Hello, my pretties! I’m back with yet another instalment of Entrepreneurs in Singapore! So! One blazing Sunday, I was out with my friends on a food hunt (not knowing where we were going, to be honest) and we came by this nice little pristine looking shop along Serangoon Road, after Moonstone Lane.

Within it, were many neatly arranged long-tables and chairs, and leg room. Sitting down and picking up our menus, we ordered some bak kut teh. Well, okay. It’s a bak kut teh store so most of the menu is bak kut teh. But sematics.

Anyways, the food came quickly and we tucked in. For me, I ordered pork ribs soup with a side of rice and braised peanuts. The soup was a nice blend of sweet and salty, with a nice herbal tang to it. The rice was very fragrant as well.

Wanting to find out more about this establishment, I sought to speak to the chef about her food but she seemed pretty busy cooking. So I spoke to the cute little munchkin serving us.

Hi everyone! I’m with one of the people of Precious Bak Kut Teh. Take it away!

Oh… hey! Precious Bak Kut Teh is a family business. This store just started in Singapore. (pause) This business was actually started by my mom’s side. This shop is still new so, for now, we are made up of just family members – my cousins, my aunt and me. I am considered the youngest generation.

That’s quite a legacy! Just a quick question: This place is kinda out-of-the-way. Why here of all places?

We wanted to find a shop rather than a stall so that it looks more professional. A shop area also provides more space so that customers don’t get cramped together. We sourced out a few potential spots but they didn’t have the right “feel” to it. Then, we came upon this place.

It might be a bit out of the way but it’s the best we can find because we don’t want to compete with others too much or cannibalize other bak kut teh businesses. I mean, everyone’s just trying to make a living here. So… yeah.

This place is really new but that lady over there looks like she really knows what she’s doing. Is there any hidden history to this business?

(looks around) Oh! That’s my mom!

We just started this store in 2 July so we’re still fairly new. For now, we’re still in the period of inviting friends and getting word out regarding our location. There’re quite a few other shops along this stretch so we try to bring those passers-by in as well.

Answering your question, we have quite a long history. Our bak kut teh is “Klang” style so our roots are in Klang. We have shops that then ventured out other parts of Malaysia, like Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. The oldest store is currently around 25 years old – in Ipoh, Perak. That stall belongs to my aunt.

Her son came down to Singapore and decided to expand here and bring our unique flavour here.

Hm! Not newbies at all, then! In that case, any specialty dishes?

Our most important signature dish would be our bak kut teh soups. We currently serve only herb-based soups – none of the pepper-based one. Our soups contain 11 different kinds of herbs. Our recipe is also a family secret so you can’t find it anywhere else outside of our shops.

For our soups, we have various kinds of meat to choose from. Currently, we don’t serve mixed soups so you’ll have to buy different bowls if you want to try all the flavours.

For special dishes, we offer both sour and spicy pig trotters (which can’t be found outside) and vinegar pig trotters. Both are our specialties from Malaysia. There’s a new trend of dry bak kut teh so we offer that as well. We use ee-mian for our bak kut teh noodles instead of the common yellow noodles or hor fun, as it is more fragrant.

We serve home-brewed Chinese tea like Pu-erh, chrysanthemum tea, jasmine tea and even the popular Gok Poh by the pot for the full authentic experience.

That’s a very tasty-looking menu! On to the formal stuff. What were the main challenges in starting this up?

I wouldn’t say a challenge but more like a new thing that we learnt. Starting a business in Singapore is very different from starting one in Malaysia. It is true that the measures and screening process here are a lot stricter. We needed to hunt the area for a shop space (quite difficult in Singapore) and then had to go through an entire approval process before we were cleared to start our business. That actually caused a delay in our opening date, which was supposed to be in early June, but no real harm done.

Hm… what are your hopes and plans for this business?

Firstly, we want to get the business on track. After that, we hope to bring in more people so that we can share the authentic taste of bak kut teh with everyone. We’ll probably look into expanding into more locations in Singapore after that so that good food is not just limited to Malaysia.

What do you think is the strongest selling point of the business?

Our herbal soup and the flavour of our dishes that you can’t really find outside! For those who are more health-conscious, we also do not use MSG in our soup bases. Everything within the soup is cooked from scratch.

We also renovated our shop to have a more homely feel. Our customers comfort is important to us so we’ve also installed air-conditioning, to use on hot days, and a well-stocked toilet.

Speaking of toilets and home, I went scouting your toilet just now. It’s remarkably clean. Any reasons behind this?

First and foremost, it’s hygiene. We wanted to achieve a homely feel. I mean, who likes a dirty and smelly toilet, or feels comfortable in it? So… we make it a point to keep it as hygienic, clean and fresh-smelling as possible.

It’ll probably become a challenge as more people come in but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Any last words?

Come and eat! :D

Well, you’ve heard the girl! Check out this handy little map I snagged from their Facebook page if you want directions to the place to satisfy your bak kut teh cravings!

Drink All The Beer in the World!

Confessions of a Pansexual Christian

 “But, you know, I feel more fellowship with the defeated than with saints. Heroism and sanctity don't really appeal to me, I imagine. What interests me is being a man.” 
― Albert Camus, The Plague

I never thought the day would come when I would do this. To be honest, there’s a part of me that’s screaming to stop typing this letter. There’s a part of me that’s telling me that this is a bad idea. I do believe, however, that I owe it to both communities to come out in the open.

Both sides have had much misunderstanding. Both sides have had much conflict. And I believe many on both sides of the camp are tired of all the fighting. I know I am.

I am a Christian.

I identify as Pansexual (and for the sake of this letter, I will not mention my attraction to women).

The journey to discovering my sexuality, as a Christian, was not an easy one.

I first found myself being attracted to other men at around Primary 6. Not really understanding what those feelings were, I brushed them aside and assumed that it was simply a matter of feeling a sense of friendship with some of my male classmates. It was around Secondary 2 (two years into church) that I realized that I was noticing things about other guys – particularly one.

Having grown up in a single-parent family, my mom spent most of her time working to keep the family going and I didn’t have anyone to really talk to about my feelings. The realization that I was romantically interested in another guy was a bit of a revelation for me and no small amount of unnerving and confusing.

After all, weren’t men and boys supposed to fall in love and be attracted to the opposite sex?

Seeking to understand what was going on, I went to speak to my pastors about this. Needless to say, it didn’t end well. I was sent for counselling and I was urged to repent of my sinful ways.

Whenever I broached the topic to any of the leadership, it would be avoided. When I hinted at the idea of speaking about homosexuality (or any form of non-heterosexuality) with my peers, the topic was met with revulsion. I never dared to speak to anyone else about it. For a period of time, I went for “counselling”. Little was spoken or explained about what I felt and most of the time was spent on telling me that what I was feeling was unnatural and sinful, and that I ought to confess my sin to God and repent.

For a period of time, at the age of 14, I believed all of that. And through that period of time, I began locking away my feelings, never daring to explore them. I was afraid to feel what I was feeling. I never made friends because I was afraid that they would discover this dark secret of mine. Again and again, I tried to renounce what I was feeling. It never worked. All those feelings just kept returning. I began believing that I was a failure as a Christian and that I was to be condemned to Hell.

I had no one to confide in. I found no resolution to my situation. I left that church.

I began doubting my worth as a person.

I retreated into myself and fell into depression. At the age of 16, I wanted to kill myself. After all, in a doctrine that said that I was condemned either way, what point was there in continuing?

The turning point came when my mom attended another church and invited me over. Well, more like dragged me over. I hated it at first but, for some reason, I stayed anyway. I guess the people were friendly enough.

Three months down the road, while staying over at a pastor’s house, I took a risk and revealed my interest in men to him. He looked up from breakfast, shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating his cereal. Then, he asked me what I thought of the day.

“Some people advise you what to do and some people forbid what not to do, but the genuine people just ask you if they can do anything for you.” 
― Anuj Somany

To not receive admonishment or any form of rejection came as a shock for me. But that was to be the genuine start of my journey as a Christian.

Years passed and I got to know God better, and I even got out of my shell and made some friends. One thing that I never quite got, though, was a proper role-model. I wanted to live out my life as a Christian as real as possible. I also wanted to live life true to myself.

It’s difficult, even as I’m writing now after all these years, to express the confusion of reconciling my faith with my state. At least, it’s difficult to explain without ending up preaching about things. I had friends within my Christian circle and I had friends within my LGBT circle. None intersected between both.

I studied the Scriptures. I wrestled a lot with many concepts and ideologies, and I spent many nights crying and wondering. The church always preached about love and mercy but that was easy (enough) to apply to a heterosexual person. What about those who fell into the taboos? What about me?

“Am I a hypocrite?”

That’s a question that’s always on my mind.

I’m going to stop this recount here. What’s the point of this whole monologue? I guess… I’m just hoping to provide some perspective without all the rage.

What really prompted this letter was seeing a large part of my church wearing white over the weekend for FamFest (a.k.a the anti-gay protest parading as a family-friendly event). It felt like betrayal.

This one’s to my fellow Christians. We (non-hetro-sexuals) are very much real people with real emotions. The love we feel for others and the romance is very, VERY real to us. It’s the kind of love where we wake up each day, looking forward to see the one we love – to know the one we love more.

Lawrence Khong spoke of the “gay agenda”. To be fair, there’re some who have turned this into a political issue. For the majority of us, however, Pink Dot is about equality. It is about being validated as people – as individual human beings with real dreams and real emotions. Pink Dot represents us not having to hide in a closet, constantly afraid of being outed and rejected for something we didn’t choose. After all, how do you choose who you fall in love with? To revalidate that, even if you were to reference all the Scripture in the world, how is that the Gospel? How is that loving or compassionate?

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”

― 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (MSG)

To my fellow gay, bisexual, lesbian, trans and (insert sexuality of choice) friends, I want to apologize to all of you on behalf of the Christian community. I am extremely sorry that you have been wounded in some way or another and I hope and pray that you’ll someday find it in your heart to forgive us.

I know that apology could mean absolutely nothing to you and that it probably won’t make up for a lot of hurt that has happened from the Christian community. To be rejected and devaluated is never an easy thing to be faced with.

I need to let you know, though, that there’re the quiet ones within the Church – those who choose to see you as a person beyond who you lay with.

On Sunday, most of my church wore white. I felt a great sense of betrayal. Then, there were the few who knew about me. And they chose not to wear white. They decided that they could not support an event that essentially de-humanized someone.

I am blessed to have been able to discover friends like that but they’re not the only ones out there in the world. There’re so many more out there in Singapore.

At the end of the day, having been in both sides of this conflict – and sandwiched in this conflict – I’m hoping for the day when everyone can put aside their differences and see each other as people. People who are imperfect. People who are broken.

People who are in need of love.