CSJ and wife opening cafe at rochester mall.....

[ginfreely]

I just realised I can’t find my posts last night. which bastard owner or moderator deleted my spam of Jeremy Quek @glockman posts last night while keeping all these spamming scamming posts by your fellow bastards slandering me a real virgin a fake virgin dirty whore? @nayr69sg? @zhihau? @Leongsam? My guess is @nayr69sg because he is the most free and sneaky manipulative bastard. Shame on you bastards.

 

[jw5]

from yahoo.com:

Orange & Teal, Rochester Mall: “It tries to cover so much with so little”​

Excitement was thick in the air when politician Dr Chee Soon Juan and wife first announced the opening of Orange & Teal at Rochester Drive. Nobody knew what the menu was or how much the fare would cost. But I knew a politics geek (or five) who wanted to be amongst the firsts to step foot into the cafe.

Between the craze, the dining-in ban during Phase 2 (HA) again, and all the chaos of shifting our editorial schedule, I finally squeezed in the time to visit Dr Chee’s establishment (on my off day, no less), and caught a glimpse of the man of the hour.

On a typical day, Dr Chee can be spotted greeting guests, ushering them in, and stopping for the occasional selfie with a fan who’s managed to read all but one of his books on Singapore’s economical landscape. It’s a fascinating scene—one that I take my time to drink in, especially having covered GE2020 last year with a ton of research and sporadic scathing takes.

What I tried​

If the menu at Orange & Teal were a person, it’d be a small child, wandering the toiletries aisle of Cold Storage, unsure if his mom ran off to grab cherries or whether she’d driven home without her own son in tow. It tries to cover so much with so little, and ends up being a bit lost.

Creamy Butter Tuscan Salmon

Under the same ‘mains’ tab, you’ll find both the Creamy Butter Tuscan Salmon (S$20.80) and the Creole Jambalaya (S$13.90) which draw inspiration from very different cuisines, and yet there’s also Green Sencha Tea (S$4) to throw into the mix as if all that wasn’t sending enough mixed signals.

I can’t quite put a finger on what the salmon dish is supposed to be—there’s poached salmon sitting in a bed of watered-down cream sauce, but there’re also twirls of linguine that are unclear if served as a main or a side. When I picture creamy butter Tuscan salmon, I don’t particularly imagine thin, watery cream sauce and soggy salmon skin loosely arranged on a plate, but then again in a perfect world I wouldn’t be riding 17 train stops just to jostle with disgruntled aunties for a seat in Dr Chee’s establishment.

Creole Jambalaya

If we’re talking flavour, then the Creole Jambalaya makes up for what the Tuscan salmon lacks, but only slightly. It’s a hodgepodge of rice, sliced sausages, celery, bell peppers, and a grand total of three prawns, amongst other ingredients. In some sort of twisted sense of irony, the Creole Jambalaya is probably the one dish that encapsulates the spirit of the fare here at Orange & Teal—equal parts confused and out of place.

Close up of Forest Mushroom Soup

Possibly the only saving grace of the afternoon, a piping hot—albeit not cleaned before serving much to Chef Gordon Ramsay’s dismay—bowl of Forest Mushroom Soup (S$4.50) sees thick chunks of mushrooms amidst its other blended counterparts.

Double Chocolate Fudge Cake

Dessert comes by way of a Double Chocolate Fudge Cake (S$6.80) and that cake alone because, after everything before, I’m frankly afraid to extend my gastronomic trek here. It delivers a fudgy outer as promised, but its spongy layers could definitely use a lot more moisture.

A quick look around’s all I need to realise that just by being here, my partner and I easily, immediately lower the average age of diners by a mile. If it’s not aunties exchanging gossip about Jenny from finance, it’s middle-aged couples who look like they’ve missed one too many sessions of marriage counselling. We Singaporeans aren’t textbook when it comes to love and family, and well, most things for that matter. But if it’s one thing that we know, it’s using food as a vessel to put differences aside, even if it’s just temporarily.

Final thoughts​

While the fare’s obviously a lot less stellar than I’d hoped, maybe it shouldn’t be expected to be great. After all, with Dr Chee creating a space for Singaporeans to gather, engage in discourse, and “where the conversation’s even better”—as the slogan goes, I believe—perhaps it’s alright to close an eye or two when it all comes down to it.

Most make the trip down to Orange & Teal for reasons other than the food, anyway. But for this Eastie, it’s going to take a lot more than air-fried spam fries and automatic coffee machine lattes for me to trudge down to Rochester Drive again.

Expected damage: S$13.90 – S$20.80 per pax

 

[Charlie99]

I just realised I can’t find my posts last night. which bastard owner or moderator deleted my spam of Jeremy Quek @glockman posts last night while keeping all these spamming scamming posts by your fellow bastards slandering me a real virgin a fake virgin dirty nice person? @nayr69sg? @zhihau? @Leongsam? My guess is @nayr69sg because he is the most free and sneaky manipulative bastard. Shame on you bastards.

Why is this post at this discussion thread re CSJ Cafe?
I believe that you are beyond reasonable and fair.
PLEASE STOP YOUR UNNECESSARY AND IRRELEVANT POSTS AT UNRELATED DISCUSSION THREADS.

 

[ginfreely]

Why is this post at this discussion thread re CSJ Cafe?
I believe that you are beyond reasonable and fair.
PLEASE STOP YOUR UNNECESSARY AND IRRELEVANT POSTS AT UNRELATED DISCUSSION THREADS.

You sneaky manipulative bastard stop pretending don’t know this is part of the spamming that I did - that @Cottonmouth is allowed to do in my thread for years.

 

[Charlie99]

You sneaky manipulative bastard stop pretending don’t know this is part of the spamming that I did - that @Cottonmouth is allowed to do in my thread for years.

I am neither sneaky nor a bastard.
Your posts reflect your character and a poor reflection of your parents.
Please act like a responsible adult.
Enjoy your day.

 

[jw5]

CSJ speaks about democracy and values.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

8 hrs ·
I spoke at Yale University in 2012 and expressed my misgivings about the Yale-NUS project. The closure of the university – and after hundreds of millions of our taxpayer’s funds wasted – has made what I said come true. Below are excerpts of my speech at New Haven:
“When it was first announced that Yale would be setting up a campus with NUS in Singapore, I had my reservations, but I kept my own counsel. My colleagues and I in the Singapore Democratic Party cautiously welcomed the set up.
I fear – and I sincerely hope that I will be proven wrong on this – that the Yale leadership does not, like American multinational corporations that have come before it, cynically look to make that quick and easy dollar from Singaporeans while completely disregard what such actions would do to our society.
My experience with foreign academic institutions leads me to be very skeptical of their claims to want to provide Singaporeans with the best that academia can muster.
I fear, despite all the assurances, and because of what I have seen of what corporate America together with the Singapore state has done to my country, that making money is the be-all and end-all of all that is collaborated. I hope you can see why the Yale-NUS venture leaves me suspicious of Yale's motives – whether you are there to educate or simply to line your own pockets. I have never yearned so much to be proven wrong.
…
Asian values under the guise of Confucianism, have been used by the Singapore government to steer the people away from democracy which, it argues, will hamper economic progress. I argue the opposite – and data bear me out – that openness and accountability, in other words democracy, is essential for the economic advancement of a people.
But that's not the point.
Others argue that democracy is a Western concept not suited to an Eastern culture like Singapore. The irony is that it was the West that subjugated and oppressed Singapore, together with much of Asia, for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Freedom from colonialism was not given but won; the rebellion was instinctual. In short, the longing for freedom is not Asian or Western – it is primordial.
But that's not the point either.
Humankind must not live in a world where the poor and the elderly live off the crumbs that fall off the rich man's table; where Westerners, with the help of autocratic governments, exploit the locals in the countries that they invest in. Instead, we must work out a way to live in peace and on the premise that human equals human.
That's the point.
For a struggling American worker is no different from a struggling Singaporean worker. We're first and foremost human beings: when oppressed, we long to be free; when exploited, we seek to break that yoke.
And if you care enough that education at this revered institution will prepare you for a life that not just enables you to get ahead but to also improve the lot of those around you, of humanity, then you will also care that Yale University not yield on the principles of higher education on which it is founded.
You will want this proud arena of intellection to care that it upholds its reputation of imparting not just knowledge but wisdom – the wisdom that invites one to enter the door of his or her conscience.
I can only hope that as we progress into the future, as the global community becomes more intertwined and our interests become increasingly linked, that our values – the values that people come before profit, rights before riches and wisdom before wealth – will also become inextricably bound.

 

[jw5]

CSJ talks about nurses wearing tudungs.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

1 September at 19:11 ·
So, the PAP has finally relented and allowed nurses to don the tudung at work. The enlightened decision comes 20 years late but, as they say, better late than never.
20 years because in 2002, I had spoken about the matter at the Speaker’s Corner urging the government to embrace the right for Muslim women to wear the headscarf as part of their uniform. I was prosecuted and fined $3,000.
PM Lee Hsien Loong’s rationale is that wearing such gear will disrupt the image of unity in the public sector. What he fails to understand is that values like unity and loyalty are cultivated from within each person and how citizens perceive the state is treating them, not what one wears in public.
But when you have the powerful demanding million-dollar salaries while rejecting minimum wage, when the state can willy-nilly decide on who should be president based on skin colour, when immigration is based on nationality, equality and unity becomes just words that the government uses to manipulate the population for its own gain.
No, unity cannot be demanded from on-high, it cannot be decreed by self-centred politicians.
It can only be fostered by leaders who walk the talk and inspire people to look beyond appearance.
This is what I said in 2002, I believe it holds true today.
“Why is it that I, a Chinese Christian, have chosen to speak up for four Muslim girls? I know that my Malay and Muslim friends are afraid to speak out on this issue because every time they do, they are branded as racists and they attract the unwanted attention from the Government. And so many of them choose to keep quiet. But the problem doesn’t go away…
I appeal to the higher spirit of kindness and generosity in all of us and not pander to our base instincts of selfishness and ethnocentrism. Let us advocate tolerance, let us embrace diversity, let us celebrate humanity. Let us be colour blind when it comes to standing up for our rights. Let us reach across the racial divide when it comes to caring for each other and speaking up for one another.
For only then can we truly call ourselves sons and daughters of this island.”

 

[jw5]

CSJ pays tribute to his late friend and SDP election candidate.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

9 hrs ·
My good friend and SDP election candidate, Mr Sadasivam Veriyah, has passed away. Sada was an opposition stalwart who also worked tirelessly with the late J B Jeyartenam during the bleakest years in opposition politics.
He was a teacher and a unionist who pulled his weight, often behind the scenes, to make things work. He was one of those who answered the call of democracy but never got to taste it.
Nonetheless, he has left an irreducible step in Singapore's political history on which we climb in our quest for freedom for our country.
From all of your mates at SDP, RIP Sada. Our deepest condolences to the family.

 

[jw5]

CSJ treats foreign workers to lunch.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

11 hrs ·
They pave our roads but never get to drive on them, they build our flats but never get to live in them, they manicure our parks but never get to stroll in them.
So I treated these lads to lunch on Sunday at Orange & Teal. Many of you have commented how elegant and cozy the café looks. Well, now you know who helped us make our vision a reality. Jeshain, Abu, Ah Yew (not in pic) – just to name a few in the team – they were the ones to put in the pipes and bang in the nails to make the place look the way it is. And now they get to enjoy the results of their work.
Too often we don’t see or acknowledge their contribution to our country and the sacrifices they make. They have names, they have loved ones at home they haven’t seen for years. They toil for miserable wages often creamed off by unscrupulous agents. They feel pain but remain silent when we herd them into dorms with shambolic living conditions and treat like disposable tools.
If we want others to treat us with compassion and respect, let’s first treat others with compassion and respect.
I want Singapore to be a great nation, not just a rich one. And a great nation values wisdom, not just wealth; compassion, not just crass riches.

 

[jw5]

from msn.com:

Chee Soon Juan treats migrant workers who built his cafe to lunch at his cafe​

Singapore Democratic Party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan has made it a point to treat marginalised groups, such as cleaners and low-income elderly individuals, to free meals at his cafe, Orange & Teal.

On Sunday (Sep. 5), he hosted a group of migrant workers to lunch at the very cafe that they had helped construct.

Migrant workers don't get to enjoy the fruits of their labour​

In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sep. 7), Chee wrote about how, despite migrant workers toiling away at constructing Singapore, they don't get a chance to enjoy what they create:

"They pave our roads but never get to drive on them, they build our flats but never get to live in them, they manicure our parks but never get to stroll in them."

Thus, he said, he decided to treat the team of migrant workers who had helped to construct Orange & Teal to lunch at the cafe.

"Many of you have commented how elegant and cozy the café looks. Well, now you know who helped us make our vision a reality," he wrote, naming Jeshain, Abu, and Ah Yew as a few of the workers who built the place.

"[T]hey were the ones to put in the pipes and bang in the nails to make the place look the way it is. And now they get to enjoy the results of their work."

Wants Singapore to be a nation that values wisdom and compassion​

Chee added that often times, those of us in Singapore don't acknowledge or even see the contributions that migrant workers make to the country and the sacrifices that they have to make.

"They have names, they have loved ones at home they haven’t seen for years. They toil for miserable wages often creamed off by unscrupulous agents.
They feel pain but remain silent when we herd them into dorms with shambolic living conditions and treat like disposable tools."

He called for people to treat others with compassion and respect, and voiced his hopes for Singapore:

"I want Singapore to be a great nation, not just a rich one. And a great nation values wisdom, not just wealth; compassion, not just crass riches."

 

[jw5]

CSJ and friends distribute free food to residents.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

11 hrs ·
Distributed some takeaway food items from Orange & Teal yesterday afternoon to lower-income residents at Bukit Batok. Prof Tambyah and Jufri Salim did the same at Bt Panjang and Sembawang over the last couple weeks.
We're able to do this with the generosity of many of you over our pay-it-forward programme. Thanks, everyone and see you at the cafe.

 

[jw5]

 

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[jw5]

CSJ has paintings in his cafe.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

9 hrs ·
Hi, everybody. From today until 21 Sep,. Orange & Teal will feature paintings from two artists Elizabeth Khan and Wendy Bai. We've put up some of the pieces in the cafe which you can purchase.
We are providing the space rent-free for local artists to exhibit their work instead of them having to rent gallery space which might be costly. All profit from the sales goes to the painters.
This is one way O&T can support the arts community in S'pore. In time to come when Covid rules allow, I'd like to have book launches and readings, and even music performances. Wouldn't that be great?
In the meantime, come on down and see what you like about Elizabeth's and Wendy's paintings and see if you like to take one or two home with you. Available from 14-21 Sep 2021, For more information about the artists and their work, go to bit.Iy/khanzhiying.

 

[jw5]

CSJ wants his cafe to bring people together.

Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全​

6 hrs ·
A recent review of Orange & Teal made some criticisms of our food. I want to assure the reviewer that we’ve taken the comments on board and have been working to address the points she raised.
But she then wandered into commenting on the make-up of our guests. That, I must say, is not quite as kosher. The whole idea of us starting the cafe was to bring people together, no matter your station in life or the path you take.
It is so good to see the young man bring his retired parents for lunch or the dad taking his daughter on a date to spend quality time with her or the trendy group of millennials coming in for our Wed wine night or the young couple indulging in our afternoon tea set or the lady getting lost in the pages of her book with a pot of tea.
Orange & Teal serves the millionaire who orders our finest wine and dines in style as well as the cardboard collector who comes in from the toil for a simple meal. I've had all of you come through and I thank you for making this place the rich tapestry of life that we want it to be.
Each and every one of you is the reason for my starting this cafe. Here we celebrate each other's company - whether you're literate or not and regardless of the school you come from.
At times like these, let's bring people together, not further divide them. And we can do this only when we speak from the heart, not just the mouth.

 

[jw5]

from mothership.sg:

Chee Soon Juan reiterates he welcomes all to his cafe, literate or not & regardless from which school​

Cafe owner Chee Soon Juan has reiterated his offer to welcome all and sundry to his cafe as it is a place for a broad cross-section of society, without prejudice.

The seasoned politician made his offer known again in a Facebook post on Sep. 16 after a review of his cafe took issue with the food served and the clientele who were present on a typical day.

Okay with food criticism only​

Chee responded that the criticisms of the food have been taken on board and the cafe is working to address the points raised.

However, what he could not stand for was the criticism by the reviewer of the make-up of his paying customers.

Chee wrote: "But she then wandered into commenting on the make-up of our guests. That, I must say, is not quite as kosher. The whole idea of us starting the cafe was to bring people together, no matter your station in life or the path you take."

The review, which Chee did not provide a link to or call out explicitly, is believed to be the one that said: "... in a perfect world I wouldn’t be riding 17 train stops just to jostle with disgruntled aunties for a seat in Dr Chee’s establishment."

No time for division​

Contrary to the perception of the reviewer, Chee said it is good to see children dining with their retired parents, a father and daughter spending quality time together, youngsters hanging out on wine night, couples on a date, and a solitary patron reading a book in his cafe.

He wrote that he serves the "millionaire" and "cardboard collector" equally in his cafe.

Chee concluded his post with a call to unite people in these trying times instead of encouraging divisions.

And showing he is up to date with the latest affairs in the country, Chee wrote:

Each and every one of you is the reason for my starting this cafe. Here we celebrate each other's company -- whether you're literate or not and regardless of the school you come from.
At times like these, let's bring people together, not further divide them. And we can do this only when we speak from the heart, not just the mouth.