$46,500.00 Could Have Been Stretched More Fruitfully........

SINGAPORE — A senior Singaporean civil servant has been reprimanded for publicising his family’s vacation at a top French cooking school when his country is suffering from a recession, a minister said Monday.

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"It struck a discordant note during the current difficult economic circumstances when it is especially important to show solidarity and empathy for Singaporeans who are facing uncertainties and hardship," Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said in parliament.

The civil servant, Tan Yong Soon, wrote early this month in a local newspaper about his family’s experience learning to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

He said he attended with his wife and son. Tan, permanent secretary at the ministry of environment and water resources, showed "a lack of sensitivity" and poor judgement, the minister said.

The online community did not pull any punches describing Mr Tan Yong Soon’s article on his family vacation as insensitive. Some even labelled him arrogant.

Mr Tan is believed to have spent at least S$45,000 on his holiday in Paris where his family attended a cooking course.

One blogger said: "This is a top civil servant that has clearly lost touch with the realities in Singapore," referring to the current recession.

But some Singaporeans Channel NewsAsia spoke to were more sympathetic.

Said one man: "It depends on the individual. Some may be jealous because he’s got his own money he can do whatever he wants."

"I don’t see any reason why we should criticise what he’s doing because if that is how he wants to spend his money and how he wants to treat his life, that’s how it is," said a lady.

Another man said: "It’s his prerogative but I think the timing is wrong"

However one lady added: "I think that the S$45,000 that the whole family used to travel could be put to better use at this time."

The head of the civil service has already spoken to Tan about the matter, the minister added.

"What the civil servant in question, Mr Tan, does during his vacation leave, this is (a) private decision," said Teo, who is also minister in charge of the civil service.

"However, I was disappointed with what he wrote in The Straits Times."

In a statement, Head of the Civil Service Peter Ho said: "He and his colleagues and I feel very bad about this episode because it stands in contrast to the values and ethos of the service and if left unaddressed can undermine the confidence and trust essential for us to do a good job."

Mr Tan has so far not replied to queries from Channel NewsAsia.

According to the newspaper, a basic cuisine course at Le Cordon Bleu costs S$15,500.

The above article in Yahoo caught my attention. Wow a basic cuisine course at Le Cordon Bleu costs $15,500/-. Mr. Tan Yong Soon, if I had known that your wife likes cooking so much, I would have volunteered to teach her free of charge, for after all the talent that I have been bestowed with, should be shared freely with others. I have already taught some of my friends and colleagues how to cook Nonya, Chinese and Italian dishes. Recently, my Indian friends taught me how to cook Northern and Southern Indian dishes. My best friend, Soh Wah, wife of Singapore's famous musician, Phoon Yew Tien, is smart and shrewd. Her sons like our pasta so much and have requested to learn how to cook them. When I come back from Penang on the second day of Chinese New Year, I will go over to her home to teach her and her two boys how to cook the dishes. Soh Wah is preparing her boys for survival when they study overseas.

I picked up cooking on my own when I was studying at the University in Canada. Till then, I did not even know how to cook a decent pot of rice.....the rice was either burnt or was too hard or too soft! Trial and error! However, now I can cook many international dishes, with some of my own creation of fusion food. I picked up Italian cooking from observing my chefs, and created my own pizza with a secret recipe using mayonnaise base and with the right toppings! A couple would come all the way from Woodlands to the city on weekends for they loved our Italian food. The wife had difficulty pronouncing her favourite Spaghetti Marinara Bianco, and to simplify it, we called it "Italian Hokkien Mee." My specialty are Nonya dishes. Mother never allowed us to cook, and in Canada, I tried to recall what mom had done in the kitchen. I guess the Nonya genes are in my siblings' blood as well, for both my elder sisters are great cooks.! They too started cooking only after they had married. Thank goodness that they did not have to be tested on cooking and making beaded shoes as shown in The Little Nonya.

Of course, you have your own choice on how you want to go about achieving something. However, if we are careful to stretch every dollar, $46,500.00 will go a long, long way to fulfil what you wish to do and with a little extra to help the needy ones in Singapore. Anyway, all of us had made mistakes. Sometimes we looked back and wondered how we could have been so impulsive and frivolous. I guess all this hue and cry had taken place because you are a civil servant with many leaders who are out to set a good example. If only, you had been a little more discreet, or perhaps had asked for useful tips from French chefs in Singapore....they might have given you some good advice.

Your much publicised news had given me a good idea...... I will start writing more articles on how to reduce wastage in the kitchen and perhaps write down some of my own recipes ....cooking made simple and delicious.

The crux of my article is that if someone really wants to learn cooking, one can do it without having to spend a bomb. There are so many recipe books on international dishes! I started with recipe books and experimented, and later even modified to my taste! Like artistes, we must feel for the food we are cooking, and above all, cook with love for the ones going to eat our food. The end result is always wonderful, because the most important ingredient in cooking is LOVE!

Hope the French and international participants at Le Cordon Bleu do not have the impression that people from the little red dot on the world map are filthy rich and .... indifferent.

Gan Chau