focus
host country singapore
Reimagining luxury
in the Lion City
Who better to talk about luxury in Singapore than the city’s media?
Raini Hamdi asks her peers for their insights and favourite haunts
Maxwell Food Centre: Even billionnaires queue for food here
Brian Yim
Group publisher &
managing editor
MillionaireAsia
MillionaireAsia was launched in 2005 as a
communication platform to reach high net
worth individuals. Since then, MillionaireAsia
is in nine countries and has adopted a franchise
model to expand its brand and business model.
There are now 140,000 mostly accredited
investors and millionaires in its network spread
across 15 countries. The MillionaireAsia
trademark is a global brand registered in 24
countries. www.millionaireasia.com
What is your idea of luxury?
Luxury does not necessarily mean
exclusive or the most expensive. To me,
luxury is merely having the privilege of
enjoying quality time to do the things
that make you happy and to be at peace
with yourself.
A chairman of a family office in
Singapore shared that he joined a long
queue of patrons at a chicken rice stall at
28 TTG Asia luxury | May 2018
Maxwell Food Centre. He was surprised
that the person in front of him was an
Indonesian billionaire dressed in shorts
waiting in line without any fuss for his
favourite food at a hawker centre. To the
billionaire, being almost unrecognised
while waiting to buy what he liked was
sheer luxury to him.
Describe a local meal that for you is
utter luxury, and should not be missed
by anyone new to Singapore.
I love local food fare and Peranakan
The person in front of
him was an Indonesian
billionaire dressed in
shorts waiting in line
without any fuss for
his favourite food at
a hawker centre.
cuisine as it reminds me of my late
grandmother who was a wonderful
chef. I am a frequent diner at Violet
Oon’s National Kitchen at National
Gallery Singapore. They serve authentic
Peranakan as well as many of my local
favourite local dishes. A convenient and
comfortable one-stop place to sample a
wide variety of spicy Singaporean dishes
like otak-otak (fish cake grilled or steamed
in banana leaf), laksa (spicy noodle soup
in coconut milk) and the most succulent
satay (grilled skewers of beef or chicken)
in town without breaking your bank
account!
You must get invited all the time. Which
exquisite lunch, and dinner, can you
recall – where and why was it exquisite?
Velaa Private Island in the Maldives,
owned by Czech billionaire Jiri Smejc,
hosted an outstanding and amazing six-
course dinner in Singapore recently. They
flew in their chef and head sommelier
to work with the F&B team at Andaz
Singapore to prepare the most exquisite
dishes of spanner crab and Sturja caviar,
slow cooked lobster tail with Perigord
black truffle puree, miso marinated black
cod, cream ravioli with duck ragu and
sage oil, Toriyama A4 wagyu beef with
braised cheek and grilled tenderloin and
finishing with panna cotta and hazelnut
ice-cream. Each dish was paired with the
finest champagne and Gran Cru wine. It
was a great introduction to what guests
can expect when they stay at the Velaa
Private Island where a night’s stay can
range from US$3,000 to US$30,000.
A hidden experience for luxury
travellers in Singapore?
Going green and ecotourism are the new
luxury experiences.
Try visiting a sprawling organic farm
in Singapore’s countryside, called Bol-
lywood Veggies in Kranji, run by the
irrepressible but highly entertaining Ivy
Singh. There you can walk amidst lush
fruit trees bearing bananas, pineapples,
starfruits and learn about local culinary
history at the food museum, dine at
farm-to-table Poison Ivy Bistro and also
join local cooking classes.