/N just kept it to herself. But M/N noticed.

By the time grandma and the rest of the relatives arrived, everyone is seated inside and Benji is awake and demanding to drink cola instead of Jasmine tea.

“Bucky Kiu Kiu, please pass me the tomato sauce.” Nana asked, while stretching her hand out. Bucky, just took it and gave it to her. “Thank you.”

Y/N watched Bucky short circuit, and just giggled. “Have you tried eating siew mai with Tomato sauce?” “No. But I’d like to try it.”

After trying Siew Mai in tomato sauce, Bucky does not want to try other sauces. “No! Tomato Sauce is better!”

Dim sum breakfast was an eye opener for Bucky as he witnessed Y/N’s family racing to pay the bill. “Are they always like this?” “Sometimes”

“I want to follow N/N Sim Sim!” Nana told her parents, “We’re going home so I guess that ok?”

The car ride back home is filled with Nana’s gossip about school while braiding Bucky’s hair for fun.

“Wow, Nana. You made Kiu Kiu look like a princess.” The girl just grinned, “Take picture!”

“You better not show the others that.” Bucky whispered.

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL! I just finished Kiseki: Dear to Me and obviously fell in love with Ai Di and Chen Yi. Do you have any other BL recs with that smol/tall dynamic where the smol one is objectively much scarier? Thanks!!

Oooo,

feral baby bois in BL!

Hum, that's gonna be a challenge, let me contemplate...

Alright let's do this...

FROM CHINA

My Esports Genius Brother

Untamed - nash

Word of Honor - double nash

(both v feral in this one)

FROM JAPAN

Same Difference

I'm dipping into the well here, and I'm warning you it may be poisoned.

Utsukushii Kare

You could argue this...? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

There are more of these in Dark JBL but I refuse to try remembering those.

FROM TAIWAN

Because of You - Maybe?

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line

It playful but qualifies? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My Tooth Your Love - sides

We Best Love - THE BEST

FROM THAILAND

Chains of Heart - sigh

Don't Say No

Eclipse (not much height difference tho)

KinnPorsche to a certain extent, also no height difference

Laws of Attraction

Very much this dynamic and very recommended, but no height difference.

Love By Chance 2 - kinda

Siew Sum Noi

I contemplated MGYG and a few others like TharnType but tried to pick feral over tsundere.

Mr Cinderella maybe?

I feel like I'm missing a few sides.

[24malaysia-today-news]

Tourism Malaysia didn’t answer my questions, says Wee

Former Tourism Malaysia chairman Wee Choo Keong maintains that the deal between the agency and a local company identified as Geeko Technology was done in haste and without due diligence.

PETALING JAYA : Former Tourism Malaysia chairman Wee Choo Keong is standing firm on his claim that a promotions contract under the Smart Tourism project was made in breach of the tourism ministry’s procurement regulations, despite the agency’s denial of this yesterday. Speaking to FMT, Wee said Tourism Malaysia chairman Siew Ka Wai had not addressed the questions raised by him in his blog post on the matter.

Although Siew had spoken of a report by Deloitte Singapore, he added, to his knowledge the report had never been completed. “The documents reproduced in my blog clearly show that some procedures were all done on one day, April 4, which normally would take days, if not weeks or months.”

He was referring to his claim of a “Speedy Gonzales” contract between Tourism Malaysia and a local company identified as Geeko Technology which he alleged had acted as a go-between for Tourism Malaysia and Tencent Holdings in China.

He said Tourism Malaysia had wanted to promote the country on Tencent’s social media platforms through Geeko Technology.

Wee told FMT that Under Procurement Regulation 7.15 (2.1.2), all companies dealing with government departments had to be registered with the finance ministry before any business could be conducted.

But in the case of Geeko Technology, he added, the agreement had been signed and sealed on April 4, two days before registration was done on April 6.

“It was a case of putting the cart before the horse.”

The former Wangsa Maju MP also asked how a contract involving RM99.693 million could have been settled in just one day, questioning the haste in which the deal had been sealed.

Likewise, he said, the RM11 million payment by Tourism Malaysia to Geeko Technology had been made on May 6, three days before the 14th general election.

Why use a third party?

Wee also had questions over why Tourism Malaysia’s collaboration with Tencent, China’s largest internet and digital corporation, was done through a third party.

“In all their press statements and functions, they have never been transparent about this matter.

“They have also talked about the collaboration being between Tourism Malaysia and Tencent Group. This is not the case. The collaboration was done through a middleman, or ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’, Geeko Tech.

“If it is a tourism ministry project, why can’t they deal directly with Tencent Group? Instead, they have chosen to draw agreements through a third-party company.”

Wee said another suspicious matter was the amount of the deal, which was just shy of RM100 million. According to regulations, he said, any agreement that touches RM100 million and above must be dealt with via an open tender.

“In this case, it isn’t,” he added.

Wee also called on Siew to explain the identity of a shareholder named Elizabeth Ken Tzu Ying.

“From a letter I highlighted in my blog, this Elizabeth Ken holds one share unit in Geeko Tech Sdn Bhd. She isn’t even a director.

“But she seems to be very powerful as she signed off all of Geeko Tech’s official documents with Tourism Malaysia.”

In his reply to Wee yesterday, Siew had said Geeko Technology was the local partner chosen by Tencent to implement the project in Malaysia.

He said Tourism Malaysia stood by its actions and insisted that these were done in accordance with proper procedures, with full transparency and accountability.

“We welcome any authority to check and verify his claims,” Siew said, adding that such allegations be stopped and withdrawn immediately so as not to jeopardise the Smart Tourism project.

[guessimate]

Today's post marks the end of round VII of my Test of Time challenge, in the European part of my Sim World... One chapter is finally coming to an end. The last of the founding fathers is passing away. There are still 'elders' in the Asian part of my town, but out of the original, 'prehistorical' sims, none are left alive. The Asian part of my town is younger, as I only added it between prehistory and ancient times, but I may have to play at least the Siews and Laos, because they are connected to my main sims now. Maybe I should play them between the rounds now.

The Imagos got ~10.000$ inheritance at the beginning of the round. With the inheritance came servant help - a wet nurse with her young daughter, a gift from the princess's family. The teen daughter stayed with the emperor family for now. The Imagos will probably only keep Titia around when they have newborns, because they have a pet and puppies. I did the same thing as for the Tias and set their money to 20.000$ after I had given them a little home renovation by adding a couple of small rooms.

~*~

As for the ROS, it was yet another potentially deadly scenario. But firstly, fate decided this scenario would apply to the elder patriarch of the Imago family who would soon perish anyway; and secondly, Otso was lucky enough not to die, even though it was a Logic skill check and he had only 2 points. He will die this round anyway, but not of unnatural causes.

Apparently Otso managed to scare off bandits. It could mean the NPC burglar, or the pickpocketer [Unsavory Charlatan]. Maybe someone wanted to steal the 20.000$ I allowed the patrician families to keep? Well, they are keeping it! If any of my sims gets the Kleptomaniac trait, I will say that was the person who was defeated (if it makes sense), but so far nobody has this trait.

Otso had recently maxed out Body skill because he wanted to, so it makes sense he would win a fight. He must have been preparing to fight for a reason. He had been planning to take down this mystery thief! He's going out in style, having defeated this enemy.

He maxed out Sports enthusiasm this round, even though he's extremely lazy, so he had little fun 'fencing'. His son Sampsa maxed out Games, which is his One True Hobby, so he managed to reach the max enthusiasm at Logic level 8. Otso maxed out his One True Hobby a looong time ago, because it's Nature. They are the first sims in this hood to max out Sports and Games, so I'm mentioning it.

~*~

Otso is a Good, but Hot-Headed Couch Potato, and Perfectionist, with Good Sense of Humour.

Sampsa is an Evil, Inappropriate, Clumsy, and Hot-Headed Dog Person. The Clumsy trait was given to him for a reason. He and his sister never learnt how to walk as toddlers because their father had to take care of both of them.

Baset is an Irresistible, Brooding, and Shy Hopeless Romantic who Loves the Outdoors. I think Hopeless Romantic makes a lot of sense for her, because she never wanted to get multiple lovers after she got married to her soulmate. She did have multiple lovers as a teen, but she has since settled down. She is more attracted to her husband than he is to her as well, which also speaks volumes.

Lalli is a Brooding Workaholic, and Hopeless Romantic, so he's quite similar to his mom. He has the following personality: 0 Sloppy (like grandpa Otso), 8 Outgoing (like dad), 9 Active, 9 Playful, and 9 Nice (all these inherited from mom).

Ofilius is Lucky and Hot-Headed. He didn't win the lottery with his personality, unfortunately. He's 1 Grouchy (like his dad), 1 Serious (like nobody in this household), 6 Active (like his dad), 8 Outgoing (like his dad), and 9 Neat (his mom is 8 Neat). His One True Hobby is Science.

BTW I try to update their traits and everything here on my notion sheet. I have not added the servant family yet, but I might have to, with how big it's getting...

~*~

As soon as Ofilius aged up, his mom Baset wanted to teach him to walk. His dad Sampsa got a want to teach him to talk, and to potty train him. I will allow parents to teach toddlers their skills, it's just the feeding of babies which is the wet nurse's job. She will also prepare toddler meals if she's still working for the family.

~*~

Asena gave birth to 2 puppies - a female puppy Lupa and a male puppy Upuaut. They both have yellow eyes. The male is gray like the stray wolf, his dad Otis. The female is black like her grandma. Otso wanted to become the master of both of the newborn puppies, and he successfully managed to do it before he passed away.

Speaking of Asena, this dog knows almost all commands there are, because Otso taught her some tricks a looong time ago, and now his grandson Lalli is following in his footsteps by wanting to teach her more commands.

~*~

I'm not making Sampsa work on promotion requirements, but he will have to skill up some day. He's on his Logic skilling spree right now, but what he really needs is Charisma and Creativity. He earns 252$ per day, which is not a lot. The 20.000$ they started off with should last them for a while, especially that they don't have any daughters to marry off for now.

Speaking of daughters, I think Baset would like to have at least one. If her next pregnancy is a son, I might just reroll the gender, because I feel like the princess would like to have a princess of her own. I think it will be their last child though. I don't make them try for baby all the time, especially that this family already has 2 boys. I actually made a mistake in what I wrote here earlier, it's OK by the rules to only have 2 boys for the emperor family, but patricians are supposed to have 4 children total, so they have to try again, if they can!

On the last day of the round the married couple wanted to go on a date when I sent them to the bathhouse. It was Sampsa's day off. So they tried for a pregnancy, and they are getting another healthy baby next round. Baset is halfway through her adulthood already.

~*~

Sampsa Imago earned 504$ this round. They are paying:

3000$ - rent

~50$ - tax

~50$ - tithe

= 3100$ total

There is 25,480$ in the town's funds. And the Imagos are left with ~17,300$. They may have to sell the little puppies for some extra cash at some point next round.

~*~

Otso managed to get the golden grave because of how happy he was due to just maxing out Sports enthusiasm (and fending off those bandits!). Overall he didn't have that many aspiration points, only ~190,000 total, and he maxed out just one skill and two hobbies.

I only realized when it was time for the funeral that Otso didn't even get to know his grandchild Rana Tia, and his great-grandchildren, Tane and Sen Siew (Lovi's children). I really should have thrown a family reunion party before he passed away, but only Lalli knew them from school. I thought the least I could do was to summon the Tias over, so they would all get the memory of his death.

[sobreiromecanico]

Malásia (2)

Como é evidente, seria impensável passarmos duas semanas na Malásia sem procurarmos livrarias. Não estivesse eu lá em trabalho e teria havido tempo para mais; assim, deu para descobrir três muito especiais.

A primeira, até por ser bastante central, foi a Kinokuniya, localizada mesmo no centro de Kuala Lumpur (KLCC), no complexo comercial que fica na base das Petronas Twin Towers.

Não era a livraria mais barata de Kuala Lumpur (longe disso, até por ser uma cadeia internacional), mas a selecção era inacreditável - e as fotografias nem apanham as vastas prateleiras de banda desenhada. Quem gostar de fantasia e ficção científica pode passar lá horas a escolher livros.

A Bookxcess fica noutro centro comercial não muito distante de KLCC. Não tenho fotografias do interior, mas lembro-me bem de ser uma livraria muito catita - de dimensão razoável, com uma excelente selecção de ficção científica e fantasia, e acima de tudo com preços mesmo muito bons. A maior parte dos livros que comprámos vieram desta loja (ver abaixo), o que ajudou a que o rombo na carteira não tenha sido maior do que foi.

Regressando um pouco atrás: quando vagueava pela Kinokuniya ocorreu-me perguntar a uma funcionária da loja se me saberia indicar algum livro de ficção científica ou fantasia de autores malaios. Ela pensou um pouco e anotou uma sugestão num papel - Creatures of Near Kingdoms, de Zedeck Siew -, lamentando porém não ter o livro em stock, ou saber onde poderia encontrá-lo. Uma breve pesquisa permitiu-me descobrir a conta de Twitter do autor, e contactei-o através de mensagem: apresentei-me, disse-lhe que o livro me fora recomendado na Kinokuniya, e perguntei-lhe onde o poderia encontrar. Recebi uma reposta simpática pouco depois, agradecendo o interesse e indicando uma pequena livraria já fora da cidade, intitulada Lit Books. E lá fui à procura.

Se um dia tivesse uma livraria, seria algo do género da Lit Books: pequena, organizada e decorada com gosto, com uma selecção criteriosa de livros e um espacinho para convívios e apresentações. Vejo no site oficial que continua em funcionamento, o que é uma excelente notícia.

E, já agora, encontrei o livro - uma enciclopédia de fauna e flora fantásticas, descritas de forma poética por Zedeck Siew e maravilhosamente ilustradas por Sharon Chin. Trouxe um exemplar comigo, e arrependo-me de não ter trazido os outros dois que lá ficaram para oferecer. É um dos tesouros da nossa biblioteca pessoal.

No final da viagem, esta foi a carga que regressou connosco a Portugal (abençoados cinco quilos a mais na bagagem de regresso). Não, ainda não lemos todos estes livros.

[greedyapron]

27/10/2023 - Lunch

Canton paradise

Fried rice

Stir fried beef

Stir fried pork

1 siew mai - always very satisfied with this for some reason. It just hits the spot. Maybe it's the mushrooms?

2 custard bao

[gomzdrawfr]

Hi Gomz! What about 13, 23 and 27? :D 27 is a big ask so pls ignore if you're uncomfortable with it. Wishing you a good weekend ahead!

Hello Cumi, good to see you again 🌸 have a good weekend too 💕

13 - latest thing that made you cry

When I wrote my own oc x price fic HAHA but if we really wanna talk about a big cry then its when I read the fic “all that’s said in low light”

((I’ll put a screenie under the cut if you wanna see the fic))

23 - 3 things you like to eat

You already KNOWWWWW siew mai’s gotto be there HEH well the other two is tom yam and mango -w-

27 - smile and take a selfie :)

((hope you dont mind me posting a drawing instead since i wanna remain private about how I look ^^))

A snippet of fic i wrote, bout Raven being sick and breaking down when she was pampered by Price :3

[cythoughtsnmemories]

23.08.23

Just the day before I'm going wild wild wet w hubby. My mind struck me that it not adventure cove. My mind kept thinking the view of adventure cove haha~ anw date w hubby at WWW was awesome! Hehehe~

Over the wkend while in d mall, there was free spine check. I did it before but want my hubby to get check so we both went. Lol my spine is still jialat. Reached home, I let hubby take his nap while I make chocolate tofu tart.

Pester hubby to go children museum w me cos its SNF and they open up to grownups! Quite boring but d company is good!

So excited for buffet! Finally after many years~ most item I just take 1 and share half w hubby except seafood. Stayed there abt 2.5 hrs and I was bloated till I felt like puking. Got to rmb not to over eat! I'm still in denial that I didn't ate much.

I know this is lame but I'm trying to recall if I ate very little for buffet

3 prawns

1 baby lobster

4 oysters

2 snow crab

7 sashimi

Unagi Rice

Satay

Popiah

Kueh pie tee

Butter chicken

Sea bass

Man tou w chili crab sauce

Duck

Char siew

Chawamushi

Steak w red wine sauce

Salmon

Salmon w sauce

Laksa

XO fish bee hoon

Chicken pho

Xlb

Siew mai

Dumpling

Salted egg bun

Chef special

Yuzu scallop

Fig

5 Juice

Tiramisu

Anniversary cake

Mao shan wang pastry

Pumpkin soup

Pizza

[aimcreativestudios]

Healios is a mental health, autism and ADHD care service in partnership with NHS in the UK.

They help children and young people to thrive by reimagining access to life-changing care, providing it remotely throughout the country.

We are thankful to an amazing client and to all the team who worked on this truly meaningful project! https://vimeo.com/850083945

CREDITS

client: Healios production: AIM Creative Studios producer: Tiago Ribeiro directors: Jay Septimo, Siew May Khoo art director & illustrator: Magdalena Koźlicka motion design: Ana Iutes, André Cunha, Pedro Oliveira  frame-by-frame animation: Ana Farinha, Ana Iutes, Cristina Neto, Siddharth Sinha music composing & sound design: André Aires Augusto voice over: Anna E.

[talos-to-listens]

I saw @cerastes posting about his mom and about how she like causing Chaos and Puzzlement, which reminded me of an incident.

My old workplace was in a mall next to a hotel, and we’d get a lot of tourists as a result, and they’d tend to get up early, and the mall has a coffeeshop of sorts which is open and tourists tend to go to it because it’s a local coffeeshop chain (Fun Toast for the locals reading this). For breakfast that’s really all the mall has, it’s that or Subway and Macs, and the tourists tend to go for the coffeeshop because it’s something they don’t have in their countries.

Now, one morning, I went there to pick up a cup of tea, as I always do. And I notice this American family standing to one side, peering at the menu. And I hear them talking amongst themselves, trying to puzzle out the different things on the menu. Because it doesn’t say “tea” or “coffee” it says “teh/kopi/teh-c/kopi-c” that sort of thing. And they have no idea what it means. And everyone is ordering in Chinese - they have no idea what the customers are saying either.

See, down here in Singapore ( and a lot of SEA countries) there’s a certain lingo for ordering tea aka teh or coffee aka kopi. You order a kopi-siew dai if you want a coffee with less sugar, a kopi-c if you want a coffee with evaporated milk, a kopi-ping if you want it iced, a kopi-kosong if you want it without sugar, a kopi-o if you want it black. And you can combine all these options so you could, for example, order a kopi-c-siew dai-ping for an ice coffee that’s less sweet and made with evaporated milk.

And all of these options are listed on the menu. And this tourist family is lost beyond all reason. However, like a ray of light from the heavens, who should turn up but Mike.

Mike is also an American. Mike comes by, gives me a wave of greeting, and then he notices the American family. He realizes, they’re relying on him to somehow decode the menu for them in a fashion they can understand - in fact they queue up behind him so they can (i think) learn what this guy was ordering and order the same and be (relatively) safe.

Unfortunately for them, Mike had been living in Singapore by that point for about a decade, and was fully immersed in the local culture and the coffee lingo. More to the point, he came to this coffeeshop very often and the staff there knew him. And, as I was to learn, he apparently was capable of being a massive troll. 

Fully aware of the hopes this family of tourists was pinning on him, Mike steps up to the counter. He opens his mouth to order. The family leans in with bated breath, hoping to listen in, that they can start to comprehend, perhaps, by proxy, what the menu means.

What does Mike do? Mike orders, in quick succession and with perfect pronunciation, a kopi-c-siew dai-gao, kopi-o-kosong-gao, teh-o-kosong-ping, teh-c-siew dai-ping, ying yang-siew dai-ping.

The tourist family’s faces change. From one of hope to one of utter despair. Worse than not comprehending, he’d ordered something that wasn’t even on the menu! But the staff knew Mike well enough that they made it for him anyway!

As Mike turned away from the counter, with his drinks in hand, I saw the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. I could only sit in awe and wonder at this man, who’d intentionally placed as confusing sounding an order as he could come up with, for the sole fact of messing with this random family of tourists that he didn’t even know. 

What about the tourists, you may ask? Well, simple. 

They (sorta) gave up, and just went with normal tea and coffee for their drinks.

[famousinuniverse]

Singapore

Singapore, with its multicultural and vibrant nature, is also one of the best places to live in Asia. The city, which is also a country itself, attracts several tourists throughout the year. While visiting this place can be highly exciting, it can also be an unnerving experience for a visitor due to several customs and laws that constitute Singaporean culture.

Singapore boasts a well-regulated and metered taxi system

In most nations in Asia, foreign tourists face commuting issues due to exorbitant taxi fares. Singapore is an exception in this regard due to its well-regulated and metered taxi system. Due to the latter, tourists get to know about the precise fares of travelling to different places in Singapore on a taxi. For a fair calculation, distances are measured using meters.

Boarding a taxi in Singapore is also simple and easy due to the availability of popular taxi services like Uber and Grab. No matter wherever you are in Singapore, you can board a taxi with ease with the help of these services.

Use packets of tissues to reserve your seat at a hawker centre

Singapore has several hawker centres wherein you can have a meal. When you go to a hawker centre, sometimes you may notice scattered packets of tissues on tables. Also, you may see umbrellas on them instead of tissues. These items on a table at a hawker centre indicate that it is already reserved. You can also try the same to book a table.

Interestingly, this practice of indicating a reserved table is still followed in the country and constitutes a principal element of Singaporean culture.

Tipping is not mandatory at cafes and restaurants in Singapore

Tipping may be a mandatory practise in many western countries, but it is not necessary when you are in Singapore. The majority of cafes and restaurants in the country include a service charge in the invoice. As such, you, as a tourist, are not obliged to give a tip at the time of leaving a cafe or restaurant.

While tipping may not be mandatory in Singapore, it isn’t illegal either. You can make a decision on this matter at your discretion.

Stand on the left side when going up an escalator

Standing in a queue on the left side while going up an escalator is considered orderly behaviour in Singapore. While you may frown at it if you see it for the first time, Singaporeans consider it an act of courtesy.

A robust and aromatic cup of coffee goes by different names in Singapore

If you are a coffee lover, you will find Singapore to be a heaven of robust and aromatic coffee. You would not need to travel long distances for it on your trip to Singapore as almost every locality in the country houses a coffee shop.

Upon visiting a coffee shop in Singapore, you may come across coffee with different names such as Kopi Siew-dai, Kopi Gao, Kopi-C, and more. Do not get nervous with so many names, though, as they only indicate coffee with different aromas or flavours.

Singaporeans believe in partying hard

When at work, Singaporeans leave no stone unturned to give it their best shot. As much hard effort they put in at work, they also party hard to experience the peak level of enjoyment. The common venue for partying in Singapore is either a central hub or a bar. For this reason, Singapore is also one of the best places for nightlife.

Littering carries a fine, so be careful to use dustbins

Singapore may be a crowded city with a humid environment. Still, it sits on one of the top spots on the list of clean and hygienic cities across the globe. Throwing napkins and packets anywhere other than dustbins is strictly prohibited in the country. Offenders can be either fined or asked to participate in a community sweeping program.

Buying drinks or alcohol is not permissible in a public place after 10.30 pm

This rule was not in place until 2012. But things changed after an infamous riot in the city in 2013. Following it, authorities decided to impose a ban on the purchase of alcohol and other such drinks between 10.30 pm and 7 am. When applying for a Singapore tourist visa, you must know about this rule to avoid being fined or getting entangled in a legal issue.

You can smoke only in designated areas

A smoker inside a designated smoking point near Yishun Street 81

Though smoking is not illegal, you will need to follow some strict regulations in Singapore if you are a smoker. For smoking, you can head to one of the designated points in Singapore. Smoking in Sheltered walkways, public bus stops, or even indoors carries a fine of $1,000.

Conclusion Whether you are planning to visit Singapore for the first time or you have already been to the city, bearing the above cultural aspects of Singapore in mind will make your visit to the city both enjoyable and memorable. Now that you know about the things that you can or cannot do in Singapore, it is just about the right time to apply for a Singapore visa if you do not already have one.

[politicsnewsdaily]

MACC probe may help stem the fall in tourist arrivals

Malaysia has missed the annual tourist arrival targets for five years straight since 2013. The trend is worrying given that the tourism industry is a key growth driver, which contributed 14.9% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product or RM201.4 billion in 2017.

There has been mounting grouses that the previous government did not do enough to promote Malaysia as a holiday destination amid the rising competition in the region for tourist dollars — a good source of foreign exchange income.

Yesterday, ex-Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Siew Ka Wei was remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over an alleged abuse of power involving a government contract worth RM99.69 million.

Yesterday, ex-Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Siew Ka Wei was remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over an alleged abuse of power involving a government contract worth RM99.69 million.

The probe brings hope that by clamping down on corruption, the budget allocated for promoting tourism will be utilised for the right purpose.

Tourism is the third-highest contributor to Malaysia’s foreign exchange receipts. The ministry of tourism, arts and culture (Motac) has set a target to achieve 30 million foreign tourists contributing RM100 billion in receipts by 2020.

In Budget 2019, the government announced that it will allocate RM100 million in matching grants to the private sector for running promotional and marketing campaigns overseas to increase the number of visitors to the country.

Siew, 63, who is also the chairman of Ancom Bhd, was remanded alongside Elizabeth Ken Tzu Ying, 31 who is a director of a media consulting company. The duo were arrested after having their statements recorded at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Tuesday. They were then brought to the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, where magistrate Irza Zulaika Rohanuddin ordered their remand until Jan 12.

Siew was appointed as the chairman of Tourism Malaysia, an agency under Motac, in September 2016. He is believed to have stepped down from the role in the middle of last year, following the appointment of Datuk Ahmad Shah Hussain Tambakau as the agency’s new chairman on July 20, 2018.

At press time, Tourism Malaysia has yet to respond to questions from The Edge Financial Daily on the matter.

The RM99.69 million deal in question was first exposed by Wee Choo Keong, the former Tourism Malaysia chairman whom Siew replaced in 2016. In a blog posting, Wee had referred to the contract, which was signed a few days before the 14th general election, as the “Speedy Gonzales deal”.

Ancom, in which Siew is chairman and the single largest shareholder holding a 20.93% stake, wholly owns Redberry Sdn Bhd, which operates a wide range of media platforms including billboards and indoor advertisements in airports.

Dwindling tourism numbers

Malaysia has missed its full-year tourist arrival targets for five years straight since 2013. In September last year, Motac revised the tourist arrival target for 2018 down to 26.4 million from an earlier forecast of 33.1 million.

Motac secretary-general Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview in November last year that Malaysia is on track to meet its target of 26.4 million tourist arrivals and RM84.9 billion tourism receipts for this year.

Based on the latest available data for 2018, total arrivals was at 17.29 million for the first eight months, a 0.3% decline from 17.34 million recorded a year ago.

[24thepress]

Ex-Tourism Malaysia chairman, CEO remanded 4 days

ANCOM Bhd executive chairman and former Tourism Malaysia chairman Siew Ka Wei and the chief of a private firm, Elizabeth Ken Tze Ying, were remanded for four days over a RM100 million tourism contract awarded just prior to the 14th general election.

Magistrate Irza Zulaika Rohanuddin ordered their remand until January 12.

The two were brought to the Putrajaya Jaya magistrates’ court at 9am by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

MACC arrested Siew, 62, and Ken, 32, after their statements were recorded at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday.

The two are being investigated on grounds of using one’s office or position for gratification.

Siew, who is the group managing director of Nylex (M) Bhd and Redberry Group CEO, is being investigated over a RM99.7 million deal involving Tourism Malaysia that was signed on April 4, 2018.

Ancom is involved in the manufacturing of agricultural chemicals and herbicides while Nylex is involved in chemical building products.

Redberry Group’s main activities involve outdoor advertising, such as billboards and cinema advertising. It also owns news portal MalayMail.com.

Siew, who is a reportedly a close associate of former prime minister Najib Razak, was appointed Tourism Malaysia chairman on September 21, 2016.

Last June, former Tourism Malaysia chairman Wee Choo Keong revealed on his blog that a contract valued at RM99.7 million was “evaluated, negotiated and sealed in one day” on April 4 2018. The contract was signed a month before the last general election on May 9.

The two-year contract, with Ken’s company, was to promote Malaysia on the internet in China. The company was allegedly paid RM11.9 million on April 23, five days before nomination day for GE14 and 18 days after the 13th Parliament was dissolved.

Wee alleged that Ken was a shareholder and CEO of Geeko Company, which was incorporated in November 2017. – January 9, 2019.