Nasi = Rice
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THIS cosy, unpretentious Indonesian restaurant offers some of the best Indonesian dishes in town.
Famous for its signature dish, steamed fish with otah ($16), Pagi Sore also serves excellent ayam bali (grilled chicken with black sauce, $5) and tauhu telor (beancurd with eggs, $8).
Famous for its signature dish, steamed fish with otah ($16), Pagi Sore also serves excellent ayam bali (grilled chicken with black sauce, $5) and tauhu telor (beancurd with eggs, $8).
Yet, unknown to most, the restaurant has been hiring ex-offenders as waiters and kitchen helpers for the past five years.
When owner Liyana Kwan, 46, set up the restaurant in Amoy Street five years ago, she wanted her restaurant to offer more than just great food from her native Indonesia.
'Some ex-offenders really want to change, but the environment is not always there,' says Madam Kwan, who first came in contact with ex-offenders years ago when she worked in a pub that hired them.
'Businesses must give them a chance, and I want to be involved.'
Since its opening, she has taken in a steady stream of ex-offenders from the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises, a statutory board that helps inmates find jobs upon their release.
They work for three, six or 12 months for a salary, and can choose to stay on permanently if they wish. The longest-serving worker has been with the restaurant for three years.
The restaurant was relocated to Telok Ayer Street last year. Currently, seven of the 15 employees are ex-offenders. Most of them were former drug addicts, and she admits that their performance has not always been perfect.
'They're not as responsible and conscientious as regular staff,' she says.
'But the thing about hiring them is that you must remember you're out to help them. You can't have too high expectations too soon.'
Although her hiring of ex-offenders has been reported in the media before, it has not affected business.
'Singaporeans are open-minded,' she says with a laugh. 'They care only about the food.'
Indeed, when LifeStyle went there for dinner last week, the service was efficient, and the food excellent.
http://wineanddine.asiaone.com.sg/reviews/restaurants/malayind/20050619_001.html
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Wear a Yellow Ribbon - Help Unlock the Second Prison!
http://www.yellowribbon.org.sg/index.html
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Wear a Yellow Ribbon - Help Unlock the Second Prison!http://www.yellowribbon.org.sg/index.html
Labels: Food
