Olivia Lim
Editor , Custom Content
Solutions, Singapore
Press Holdings; Travel &
Lifestyle Editor, SilverKris
SilverKris is the inflight publication of
Singapore Airlines
What is your idea of luxury?
Luxury to me is when all my needs
are anticipated, and when service is
so attentive that it feels like magic.
Describe a local meal that for you
is utter luxury, and should not be
missed by anyone new to Singapore.
Definitely a hawker centre feast;
go to one of the good ones like Old
Airport Road or Maxwell Food
Centre and order from all the famous
stalls. You need more people to do
this: order one each of chicken rice,
bak chor mee, char kway teow, wonton
mee (all three are noodles), roti prata
(fluffy Indian flatbread eaten with
curry) and carrot cake (Editor’s Note:
it is not the Western carrot cake; it’s
radish cake stir-fried with eggs –
very delicious!).
Finish off with ice kacang (shaved
ice with syrup) and sugarcane juice.
Wear your stretchy pants.
You must get invited all the time.
Which exquisite lunch, and dinner,
can you recall – where and why was
it exquisite?
Hashida Sushi. Exquisitely delicate
sushi accompanied by hilarious
banter from charming chef Hatch.
A hidden experience for luxury
travellers in Singapore?
Dusk Restaurant & Bar at Mount
Faber (see page 63).
A laid-back and unpretentious
place for a sundowner, with killer
views of Sentosa and cable cars going
to and fro. Be sure to come in time
for sunset. Great cocktails, and food
is good too – try the grilled octopus
starter and prawn capellini.
Kannan Chandran
Publisher
www.storm.sg
Storm.sg was created to take the less obvious
path, into the realms of knowledge and (mis)
understandings of the world we live in. From
beauty to passion and business to philosophy,
the topics are as wide-ranging as our lives. The
award-winning magazine moved to the online
platform where it continues to deliver content
that provokes thought and offers different
perspectives on a dynamic world.
What is your idea of luxury?
My notion of luxury has changed over
the years.
Back in the day when I was creating
lifestyle magazines, it was about
physical products. I was immersed in
To me, luxury
today is reserved
for the less tangible
aspects of life.
that physical environment of fast cars,
fancy watches, fabulous houses, fantastic
furniture and fashionable collectables.
These were tangible items that cost
thousands to millions of dollars. And if
you weren’t impressed with the amount
of money involved in their procurement,
you would value their inherent value, be
it in dollars thrown into their building or
in the craftsmanship, skill and ingenuity
entailed in their creation.
In our acquisitive phase of life, they
were reminders of how far we’d come
and what providence had delivered
sometimes as a result of hard work, other
times from being born into the right
family.
Some three decades on after being
exposed to the physical manifestations
of luxury, the enthusiasm for the shiny
bits does lose some of its edge and
excitement.
Jaded? Perhaps.
Higher expectations? Possibly.
There will be more where they came
from; each trying to outdo the last. It’s
the hamster on the treadmill.
To me, luxury today is reserved for the
less tangible aspects of life.
It’s more about having the luxury of
time to do things you want to do and
not be harried into hurried decisions on
things ephemeral and transient. That’s
often wishful thinking in the world of
business, so it becomes all the more
meaningful when you are able set aside
time and have meaningful chats with
friends and those with notions that
challenge the prevailing attitudes.
And not that we need to post
everything on social media.
The luxury of privacy is sometimes
never assured in this era of mobile
phones and all-seeing cameras. The need
to put on a front is an expectation, and
the ability to be yourself becomes a form
of luxury.
The luxury of experiences becomes
ever more valuable over time. For me, it’s
the chance to see and do things that add
to my repository of knowledge to call up
and cherish at will. Beholding the natural
beauty of the Antarctic glaciers and the
sanctifying silence of the Andes alps, to
setting foot on the man-made enormity
that is the USS Theodore Roosevelt
aircraft carrier and watching this marvel
at sea function with such precision.
It’s about the luxury of meeting
people with invaluable insights and
influence, like Virgin boss Richard
Branson, Rolling Stone’s Mick Jagger, the
late sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, artist
Tan Swie Hian, among many others.
It’s about the luxury of options. To
have a meal with Paul Joseph at his
award-winning The Song Of India
restaurant where the food is always tasty
or with KF Seetoh and a clutch of foodie
friends in the HDB (Singapore’s public
housing) home of Jeffrey Chia, where he
lays on a splendid Peranakan meal.
In the end, it’s about having enjoyed
the luxury of great conversations and
cherished moments that will never go
out of style or fashion.
TTG Asia luxury | May 2018 29