31st March

Sustainability from tradition

In our culinary journey, tradition is the bedrock that shapes our tastes and choices. Exploring the fusion of heritage and modernity, can we find inspiration in time-honoured practices to provide a sustainable path forward?

Programme

4.30pm

Welcome

Reception & Registration

Welcome drink by Discarded Spirits Co. (full ticket holders only)

Complimentary refreshments by MoNo

Booth and Display by Orang Laut SG

5.00pm

Cooking Demonstration

Looking into the Past to Inform the Future

By Nithiya Laila & Chef Ivan Brehm

Two friends in a kitchen chat about food, culture, heritage within the larger global socio economic ecosystem of food sustainability, equity and sovereignty. Can the past show us how to eat better for the present and future ensuring all are seen and represented at this intersection?

6.10pm

Talk & Presentation

Indigenous People of Thailand: Growing, Cooking & Preserving Indigenous Food & Traditions

By Chef Suwitra Wongwaree & Nor Yatee Salaithongpers

Passing on culinary knowledge to sustain indigenous food culture and Land.

6.40pm

Connect

Networking Session

Complimentary refreshments (non-alcoholic) by MoNo

Booth and Display by Orang Laut SG

7.10pm

Storytelling

Orang Pulau & their Connection to the Southern Islands

By Firdaus Sani (Orang Laut SG)

More than 40 years ago, the occupants of Pulau Semakau were asked to leave the island. Their family was the last to leave. Today, they are all scattered across the country.

They are the Orang Laut, or people of the sea. Their family, along with many others, depended on the sea as a life source. Their hearts still long for the life they once had.

7.30pm

Feast

Dinner & Conversations

Menu by Orang Laut SG

Drinks by Native

The distinct flavours of their food draw from the many influences of the Malay Nusantara. The phrase ‘ikut hati kau’ - follow your heart - underlies how they cook and sometimes, how they live. They are opening their hearts and kitchens, warmly inviting you to experience the food and the story of their family.

Dinner will be served communal style with a mix of sharing plates and individual plates. Menu may be subject to change based on ingredient availability.

Starter

Gulai Nenas

Pineapples in peppery prawn broth

Mains

Sambal Udang

Prawns in spicy chilli chutney

Assam Pedas Ikan

Mackerel in spicy tamarind broth

Sotong Hitam

Fresh squid in savoury squid ink paste

Siput Sedut Lemak

Chut-chut in savoury coconut gravy

Nasi, Ulam-Ulam, Ikan Kering & Belacan

Rice, fresh cut veggies & herbs, fried fish & fermented prawn paste

Dessert

Kueh Lopes

Glutinous Rice with coconut shavings & gula melaka

Drinks

Mixed by Native

Included in pre-purchased Drinks Bundle, sold separately on-site.

Forager Garden

Discarded grape vodka, calamansi, blue pea, xylitol

Zephyr

Golden pear, yuzu, olives, burnt rosemary

*Photos are for illustration purposes only

Chefs & Speakers

Ivan Brehm

Chef-Owner,

Nouri and Appetite

Socials & Sites

Nouri | Appetite

Ivan Brehm is chef-owner of one-Michelin-starred restaurant Nouri and the creative interdisciplinary space, Appetite. He is recognised for developing a system of thought - of which cooking is a part - called Crossroads Thinking.

At Nouri, Chef Ivan Brehm and his team cook with one hand in tradition and another in innovation. A floor above sits Appetite, a creative multi-disciplinary space that aims to explore any creative form of expression in an intimate, direct, and meaningful way.

Nithiya Laila

Culinary Anthropologist

Brunch Bandits

Socials

Nithiya Laila is a culinary anthropologist who explores the intersection of culture / heritage and sustainability through the lens of the food system. Bio(diverse) plates and seed sovereignty are her primary focus.

Recommended Resources

Edible Wild by CNA

From Farm to Fork to Table - a 3-part panel series with Yale-NUS Farming Collective

IMG_2024 - Nattawut Wongwaree_edited.jpg

Suwitra Wongwaree

Chef & Sustainable Development Culinary Trainer

Socials & Sites

PlanetLab

Based in Chiang mai, Thailand with a formal education in Southeast Asian Studies and culinary arts, Chef Suwitra Wongwaree's work is focused on providing culinary training to indigenous communities to enhance opportunities for youth leaders and create self-reliant communities.

She is currently working with local organic farming communities on curriculum development, employing food knowledge and engaging children of the community. One of these communities, Mae Tha, is known for its dedication to organic farming and has achieved international acclaim.

Recommended Resources

The Backbone of Longstanding Community-Driven Impact by Jimena Garcia

Growing Wild 2 by CNA

IMG_9274 - Nattawut Wongwaree_edited.jpg

Nor Yatee Salaithongpers
Pakayaw

(Karenni) woman leader,

Huay I Khang Village

Socials

Nor Yatee Salaithongpers is a force of nature. She is mother of two children, entrepreneur, farmer, educator, and part of the next ‘young generation’ of leaders in her village, Huay-I-Khang. As the daughter of the previous “village chief”, she grew up being accustomed to the affairs of the village, be it the day-to-day organising of community farming or political activism in issues of land and Indigenous rights.

As someone who has studied in the city and since returned, Yatee made a conscious choice to strengthen her core belief that rural communities can and should also have their own standard of
development.

Firdaus Sani

Founder, Orang Laut SG

Socials & Sites

Orang Laut SG

Firdaus Sani is a fourth-generation Orang Laut/Pulau descendant whose ancestry can be traced to the islanders of Singapore’s Southern islands and the Riau Islands. His maternal grandparents used to live on Pulau Semakau, until 1977 before they had to leave their home for the mainland.

While growing up, Firdaus visited Pulau Semakau on many occasions with his grandparents, where he learnt the traditions and the ways of life of the people who had a deep connection with the sea.

Recommended Resources

Life as an Orang Laut on Pulau Semakau

by OGS

Of Opera & Orang Laut: Keeping Our Family Heritage Alive by CNA