Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was hosted to breakfast by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (Dec 2) at Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre, as the country is looking to upgrade its wet markets and build a hawker centre in Yangon.
Clad in a traditional Myammar dress, Ms Suu Kyi was treated to local favourites – carrot cake, laksa, tau huay, putu mayam and chwee kueh – ahead of the wrapping up of her three-day visit to Singapore.
She was accompanied by Myanmar’s Union Minister for Commerce U Than Myint and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin. Also present were the National Environment Agency’s CEO Ronnie Tay and Singapore Ambassador to Myammar Robert Chua.
The stall owners at Ghim Moh market said they were informed of the visit two days earlier, and some of them came as early as 4am to prepare the dishes.
Mdm Letchmi Veerapan, who has been serving putu mayam for the past 20 years, told Channel NewsAsia: “”This is my first time meeting Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, I’m really honoured and happy that she chose our dish to try. I came here at 4am to prepare the putu mayam for her. I’m really very honoured to do that.”
The sentiment was echoed by 66-year-old Lee Sah Bah, stall owner of Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh. “I came early to prepare because she’s our VIP,” she said.
The Myanmar State Counsellor is not the only one interested in Singapore’s hawker culture. Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein visited Singapore in July to study how Singapore manages its hawker centres, and went to Tiong Bahru Market and Ci Yuan Hawker Centre then.
Over the last two days, the Nobel Laureate was hosted to dinner by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and called on Acting President J Y Pillay, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. Ms Suu Kyi also visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where an orchid hybrid was named in her honour.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia
