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Violet Oon

@violet.oon

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Championing 🇸🇬 food since ‘71
Chef 🧑‍🍳, Restaurateur and a proud grandmother 👵
I eat, cook, live & opinionate

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CHANTAL SAJAN’s
50-year CHETTI MELAKA QUEST!

Her book, an Odyssey of a 350 page tome - THE CHETTIS OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA - launched last night with her talk at the (PICMAS) Indian Peranakan (Chitty Melaka) Association’s “One Table, Many Stories” dinner-cum-raucous song & dance do at the SG Cricket Club….

Chantal’s book on this journey of the Chetti Indians to SEA details her 50-yr search for her family’s and her “tribe’s” journey from India to these Malay archipelago shores. In this journey she kept on unearthing yet more layers of history and human connections and traces the journey over many centuries to encompass the culture and history of these South Indian merchants to the lands of SEA - Suvarnabhumi - which translates into “lands of gold”.

Post talk-cum-Q&A to rhe full full full Padang Room of the club - the evening burst into unabashedly loud and uninhibited FUN - a dance by kiddies of the Mata Kuching Nyonyas - some unexpectedly good music making by the smallest Malay community of SG - the Banja diamond merchants from Kalimantan and ending with Kampong Joget dancing. This is the 2nd ONE TABLE MANY STORIES event by PICMAS.

I told Chantal that I can attest that her 50-year quest is a TRUE TALE - in 1990 when she worked on the re-design and edited my food-zine, The Food Paper, she spoke so deeply about her mother’s Chetti Melaka roots and foods that I got myself invited to her home to taste her mother’s cooking and we featured a whole story on the Chetti Melaka - I think the 1st time anyone had read of this community of Melaka! Nov 1990 - 36 years ago!!!

Chantal even pointed me to their “village” - which I visited in all its quaint charm in Kampung Chetti along Jalan Gajah Berang in the Tranquerah / Bachang area of Melaka. We met, Chantal and I, during our Singapore Monitor newspaper days - 1982-1985 - where she was the wordsmith editor of my food stories- and this book, in its deep depth of research is a riveting read - starting from Pg 2 - the true journalist’s style of story telling grips my attention - am I surprised? NO…. the sklll in word drama is expected in THE CHETTIS OF SOUTH EAST ASIA by Chantal Sagan. by @violet.oon

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6 hours ago

CRAZY Q!!
For YO-CHi….. that Aussie frozen yoghurt with a gerzillion toppings to choose from - 10 yr old grandson E. insisted we go to Star Vista AFTER our Sat Night Dins at 10 pm, just this very evening - and there was a snaking Q…..

THEN the staffers squealed “BIBIK VIOLET!!! We love your makan - can we take a PICTURE???? Instant mutual FANDOM! by @violet.oon

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2 days ago

CANNOT LOSE!
Cheryl Tan en famille eat out super spectacularly every time she returns home from her NY base as Prof of story telling at Northwestern Uni.

Straight off the plane at dawn - she is off to Mr & Mrs Mohgan’s Crispy Prata; then a hop and a jump to Empress Market for her dad’s fave tameepok; the Tanglin Club, Wilin Low’s Casa Mori….Red Star for dim sum on wheels!

So…. When she came to dins @ Bibik Violet at Temasek Shophouse - I simply CANNOT LOSE - amd practically hurled the whole menu at her and fellow story teller Colin Goh - bosom pals from NY days and SG.

Mummy Tan sends Cheryl to dins with a boxful of her fave Pineapple Tarts & I send her and Colin home with our Bibik Violet Kueh & Cakes.

THEIR WORKS - CHERYL & COLIN capture SG’s funny Ha Ha-ness & our ethos and pathos - Cheryl and I share working in journalism with the late great news hound editor Felix Soh.

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan has captured from abroad (sometimes the best place from which to capture home) the unique SG life and times in the novel SARONG PARTY GIRLS, the memoir A TIGER IN THE KITCHEN and the soon to be released S.D.U., in other words Single Desperate Ugly…… alamak!

Colin Goh, of the late last century’s famed satirical outwardly funny ha ha website with a deep serious meaning - TalkingCock.com, which morphed into the 2002 movie Talking Cock the Movie. Just last month his 2006 deeply moving movie Singapore Dreaming marked its 20th Anniversary with a screening. Colin is now Director of Advancement at the Intercultural Theatre Institute of SG. by @violet.oon

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3 days ago

CHEERS! To SG’s F1 this weekend

Grazzia and friends Ellen & Fiona from NY here for the F1 races and the weekend!

Toasting to the fun times ahead with Kueh Pie Tee. by @violet.oon

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11 days ago

FLOWER of our WOMANHOOD….
SG’s Tan Su-Shan
CEO of SG’s DBS (circa 2025 till NOW)

HER WORLD
WOMAN OF THE YEAR 2026

No other SG woman comes close to that pinnacle of the FLOWERING of the FEMALE in SG’s universe of 2025-2026.

Su-Shan’s powerful feisty speech - the type than can move MOUNTAINS & enthuse an army - focused on the “F” word of life:
Friendship
Family
Failure
Finance
Fortitude…..and MORE “fffff’s” to power one’s life.

And I add FLOWER of SG Women-hood.

ALSO AWARDED:
HER WORLD Young Woman of the Year 2026 is environmental advocate Kong Man Jing.

Her World Hello Possibilities award presented by Singtel saw 3 women celebrated for breaking barriers in the science, technology, and innovation (STEM) industries.

The winners were Kritika Seth, CEO & Co-founder of Idle, Jennifer Choi, CCO of Amplify Health, as well as Rishita Changede, CEO and founder of Teora.

Minister of Health Ong Ye Kung was Guest of Honour and made a keynote women centred speech. Editor in Chief of Her World, Elizabeth Lee, fresh off the plane from Paris Fashion Week spoke for the magazine.

What a change from my journalist days in Her World - 1979-1981/2 - where I travelled through ASEAN countries (then made up of 5 countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines AND Singapore - where I interviewed women of substance of each of the 5 countries for the Her World Annual 1980.

Indonesian women were freedom fighters for independence; Thai women were the powerful women of business; Malaysian women ventured into politics and had vocal voices as did the women of the Philippines….

As for Singapore my conclusion was that we were seen but not heard from….

Last night at Her World’s WOMEN OF THE YEAR AWARD DINNER - it was Helen Reddy’s battle cry come to life -
I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR!! by @violet.oon

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12 days ago

LOVE FROM BHUTAN…..
the land of Happy Vibes

PRIVATE BANKING is upping the game with fascinating sharings for the wealth endowed - it is beyond deluxe possessions and today’s promise is of health and happiness for true wealth.

BHUTAN’s happy vibes at the soon to be created Drikung Kangyur Labyrinth in Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City, is the promise for the 30 guests at the dinner, Sept 30, hosted by Standard Chartered Bank, Affluent Banking @ Violet Oon Singapore, ION.

It was a happy evening of food, friendship and a shared hope for a more peaceful world. Tanya Pillay-Nair, co-founder of Eco Escape Hospitality and President of the Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association SG, helped bring friends and supporters together to learn about this special project.

Anchoring the evening were Mildred, Treasurer of the Drikung Kangyur Labyrinth Foundation, and architects Belinda Huang & Khoo Peng Beng owners of Arc Studio , who shared their approach and inspiration for the project.

WHAT IT IS:
The Labyrinth was conceived by His Holiness the 37th Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche. Its development has been entrusted to His Eminence the 11th Choeze Kuchen Rinpoche, who joined us to share its vision.

Planned to open in December 2028, it will preserve the Buddha’s teachings on 84,000 stone tablets arranged along a walking meditation path, surrounded by 108 traditional stupas.

It will welcome people of every faith and background. And the project embodies the spirit of service: preserving wisdom, supporting local communities and creating space for wellness and peace of mind. Set amid the natural mountain landscape of southern Bhutan, it offers the promise of a retreat where we can slow down, walk mindfully and reconnect with ourselves.

THE FOOD:
MAIN MENU
Kuay Pie Tee, Eggplant Goreng Dip with Emping Cracker, Ngoh Hiang, Beef Rendang, VO Curry Chicken, Fish Tempra, Chap Chye, Kueh Beng Kah, Roti Jala with Banana Pengat

VEGETARIAN MENU
Eggplant Goreng Dip with Emping Cracker, Tau Hu Goreng, Kerabu Kacang Botol, Sayur Lodeh, Ladies Fingers Lemak, Meatless Meatball Rendang (contains egg and cheese), Mushroom Pong Tay, Kueh Beng Kah (contains egg) by @violet.oon

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14 days ago

MY $100 Culture Pass….
…. the PERFECT SPEND

At EPIGRAM BOOKS, 1008 Toa Payoh North - indie publishing house-shop in an industrial building - the perfect address for the 1st SG Indie Bookshop Day - Fri, Oct 2 to 6 pm Oct 4.

I arrived just-in-time, after an afternoon re-practising my Chicken Briyani and perfecting my Peranakan Itek Siyow - to SPEND my $100 on SG authored fiction books - BD gifts for my soon to be 4 year old and sibs - 6 & 10. by @violet.oon

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15 days ago

by @violet.oon

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16 days ago

MY MOTHER WAS A “HIGH POWERED SECRETARY” from 1940….
And it coloured the way she organised life all her life….

At Day 1 (Sept 30) of the Inaugural Executive Assistant (EA) Congress Asia …. attended by SG’s “high powered secretaries” of today - now called Executive Assistants - I shared how the profession’s discipline, professionalism, attention to detail and skillful art of human interaction was the playbook for my approach to my Life in Work - from age 22 in 1971 till toddy - 2026 at age 77!

My mother Nancy Khoo Beng Neo was a secretary in WW2 - most romantically storied - to a Black Market King, and she shared that everyone smiled at her all the time, because she had access to RICE!

Thank you Aini Sregantan, old friend and now EA for APAC at Edelman, formerly the EA to the Editor in Chief of the Straits Times, Warren Fernandez, for the intro to organiser Intrepid Minds - Australia - and to meet MD and host Aaron Gay, who on telling me he is 1/2 Singaporean - got me, the kaypoh, asking, “Any relative of SG broadcast host - CNA - Arnold Gay?”

UNCLE, he replied….. small world indeed.

BACK STORY: my mother Nancy Khoo Beng Neo was proud of her school - Raffles Girls School - then the elite of the elite in girls schools - and then went to the Joan Tooke’s Secretarial College in Collyer Quay in 1940. There she learnt “ shorthand” - the predecessor to today’s laptop and all the secretarial arts and skills - as relevant today as they were nearly 90 years ago. I shared that the secretary/EA, is the gatekeeper to the boss’s time and thoughts and is sooooo crucial to the BOSS, that he or she often keeps the EA in employment long after the boss’s retirement - the higher level the boss - the more crucial the trusted EA is.

MY LIFE!!!! is SUCH FUN….. from the EA FIRE SIDE CHAT, I rushed home to change to my CHEF-DOM - and rushed to my resto, Violet Oon Singapore at ION - for a show-and-tell-and-dins …. whizzing us to the mountain peaks of BHUTAN… to a wellness retreat. WATCH THIS SPACE!!! by @violet.oon

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18 days ago

MOONCAKE MANIA…. a day too late - the festival was YESTERDAY, Friday Sept 25.

But never mind …. Grandkids come on Saturdays - so we just created a whole lantern party-cum-mooncake making family get together for the 3 littlest - the youngest not yet 4. And each made 6, complete with their own name label.

As for the older cuz - a packet was despatched with fresh made mini mooncakes, a lantern each and some piggy cookies in plastic “cages”. Not forgetting the eldest - at 18 - who will come home from his Saturday Night Fever - to re-member his child-days of the frenzy of Dancing In The Dark to the flickering candle of the lantern By The Light Of The Silvery Moon. by @violet.oon

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23 days ago

CELEBRATING! Jim Linsao for nearly 10 years of friendship - and of course over a meal - we first met to eat at the former Violet Oon’s Satay Bar in Clarke Quay and continued with those great makan days in London - thanks Jim for those glorious meals at Gymkhana, China Tang at the Dorchester - then back to all the Violet Oon restos in Singapore and Bibik Violet at Temasek Shophouse….. last night we toasted our deep and meaningful friendship over Steak and with Grappa at SG’s Otto in the former Traffic Police HQ in Maxwell Rd - now grandly called Maxwell Chambers…. and soon to toast at Jim and Anton’s new hush hush makan and minum destination outpost in the Philippines!!! WATCH THIS SPACE for THE REVEAL…….. NOTE: MAKAN means eat or food & MINUM means drink in the Malay language - the daily speak of the Peranakans of SG & Malaysia. by @violet.oon

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25 days ago

STRANGERS to FRIENDS
What fun to invite friends who do not know each other to mix and match for lunch, tea, dinner. Who knows if perfect strangers may end up as FAST FRIENDS?

My 1st such get together was a mega success - Yerline from Jakarta, who I met shopping for kitchen tools in Sia Huat - less than 10 years ago. Yerline then very kindly has been bringing best Kuehs from Indonesia for me to makan and taste “research”.

Lee Hwa - client-into-friend via the (SCWO) Singapore Council of Women’s Organisation (2002) - now involved in SAWL (Singapore Association of Women Lawyers).

Then the oldest friend of all - Jutta Lau, who I met in the early 1980’s at my 1st cooking classes at Goodwood Park Hotel - hailing from Germany and married to a prominent SG lawyer - they met in London and she still carries the free spirit in her.

Jutta holds up a copy of my 1st Christmas issue of the food-zine I launched in January 1987 - The Food Paper - where I invited women from “abroad” married to a SG men - to share how they celebrated X’mas in their motherlands - Jutta shared that in her part of Germany - a roast veal was the prized main dish.

I HAD NOT MET THESE WOMEN for the longest time and what a treat of a lunch we had.

WHAT WE ATE: Kueh Pie Tee, Kerabu Kacang Botol, Beef Rendang, Gulai Nangka, Sayor Lodeh, Dry Laksa, Roti Jala with Banana Pengat.

BEST GIFTS
1. Yerline came with a boxful of Indonesia’s delectable HARUMANIS MANGOES - the best end of season harvest from an in-law’s farm.
2. Jutta - who has a lifelong interest in stones of nature that work positively on our sensitivities - came bearing gifts of 3 bracelets - amethyst, blue aparite and herkimer diamonds.
3. Lee Hwa’s gift of a warming deep black shawl with a diamanté slithery snake of spectacular drama!
4. My Gift - Violet Oon Singapore’s Kaya and Cookies with a tropical touch.

LEE WHA wrote, “ Thank you so much for the lovely lunch and the new friends ! I gave both lifts to their respective stops and we continued chatting and chatting.......” Already new FAST FRIENDS. by @violet.oon

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a month ago