Masak, makan and music – raising money for ComChest with food events
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(From left) Actress Koh Chieng Mun, cooking doyenne Violet Oon and private dining chef Lynette Seah will be part of Empowering Lives: Food For Good initiative.
PHOTOS: COMCHEST, NCSS, COURTESY OF LYNETTE SEAH
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SINGAPORE – Actress Koh Chieng Mun will be leading a pineapple tart-making session and karaoke singalong; private dining chef Lynnette Seah, former co-concert master of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, will cook a meal and then play the violin for the guests; and cooking doyenne Violet Oon will reveal Peranakan kitchen secrets in a workshop.
These are three of some 25 events that Oon has put together for her Empowering Lives: Food For Good initiative to raise funds for the Community Chest (ComChest), celebrating its 40th year in 2023. The events will run till March 2024, and more are expected to be added.
A spokesperson says the donated proceeds from the workshops and dining events will go towards supporting more than 100 social service agencies that work with children with special needs and youth-at-risk, adults with disabilities, people with mental health conditions, and seniors and families in need of help.
For a list of events, go to go.gov.sg/comchest-foodforgood
Asked about the food initiative, Ms Charmaine Leung, managing director of ComChest, says: “Food has an amazing way of bringing people of different backgrounds and culture together to enjoy a meal and build bonds among family and friends.
“We are grateful that many partners – chefs, hotels and celebrities – have come on board to use their culinary skills to do good and raise funds as part of Community Chest’s 40th anniversary.”
Oon, 74, says she came up with the idea in 2022, knowing the pull of food among Singaporeans.
“Raising money is not easy, but we create feel-good feelings through our food events,” she says. “I’m heartened by how our food and beverage community has responded.”
Her Secrets Of The Peranakan Kitchen workshop will take place on Jan 20 at her restaurant, Violet Oon Singapore at Jewel Changi Airport. Tickets cost $400 a person. Participants will learn Peranakan cooking techniques, have a tutored tasting of ingredients and then sit down for a meal. To register, go to go.gov.sg/violetoon
Oon adds: “I thought I would throw it out there – cook dinner for a group of 10 at my home, for a $20,000 donation. And someone has donated. We are working out the date for the dinner.”
Koh will put her culinary arts diploma, obtained in July from At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy, to good use in her workshop on Oct 29 at One Farrer Hotel.
Called Dolly Learns To Cook, after Dolly Tan, the character she played in the sitcom Under One Roof (1995 to 2003), she will demonstrate the making of Cantonese lotus root soup, Peranakan birthday noodles and yusheng. Participants will also get to make pineapple tarts and take part in a karaoke session.
Thirteen participants are caregivers whom donors have sponsored to attend the session. There are seven seats left for members of the public, who can register their interest by sending an e-mail to li_tan_from_tp@ncss.gov.sg
Koh, 64, says she cried when told that caregivers would be attending her session. For about a decade, she was caregiver to her mother, who had Parkinson’s disease. Her mother died in 2022 at the age of 89.
Koh says: “She led a full life, but she had Parkinson’s. Sometimes, it was very heartbreaking to see her deteriorate.”
She wants to make the day special for the caregivers.
“There will be a huge karaoke session, and we will be singing, eating and tossing yusheng,” she says.
Seah says she decided to take part in Food For Good after catching up with Oon at an event.
The 65-year-old, who says she also donates to women’s group Aware, runs a private dining business called Lynnette’s Kitchen. The standard menu costs $130 or $150 a person for six or seven courses, and the premium menu, with a dish of roast beef or crab, costs $170 a person for six courses or $190 a person for seven courses.
Seah has pledged a premium dinner for 10 and will play the violin for guests after the meal. There is an ongoing silent auction for the dinner, with the minimum bid starting at $2,800. The auction ends on Nov 30, and those interested can go to go.gov.sg/Lynnette
Seah is having a creative spurt and has come up with two new dishes – Salted Egg White Pepper Crab and Laksa Spices Prawn And Squid Paella.
“I’m experiencing peace and joy in my life,” she says. “And my creativity is expanding.”
