Rice coming from
Bangladesh
By
Rukshana Rizwie
Sunday, 23 November 2014 03:10
Without prior arsenic testing
Moves are afoot by the
Ministry of Trader and Internal Affairs as well as the Consumer Affairs
Authority to bring down a total of 50,000 metric tons of rice from Bangladesh
in the coming days; however officials have openly stated that they haven’t done
any tests to ascertain the traceability of arsenic in any of the stocks.
Speaking to The Nation, Chairman, CAA Rumy Marzook openly stated that the authority and the ministry are yet to look into reports that rice in Bangladesh could potentially be contaminated with arsenic. “We haven’t done any tests, but will look into the matter,” he curtly said. The Sri Lankan Government is tipped to import 50,000 metric tons of rice from Bangladesh in a bid to ensure food security locally. The Cabinet recently glossed over the danger and swiftly approved it. It has been reported that the entire deal would cost US$ 450 per ton, inclusive of cost, freight and insurance.
According to an article appeared in the Dhaka
Tribune, this will be the largest quantity of rice to be exported from
Bangladesh to Sri Lanka to date. Based on reports in the local press, the
import of rice is to be carried with immediate effect and stocks would be
distributed island-wide through the Lanka Sathosa supermarkets – the
state-owned wholesale and retail supermarket chain.
It has been widely acknowledged that Sri Lanka’s rice harvest has been hit hardest after a spate of drought in the Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Moneragala, Ampara and Vavuniya Districts during the 2014 Maha season. In order to compensate for the scarcity, import of rice has been sought as a remedial action. However, Sri Lanka in the past have only imported from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan since they were more suitable for the Sri Lankan palate.
It has been widely acknowledged that Sri Lanka’s rice harvest has been hit hardest after a spate of drought in the Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Moneragala, Ampara and Vavuniya Districts during the 2014 Maha season. In order to compensate for the scarcity, import of rice has been sought as a remedial action. However, Sri Lanka in the past have only imported from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan since they were more suitable for the Sri Lankan palate.
In September,
Assistant Director Agriculture Ministry, Dr. DBT Wijeratne went on record to
state that rice would not be imported from Bangladesh since it contains high
level of arsenic averaging 340 mg per kg (compared to the negligible levels
found locally). He was quoted in the weekend newspaper as saying that
government would not “generally import agricultural products from Bangladesh
since constant floods and digging of wells release arsenic into the
soil” He further added that since the ministry had been alerted of a
possibility of rice stocks that may contain high level of arsenic, inspections
would be carried out in the warehouses and at customs to prevent them from
being sold to the public should they contain any level of arsenic.
At the time, this edition of the newspaper
went to print. Dr Wijeratne, who was due to arrive in the country, was still
abroad. An official at the Ministry of Agriculture stated that the ministry did
not have the authority to conduct tests on imported rice, since most of their
tests and checks were confined to rice that was locally harvested. In
September, the Consumer Affairs Authority declared that the current stocks of
rice available in the market were safe for consumption.
A study by the Food
and Drug Administration noted that more than 10 percent of rice from China,
Pakistan and Bangladesh was estimated to have arsenic concentrations exceeding
200ppb (parts per billion). Meanwhile, the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
the top global decision-making body for food standards, issued the decision at
its annual meeting in Geneva earlier this year. “Arsenic is an environmental
contaminant.
It occurs naturally
and is taken up by plants from the water and soil when they’re growing, in
particular rice,” said World Health Organization food safety coordinator
Angelika Tritscher.The commission set a maximum of 0.2 milligram of arsenic per
kilo of polished rice -- the product that is traded and consumed. Bangladesh
was cited as a top concern, with tens of millions of rural dwellers exposed via
wells drilled in the 1970s in ‘access-to-water’ programs.
Concludes in Cambodia global rice
trade conference
Nom Penh, Nov 20 (Prensa Latina) The Sixth
World Rice Conference concluded here today, hosted by a country like Cambodia
which aims to develop its potential and to achieve a growing role in the cereal
market.When opening the two-day meeting, the host Minister of the branch, Sun Chanthol,
stressed the importance of the grass in ensuring food security in the world.He
urged developing business strategies to maintain stability and ensure the
category of interests between consumers, farmers and business entities.
Producing and exporting companies and
associations from 40 countries and territories participate in the event to
discuss issues relating to the improvement of production efficiency, trends,
future challenges and sustainable farming.For the general secretary of the
Vietnam Food Association, the second largest exporter, Huynh Minh Hue, the
conference is a timely opportunity to disseminate national brands and reach
agreements with importers.Cambodia organized a parallel Rice Festival to
promote its own product that supplies 269,000 tonnes, of which 80 percent goes
to the EU, well below the nearly seven million bill Vietnam.
This week it was reported that China will
grant a loan of 300 million dollars for the construction of 10 warehouses,
which is expected to overcome one of the most serious limitations of Cambodia
to be inserted with force in the global market.
Government jumps to cushion rice price fall
Published on Saturday, 22 November 2014 17:58
To prevent rice prices from
plummeting due to limitations on trade with China, the Myanmar Rice Federation
(MRF) will consider buying three million bushels of rice from the Ayeyarwady
Region, according to General Secretary Ye Min Aung.
“We’re now talking with Myanmar Oriental Bank to buttress
the rice price. There’s a rice surplus of three million bushels in the
Ayeyarwady Region and 1.5 million bushels in the Bago Region. Someone must
purchase them all to prevent the price from falling,” said Ye Min Aung.Rice
prices are likely to continue to fall unless Chinese buyers resume their trade
and, meanwhile, the MRF is trying to agree official rice exports for
December.“I’m sure there is demand in China,” said Aung Than Oo, the deputy
chairperson of MRF.Officials from China’s Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and Agriculture Ministry visited in
September and signed the memorandum of understanding with Myanmar’s Ministry of
Agriculture and Irrigation to secure an official rice trade.
An agreement for rice exports for January and February
next year has already been reached with official exports starting next
month.Currently, the government is planning to purchase unsold rice and the
military will buy stocks in December while the Myanmar Agribusiness Public
Corporation (Mapco) is also considering buying up stocks.Ye Min Aung said: “We
find it difficult to buy reserved rice and store it in warehouses. I don’t want
to encourage the purchase of reserved rice. I want the millers and merchants to
buy more as that is more beneficial in the long term but they need financial
support to do so. They also have the responsibility to pay back that support.
So we’ll buy it. The Mapco also plans to buy approximately 300,000 bushels of
rice.”Rice millers and merchants are in discussions to acquire three million
bushels of rice from the Ayeyarwady Region
Once a researcher, always a
researcher
Henry is a retired researcher from the
University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center, which was originally
called the Arkansas Rice Branch Experiment Station, because there were a number
of rice research experiments being made there.
Photo by Bill Shrum/Stuttgart
Daily LeaderSeth Henry
STUTTGART —
Seth Henry is not your typical 95 year old.Henry is a retired
researcher from the University of Arkansas Rice Research and Extension Center,
which was originally called the Arkansas Rice Branch Experiment Station,
because there were a number of rice research experiments being made
there.Henry, who had an official title of research assistant, graduated from
the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science
degree in agriculture and was employed at the experiment station from 1955
until 1991."For decades I had a motto of 'No one will be perfect, but
everyone will try,’" Henry said.
His variety of duties while employed there included:
• Conducting a variety of experiments;
• Working with rice breeding, soybean breeding, oat breeding and
Lespedeza breeding;
• Weed control;
• Diseases in rice; and
• Mosquito control research
Henry would take projects, with the men assisting him, in the
crops that they were working on at that particular time. For example they would
take rice, which they cut from an exact amount of space, thrashed it, weighed
it, checked for moisture and milled it."We kept the samples in an orderly
fashion," Henry said. "I also selected individual heads or panicles
for the next year."Among Henry's other duties were writing reports of
experiments in other counties, which he visited periodically.After retirement,
he wanted to do something and decided he was going to grow climbing pole lima
beans and performed his own kind of experiment in his backyard."I also did
it for the food supply," Henry said.
"I certainly enjoyed it."Henry
said he planted late April to early May in the spring and started harvesting in
July or early August until the frost or cold weather kills them, which this
year was early this week.Henry harvests the pods two or three times a week.
When the pods mature, he places them in a small packet with four seeds, which
will be ready for planting next year."I have experimented with cross
breeding the climbing pole beans," Henry said. "I have a speckled
pink bean."Henry treasures his family, which includes two daughters,Mary
Alice McGraw and Martha Davis, five grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and
a number of friends he has made along the way.
Research finds corn,
rice, wheat, and soybean crops contribute to global warming, emits CO2 when
grow
Posted
on Nov 22 2014 - 8:51am by Clinton Hesler
|
While the UN and other world
governments are blaming industrial facilities and greenhouse gas emissions as
contributing to climate change, a new study has revealed that four crops,
namely: corn, rice, wheat, and soybean are also playing their parts in the
whole climate change game.Scientists found that it is true that crops require
carbon dioxide for respiration and to manufacture their food, but they do not
burn up this element before their deaths; they store it. Carbon dioxide is
therefore re-released into the soil when these crops die, and this ultimately
makes carbon dioxide to find its way back into the environment.
According
to Mark Friedl of the University of Boston, “It’s a remarkable story of what
we’ve done in agriculture in general. And particular in corn, which is one crop
that’s just exploded. Over the last 50 years, the area of croplands in the
Northern Hemisphere has been relatively stable, but production has intensified
enormously. The fact that this land area can affect the composition of the
atmosphere is an amazing fingerprint of human activity on the planet.”
Friedl’s
research establishes one fact: the return of CO2 via dead crops like corn to
the earth enriches the soil and makes it more fertile and efficient for further
crop growths. The soil yields more crops per acre, even though more carbon
dioxide gas is still released during winter via the soil to the
earth.“Something is changing about this cycle. Ecosystems are becoming more
productive, pulling in more atmospheric carbon during the summer and releasing
more during the dormant period,” Friedl adds.
The
National Science Foundation’s Water Sustainability and Climate Program’s
director, Tom Torgersen, notes that “these indications of increased
productivity speak well for agriculture. But such enhanced agricultural
productivity makes significant demands on water supplies, which will require
further investigation.”See Also: AT&T and Verizon offers Moto X 2014 2nd
Gen on $0.01 upfront at Pre Black Friday dealsWhile crop scientists continue to
research the effects of enhanced agriculture on natural water supplies,
researchers found that corn, rice, wheat, and soybean constitute 64% of all
calories consumed around the world. And that, is something of interest.
Scientists: Higher
crop yields increase levels of CO2 in the atmosphere
By Kellan Howell -
The Washington Times - Saturday, November 22, 2014
Scientists assert that crop yields in the
Norther Hemisphere are producing higher concentrations of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere each summer.
Boston University
researchers found that corn, rice, wheat and soybean are the four leading crops
that account for maximum CO2 release in the atmosphere, Maine News Online reported Friday.
Carbon dioxide levels
increase each summer as crops absorb CO2 to convert sunlight in to food and
then release it after the growing season.Researchers estimate that agricultural
production accounts for a 25 percent surge in the seasonal carbon cycle.That
number could increase as the number of crops continues to grow.Since 1961, the
production of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans has more than doubled in the
northern hemisphere and new crops are absorbing and releasing nearly one
billion metric tons of CO2 each year, Maine News Online reported.“This study
shows the power of modeling and data mining in addressing potential sources
contributing to seasonal changes in carbon dioxide. It points to the role of
basic research in finding answers to complex problems,” said Liz Blood, program
director for the National Science Foundation’s Macro Systems Biology Program,
which funded the study.
Odisha fails to recover Rs 128 cr.
from rice millers
The Odisha government has failed
to recover the dues amounting to Rs. 128 crore from ‘unscrupulous’ rice
millers, who evaded returning milled rice.Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer
Welfare minister Sanjay Kumar Dasburma on Saturday informed the State Assembly
that rice mill operators had not returned 67,181 metric tonnes of rice.Every
year the State government gets huge stocks of paddy milled by rice millers. As
per the existing system, millers are supposed to give back 68 kg of rice for
every one quintal of paddy. The rice millers are paid the amount of converting
paddy into rice and supplied gunny bags to pack the rice.
However, over the years millers
have not returned the entire stock of milled rice worth crores of rupees. As
per the statistics tabled in the Assembly, total outstanding amount estimated
by government was Rs. 131 crore. The government could recover only Rs. 2.9
crore from the millers.Despite several criminal cases instituted against
millers, the recovered amount constituted less than 5 per cent of the total
outstanding. Opposition political parties alleged that the government was hand
in gloves with unscrupulous rice millers.
Exporters risk losing traditional rice markets
Salman Siddique
Saturday, November 22, 2014
From Print Edition
Saturday, November 22, 2014
From Print Edition
KARACHI: Rice exporters
on Friday warned Pakistan could lose its traditional rice markets if the
government buys the commodity from farmers to guarantee them high prices.
The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) has also asked
the government to avoid buying rice from farmers, as it may destabilise the
private sector. The association, however, said the government should
provide direct subsidy to farmers in order to support them.“The government’s
involvement in such business activity (procurement) will be harmful to the
private sector, which has invested billions of rupees to build an
infrastructure and human resources,” Rafique Suleman, chairman of REAP, said in
a statement.
“In case of the government’s involvement in rice business, we will
lose huge foreign exchange, as well as the credibility, which the rice
exporters have earned after long hard working.”Suleman demanded the government
to give due consideration to the grievances of the rice industry and give free
hand to the private sector for playing their positive role, boosting the
economy, which is badly affected due to a number of reasons.
He said the international market is depressed and all the rice
exporting countries are facing tough competition and prices are on the decline.
“This is the market phenomena and due to the demand supply aspect, we see such
trend in times and have to cope with it,” Suleman added.The price issue
highlighted following reports of a pick-up in paddy harvest that has weakened
its prices to at least 40 percent this season. The price of paddy – raw rice –
has dropped by Rs1,000/40 kilogram to around Rs1,500-1,600/ 40 kilogram against
the last year’s price of Rs2,500-2,600/40 kg.Growers, who lack the storage
facility, have no other option, but to sell it, but buyers — notably the
mill-owners and middlemen — are deliberately delaying the buying to pressurise
the growers sell the crop at throwaway rates.
Farmers have asked the government to immediately announce subsidy
to them through providing subsidised fertilisers, seeds and diesel for the next
crop. They also demanded the government to fix a minimum export price at the
previous year average export rate of $1,153/ton. This will help avert such
price crisis at the growers end.The government should also not intervene
through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and Pakistan Agricultural Storage
and Supplies Corporation.Suleman recalled PASSCO, in the year 2008, procured
200,000 tons of rice at a premium price and “even after six years they could
not disposed of those stocks and ultimately government had to face losses of up
to Rs24 billion.
”The
RECP chairman also quoted the example of Thailand, where government procured
the rice with higher prices, but the move damaged 17 million tonnes of rice in
the absence of proper storage and warehouse facility and finally. “The Thai
government suffered a loss of $30 billion.” Suleman said.He advised the
government to support farmers, but “this should be done through a proper
mechanism”.The government should compensate farmers in the shape of free seeds,
free pesticides, free water, free fertiliser, free electricity and other
facilities. “As farmers are not equipped with the latest machinery and due to
the mishandling, every year we have to see crop loss, further we could not get
the right quality of rice,” Suleman added.Home / Business / $80 to $100 price difference: 70pc EU buyers place 40,000 tonnes
rice orders to Indian
$80 to $100
price difference: 70pc EU buyers place 40,000 tonnes rice orders to Indian
LAHORE: Apart from other obstacles,
the difference of around $80 to $100 per tonne in the export price of rice,
foreign buyers mainly from EU have diverted their import orders of around
40,000 tonnes rice to India.As per details, 70 percent of the international
buyers from EU countries have diverted orders from Pakistan to the Indian
millers mainly due to price difference price.
Currently Pakistani rice export
price to Dubai is hovering at around $1,250 per ton while India sells her
non-basmati rice variety at $1,150 per ton. Pakistan basmati rice export price
is at around $700 per tonne while Indian variety of Pusa (copy of basmati rice)
is easily available for $625 per tonne.
According to
Pakistan Rice Exporters Association, the government, instead of supporting the
exporters, is planning to interfere in rice market through procurement, causing
further decline in rice export and depriving the country of precious foreign
exchange.The association said that rice export was almost stagnant due to high
prices of rice in Pakistan as govt did not provide any subsidy to farmers on
agri inputs. On the other hand, subsidy from Indian government to growers as
well as rice exporters, have seriously affected the rice export of Pakistan,
causing decline of more than 30 per cent.The subsidy on rice by Indian
government in the name of food security is currently hurting directly millions
of Pakistani farmers who are already facing various challenges due to past two
consecutive floods in Pakistan.
The govt,
instead of disturbing market phenomena by procuring rice, should compensate
farmers by providing them free seeds, free pesticides, free water, free
fertilizer, free electricity and other facilities. He recalled that in year
2008 PASSCO had procured 200,000 M/Tons rice with prices higher than the
prevailing market and even after 6 years they could not disposed of these
stocks and ultimately government had to face up to Rs24 billion loss.Experts
said that the government involvement in such business activity would be harmful
to the private sector who had invested billion of rupees to build an
infrastructure and human resources, turning the country into the 2nd largest
foreign exchange earner through rice export.
The association
also regretted that presently, the rice exporters are utilizing warehouses of
Trade Corporation of Pakistan and Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services
Corporation Ltd, storing more than 200,000 tons rice there for export purpose
and if this facility is withdrawn, the exporters will be unable to procure the
commodity, as they cannot arrange alternative arrangement at such a huge level
in very short span
Crops of Corn, Rice, Wheat and Soybean
Contribute to Climate Change
Greenhouse gas emissions and
industrial facilities have been blamed by the United Nations and world
governments all over for their negative contributions to climate change,
however, a new study now shows that four different types of crops, corn, rice,
wheat and soybean, are actuallyplaying a large role in the climate change
around the world.
The
website The Westside Story recently posted about this matter the following:
“Scientists found that it is true that crops require carbon dioxide for
respiration and to manufacture their food, but they do not burn up this element
before their deaths; they store it. Carbon dioxide is therefore re-released
into the soil when these crops die, and this ultimately makes carbon dioxide to
find its way back into the environment”.
Researcher Mark Friedl, from the University of
Boston, also said the following about the matter: “It’s a remarkable story of
what we’ve done in agriculture in general. And particular in corn, which is one
crop that’s just exploded. Over the last 50 years, the area of croplands in the
Northern Hemisphere has been relatively stable, but production has intensified
enormously. The fact that this land area can affect the composition of the
atmosphere is an amazing fingerprint of human activity on the planet.”
According
to the website The Christian Science Monitor: “Friedl’s research establishes
one fact: the return of CO2 via dead crops like corn to the earth enriches the
soil and makes it more fertile and efficient for further crops. The soil yields
more crops per acre, even though more carbon dioxide gas is still released
during winter via the soil to the earth.”
Researcher Friedl also pointed out that:
“Something is changing about this cycle. Ecosystems are becoming more
productive, pulling in more atmospheric carbon during the summer and releasing
more during the dormant period.”Tom Torgerson, the director for The National
Science Foundation’s Water Sustainability and Climate Program, said: “These
indications of increased productivity speak well for agriculture. But such
enhanced agricultural productivity makes significant demands on water supplies,
which will requeire frther investigation.”
Portland Beer News: Two New
Breweries, Bottling Release, and Updated Pub Menu
November 22, 20149:48 PM MST
Some updates regarding Portland area breweries
Baerlic
Brewing Company
lHere's some latest news among craft breweries in
Portland, a city named by CNN as the best beer city in the world.Barelic Brewing Company located in on 2235 SE 11th Portland just north of
Division Street, affords one to be close to the nightlife without the crowded
throngs venturing to this latest Portland hot spot. Since opening on June 28,
2014, this brewery joined area brewers Commons Brewery and Ground Breaker
Brewing to form what they jokingly refer to as the Beermuda Triangle.
At
present this is a a 21 an over establishment with plans to expand their food
menu in the future. Stop by happy hour for a $4.00 pint where the bartenders
promise they serve 16 ounces in a 20 ounce glass thus ensuring one receives a
full pint of beer. Check out their selection of year round beers such as their
Cavalier classic cream ale made with Himalayan Basmati Rice or one of their
seasonal or experimental beers. They will be at the Holiday Ale Fest with The Great Bear NW Red Ale, a full bodied blend
of sweet candied malt flavors with spicy, piney and citrus hops aged on beechwood
taken from Baerlic's tasting room buildout.Moving to North Portland, Ex Novo Brewing Company (2326 N Flint Avenue) opened in July 2014 as a
neighborhood hangout situated east of Mississippi Avenue away from the heavy
traffic.
With a brewmaster hailing from Norway, they
offer traditional beers such as their Scottish Red along with a whiskey and
scotch menu. A family friendly menu makes this the prefect place to stop by for
a family night out while the happy hour menu attracts those adults looking for
a place to chill. As noted on their website, "they exist to blend fine
craft beer with positive social change." Hence, they are committed to
donating 100% of their net profits to organizations working to enact positive
social change both locally in Portland, as well as more global endeavors. Those
going to the Holiday Ale Fest can sample their Moonstriker, a Mexican Chocolate
Baltic Porter created in collaboration with Moonstruck Chocolate that features
subtle notes of Mexican hot chocolate with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, chilies
and chocolate.
Venturing
on the Historic Mississippi Avenue district, StormBreaker Brewing (832 N. Beech Street) will be having
their first ever bottle release party open to the public on Tuesday, November
25th at 5pm. They will be bottling their Mississippi Dry Hopped Red, Total
ReKolsch, and their Winter Coat Warmer, a special brew made for the cool winter
months. As per their description of Winter Coat: "Chocolate Malt and
Special B insulation keeps you warm while your mouth on the glass prevents any
snow or sleet from getting in. Features like fuggle hops, sterling hops, and
sweet orange peel set this Winter Coat apart. During this party, they will have
their DJ spinning and will have some StormBreaker giveaways like new winter
beanies and ball caps. then at 8pm, they will show Total Recall on the big
screen as they drink their Total ReKolsch in their little beer hall.
Then
moving to the Northwest region of Portland, Kells
Brew Pub (210 NW
21st Avenue) announces the addition of Travis Stark as its new head chef who
has launched a refurbished rustic menu designed to appeal to all ages. Among
his updated items includes “Wee Plates” which features all new items like
salmon cakes with a chipotle remoulade & house made pickles; house-made
falafel fritters served with tzatziki; and bacon wrapped figs stuffed with goat
cheese. In addition to featuring traditional Irish favorites, Stark also
prepared some vegetarian and gluten-free options. Also they have been expanding
their beer lineup and will be featuring MIC Stout AKA Boom Roaster Coffee at the
Holiday Ale Fest.
This
Imperial Milk Stout starts with a robust head of rich chocolate and notes of
brown sugar. The mouthfeel is smooth and fu-bodied, with notes of vanilla and a
mild sweetness of caramelized sugar. This beer finishes with roasty notes and
acidity from the Sidamo coffee from Ristretto Roasters that layer into a hint
of light berry (think blue) with a touch of warming alcohol.
Keep
abreast of the latest beers on tap in Portland and select other cities with Brew
Notice, a smartphone app that
allows beer lovers to get announcements via text messages or emails. Whenever a
new beer is on tap. According to their estimates, about ten beers get tapped
daily. Depending on one's interest and time constraints, one can email
notifications immediately, daily at 4pm or weekly.
Basmati growers: Prime Minister for implementing ECC
decision on compensation
November 22, 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday directed to properly
implement the decision taken by the Economic Co-ordination Committee of the
cabinet (ECC) on compensation of Basmati rice growers. The ECC had decided for
provision of subsidy worth Rs 5,000 per acre to the growers of Basmati rice as
compensation in view of the falling international prices of this variety.
The PM termed agriculture a backbone of Pakistan''s economy and a significant contributor to the GDP. The farmer community had appreciated the decision, according to which 50 percent of the expenses incurred on provision of subsidy will be borne by the provinces that would also be responsible to ensure transparency in its distribution.
The PM termed agriculture a backbone of Pakistan''s economy and a significant contributor to the GDP. The farmer community had appreciated the decision, according to which 50 percent of the expenses incurred on provision of subsidy will be borne by the provinces that would also be responsible to ensure transparency in its distribution.
PM
Lee invites Indonesian president for nasi lemak and roti prata
SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and
wife Ho Ching hosted Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo and his wife,
Iriana, to a sumptious breakfast of nasi lemak and roti prata on Saturday
morning.Widodo, known by his nickname Jokowi, was in Singapore yesterday to
attend his youngest son's graduation from ACS (International). He flies back to
Jakarta today.
According to PM Lee's Facebook post, the nasi
lemak was bought from Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak from Adam Road, while the roti
prata was from Madras New Woodlands.It is no surprise that PM Lee chose Selera
Rasa Nasi Lemak.
Established since 1998, the stall at Adam Road
Food Centre is not only famous for its fluffy basmati rice, but it is
apparently so good that the Sultan of Brunei takes away dozens of packets of
this nasi lemak whenever he is in Singapore.The roti prata that PM Lee ordered
is also from a restaurant that has a wealth of history. Located at Little
India, Madras New Woodlands dates back to 1983 and is one of Singapore's most
well-known vegetarian restaurants.It serves hearty Indian cuisine such as poori
bhaji, which is deep-fried flour rounds with curried potatoes; chola bhatura,
which is fried bread with spicy chickpeas; and snacks such as vadai, which is
deep-fried fritters.The thosai at Madras New Woodlands is apparently so good
that you don't have to dip it into chutney or sambar, wrote a former reporter
from tabla!
Snap: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted on
Facebook on Nov 22: "Had breakfast with President Joko Widodo and his
wife, Iriana, this morning. They were here for their son’s graduation from
ACS(International). We had Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak from Adam Road and Roti Prata
from Madras New Woodlands. See us tucking in!"
