Settle in for crunchy, golden katsu and Japanese set meals at a cosy CBD eatery
Japanese$
Katsuhon, a small timber structure beneath an imposing office building, looks air-lifted from a Tokyo street. 70 people at a time can sit down for teishoku (set meals of a main, miso soup, rice, pickles) served on wooden trays, with the hero dish being crunchy pork loin. Each set is complete with condiments from fragrant truffle salt for an extra umami kick, to wasabi and dijon mustard, plus DIY ground sesame seeds to combine with thick tonkatsu dipping sauce.
Other crumbed and fried items abound, from meatballs to unagi eel. There are also nabe (hot pot) sets, contemporary hybrids like creamy carbonara udon, plus a selection of drinks including Japanese beer, sake and riffs on classic cocktails.
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Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
‘Okay for us to get wet, but not the newspapers': Man who ran delivery business for over 40 years
SINGAPORE – For most of his life, centenarian Abdul Gafoore placed his family before all else. It was why he left Tamil Nadu for Singapore in 1946 at the age of 22, to earn money to send home to his parents and four siblings. It was also why he delayed marriage until he was 36, after his brothers and sisters were settled. Mr Abdul, who will turn 101 in August 2025 , ran a newspaper delivery business and a provision store for more than 40 years. They brought him stability, but demanded long hours and discipline. 'Rain or shine, the newspapers had to be delivered by 7am every day. If it rained, it was okay for us to get wet, but not the newspapers,' says Mr Abdul in Tamil, with sons Mohamed Ali Gafoor and Ismail Gafoor translating . 'That's how demanding the newspaper industry was,' he says. 'If you were not feeling well, somehow you had to finish the job, then take care of your body.' Even the compensation from injuries sustained while on the job went to his wife. In 1980, a Japanese tourist opened the door of a taxi and accidentally hit Mr Abdul as he rode past on his motorbike stacked high with newspapers. The tourist gave him $100, which Mr Abdul used to buy a gold coin for his wife. She still has it today. He and his wife of 65 years, Madam Maharunnisabi, 79, have a daughter and five sons, 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. One son, Mr Burhan Gafoor, 59, is Singapore's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. Another, Mr Ismail, 61, is co-founder and chief executive of real estate giant PropNex. Mr Abdul's first job as a grocery shop assistant in Joo Chiat earned him $30 a month. 'In those days, $30 was big money,' Mr Ismail says. 'He would save up two months of pay, convert it to Indian rupees and send back 100 rupees every two months to his family.' Mr Abdul's journey in newspaper vending is deeply interwoven with Singapore's media history. In 1955 , he took over the distributorship of about 100 newspapers from a vendor who had returned to India. With savings and a few hundred dollars borrowed from moneylenders, he opened a kiosk in Nemesu Avenue in Upper Thomson to sell newspapers, magazines, drinks and daily necessities. He also made deliveries. Within two years, he was selling 300 newspapers daily. In 1960, he married Madam Maharunnisabi. As their family grew, he started a provision shop at Block 56 Lengkok Bahru in 1972 to supplement his income. His routine was relentless. He rose at 3am to collect newspapers – The Straits Times, Chinese dailies and Tamil papers – from locations like Cecil Street, Robinson Road and Times House in Kim Seng Road. He delivered in Sembawang until the early 1960s, and then in Bukit Merah until 2000. His sons helped him do 4am delivery runs. 'By 6am, we would go to school but our father would continue distributing until 7am,' recalls Mr Ismail. Mr Abdul would man his provision shop until 11am, when he would return the previous day's unsold newspapers to Times House, settle payments, and collect afternoon publications New Nation and later The Singapore Monitor to be distributed. By the time he was done at about 2pm, he would head home for a quick lunch and an hour's nap before returning to his provision shop by 4.30pm, close up at 9pm, count the day's earnings, get home by 10pm, have a late dinner and be asleep by 10.30pm. 'This was his routine 364 days a year until he retired,' says Mr Ismail. The only holiday was on Boxing Day when there was no publication of newspapers. When he started, Mr Abdul earned a 20 per cent commission on the 100 papers he distributed, which came to about $4 a day or $120 a month. As his distribution rose to 300 papers a day, he hired help and earned about $200 net a month. Mr Abdul retired in 2000 at 76, handing the business to his son, Mr Mohamed. At the time, newspaper subscriptions and circulation were still strong, declining only after 2010, with the rise of digital media. Mr Mohamed grew the business from 1,000 to between 2,500 and 2,700 newspapers a day. But in 2015, he sold the business due to manpower shortages. 'My children were grown up and had no time to help with the business,' says Mr Mohamed, 63, who is now associate branch director at PropNex. His seven part-time deliverymen at the time worked from 4am to 7am. 'It wasn't easy finding people willing to do this work.' Mr Abdul with his wife, Madam Maharunnisabi, and their sons, PropNex associate branch director Mohamed Ali Gafoor (left) and PropNex co-founder and chief executive Ismail Gafoor. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH One change the family welcomed was the decentralisation of newspaper distribution. Instead of hundreds of vendors converging at a few central locations to collect the papers, newspapers from Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) Jurong printing plant were dispatched to hubs across the island. This made route planning more efficient and reduced delivery delays. 'In the early years, hundreds of vendors would rush to the one or two central collection points. Everyone wanted to be the first to collect papers because they didn't want to be late with deliveries,' says Mr Abdul. Mr Mohamed's hub was at Delta Swimming Complex. 'Only about 10 vendors picked up papers there. It was so much easier,' he says. Mr Abdul also built a friendship with SPH's first chief executive, Mr Lyn Holloway, who died in 2019 at 90. They met in the mid-1970s when Mr Abdul was invited to Mr Holloway's home near Orchard Road as a representative of the news vendors. Mr Abdul voiced vendors' concerns, especially delays in printing, which disrupted deliveries. 'Everyone wanted to deliver by 7am. Everyone had a second job to get to, or school to attend. Every time there was a disruption in printing, the vendors would squabble over who got priority in getting the papers,' says Mr Ismail. Another issue Mr Abdul raised was commission, especially when SPH launched new weekly magazines or additional supplements requiring extra delivery runs. Before going on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1982, he invited Mr Holloway to a reception. Though Mr Holloway couldn't attend, he sent Mr Abdul a set of Times Publishing cups. One remains intact and Mr Abdul still uses it for his morning coffee. 'My family is thankful to SPH and congratulates The Straits Times on 180 years of business,' says Mr Abdul. News vending made a difference to many Indian immigrants who didn't have much hope when they arrived in the 1940s, he adds. 'It was a catalyst that made a difference in our lives and those of our loved ones back in India.' The Gafoor family views the newspaper business as a proud legacy. It also enabled them to give back to Mr Abdul's home town of Kodavasal in Tamil Nadu. Mr Abdul donated his entire wealth to social causes there, transforming his 45,000 sq ft home into a religious school for women with more than 300 students, and funding a mosque, community hall and clinic. 'My younger brother Burhan was still delivering newspapers in 1988, the same year he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,' Mr Ismail adds, chuckling. 'We were all newspaper boys.'
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
ST180: 180 years of covering Japan, from isolationism to Westernisation to war and peace
Since 1982, correspondents have shed light on a country Singaporeans admire but also share a painful wartime past with. The Straits Times has chronicled Japan's transformation over the years. By the 1910s, features introduced readers to its rich traditions, including sumo wrestling (above). Today, the country remains a compelling, evolving story, says the writer. – When I joined The Straits Times in June 2012 as a rookie journalist, I had no aspirations or illusions of becoming a foreign correspondent, let alone in a country I barely knew or felt any special connection to. I grew up with Sega arcade games, Tamagotchi digital pets, Nintendo Game Boys and Sony Walkman players, and have fond memories of the now-defunct Sogo department store near my childhood home in Tampines. But I did not understand the Japanese language or fully appreciate the country's deep cultural influence. Japan seemed like a nation past its prime, its economy overtaken by China, its pop culture eclipsed by South Korea. Then six months into my job, I visited Japan on a holiday for the first time. I went to Tokyo, where I was enamoured of the sights, sounds and buzz of the world's most populous region. I signed up for weekly language classes and, four years later, when I was offered a posting as The Straits Times' Japan correspondent, I didn't hesitate. More than three decades earlier, in May 1982, the paper had launched its Tokyo bureau. Announcing this on Page 1, it described Japan as 'the world's most efficient industrial power'. It was opening an office there to monitor the nation's growing economic influence and to cover 'the controversial question of whether Japan will play a greater role in maintaining the security of Asia'. This purpose remains relevant today. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Man charged over distributing nearly 3 tonnes of vapes in one day in Bishan, Ubi Avenue 3 Singapore Public healthcare institutions to record all Kpod cases, confiscate vapes: MOH, HSA Singapore Man allegedly attacks woman with knife at Kallang Wave Mall, to be charged with attempted murder Singapore Singapore boosts support for Timor-Leste as it prepares to join Asean Singapore UN aviation and maritime agencies pledge to collaborate to boost safety, tackle challenges Singapore High Court dismisses appeal of drink driver who killed one after treating Tampines road like racetrack Singapore 18 years' jail for woman who hacked adoptive father to death after tussle over Sengkang flat Since taking up the role, I've reported from disaster zones and diplomatic summits, and interviewed people across the length of the Japanese archipelago, from Shiretoko Peninsula in the north-east of Hokkaido to Yonaguni in the south-west of Okinawa. The Japanese frame time by imperial eras, and I witnessed the dawn of the Reiwa era in 2019 when Emperor Akihito abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne and was succeeded by his son Naruhito. The new era has been marked by a more confident Japan on the global stage, eager to champion a rules-based international order. Domestically, Japan is slowly shaking off the deflationary mindset of the Heisei era (1989 to 2019). Social issues like overwork and sexual harassment are now seen as relics of the past, and vices like smoking and binge-drinking are on the decline as the Japanese become more health conscious. Japan has also become a top global travel destination, hitting a record 36.87 million visitors in 2024. The population continues to age, beset by one of the lowest birth rates in the world, even as immigration rises. All this has sparked difficult but necessary conversations in a society that still sees itself as largely homogeneous. Meanwhile, Japan's entertainment industry is enjoying a renaissance as its dramas, anime and music captivate global audiences via streaming platforms. Amid all this change, history remains a constant, and I am vividly struck by how my work covering this rich and complex country adds to the living historical record of the world that is The Straits Times. Foreign correspondence 'For Sale. A few boxes of fresh Japan rice.' 'Japan-ware.' The first issue of The Straits Times on Tuesday, July 15, 1845, saw two mentions of the country in advertisements on the front page. It is a quaint glimpse into a time when Japan, still under the sakoku isolationist policy of the shogunate, remained a distant and exotic marketplace to much of the world. Yet even then, the paper recognised the West's growing commercial interest in Japan. An article in 1846 predicted that it 'cannot long be left out of the commercial union of civilised countries'. The paper's colonial attitudes were also evident, with reports – either taken from wire dispatches or written by nomadic contributors – describing Japan as a 'ruined nation through pride and obstinacy'. Japan correspondent Walter Sim at Arakurayama Sengen Park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi prefecture, in November 2020, with Mount Fuji in the background. PHOTO: COURTESY OF WALTER SIM As the country began to open up, the paper chronicled Japan's rapid transformation during the Meiji Restoration of 1868 as it embraced industrialisation and adopted Western ideas. The Emperor traded his royal regalia for a suit and tie. Baseball was introduced, and remains Japan's national sport. Japan quickly adopted Western technology and industrialised practices to build its first railway in 1872, connecting Tokyo's Shimbashi business district to the port city of Yokohama. 'The Japanese are an active impressionable people, and contact with the outer world, the introduction of railways, and the spread of Western science have worked great changes during the last two decades,' a report said in 1890. The curiosity extended beyond politics, and column inches were devoted to travel features. A first-person account of a hike up Mount Fuji in 1892 recounted the fatigue but also beauty – 'Below were white clouds drifting in a blue sea bathed in golden light'. Interest grew in all things Japanese. The deaths of leading kabuki actors Onoe Kikugoro V and Ichikawa Danjuro IX in 1903 were recorded in obituaries. By the 1910s, features introduced readers to the thriving, rich traditions of sumo wrestling and ama free-divers. Incidentally, I have written about these topics , although in the context of the challenges they face in an age of depopulation and dwindling interest. Many topics about pre-war Japan still resonate today. Take a 1900 report about the abuse of authority (now dubbed 'power harassment') that led to the suicide of a soldier. Or a 1906 story that cited tourism mismanagement (now dubbed 'overtourism'), or a 1907 piece that blamed a crime wave on rising costs of living (now manifesting in shady part-time jobs, or yamibaito). And a 1918 piece about the rice riots, an event that I referenced in a June 2025 opinion piece on Japan's soaring rice prices today. Another 1906 report that contemplated the role of women in politics is anachronistic today – 'the association of women with politics, it is felt, will tend to cultivate unwomanly habits' – but belies the hard truths that Japan continues to struggle with regarding gender equality both in politics and corporate boardrooms. Japanese resilience, too, is a timeless trait, evident in a 1923 story after the Great Kanto earthquake, which levelled Tokyo and killed more than 100,000 people. The author says: 'They will raise again the cities that have fallen, and they will not do it as if they feared tomorrow but in the spirit of hope and of courage.' Male ama free-diver Yushi Ikeda on his boat in 2022. Traditionally women, ama divers go into the water without oxygen tanks – relying on a single breath as they harvest abalone, turban shells and seaweed from the seabed. ST PHOTO: WALTER SIM War and peace On Feb 15, 1942, Singapore fell to Japanese forces during World War II after a week of fierce fighting. This marked one of the most significant defeats for the British Empire, even as that same morning, before the surrender, the paper's Page 1 headline struck a note of defiance: 'Singapore must stand; it SHALL stand'. The Straits Times was shut, but resumed publication on Feb 20, 1942, under a new name: The Syonan Times, later renamed The Syonan Shimbun, reflecting Singapore's new name under occupation – Syonan-to, or 'Brilliant Southern Island'. The newspaper became a mouthpiece for Japanese propaganda, with content strictly censored and controlled by the Japanese military administration. The Syonan Shimbun printed its last issue on Sept 4, 1945, two days after Japan signed surrender documents aboard an American battleship. The Straits Times resumed publication under its original name on Sept 7, 1945, with the triumphant front-page headline: 'Singapore is British again!'. In the aftermath of World War II, stories in The Straits Times reflected Singapore's complex sentiments towards Japan. There was deep resentment over wartime atrocities, like those recounted by survivors of the Changi massacre, but also a degree of sympathy for the immense suffering Japan endured in the atomic bombings. A 1946 report said the devastation in Hiroshima was 'something out of an Edgar Allan Poe horror story. Except that Poe's imagination could never have conceived anything like Hiroshima'. Another editorial described the atomic bomb as 'the greatest triumph, or the greatest atrocity, or perhaps both at the same time, of WWII', but said that Singapore should not be quick to pass judgment as 'most of us owe our lives' to a weapon that forced Japan's surrender. As Japan shifted from wartime aggressor to a nation focused on rebuilding, the paper documented its post-war recovery. It reported on Japan's settlement of war reparations, the roll-out of foreign aid through development programmes, and efforts to re-establish goodwill through cultural and humanitarian exchanges. Despite growing diplomatic ties, wartime memories endured. In 1967, during a visit by Japan's then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, Singapore's then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said that the war was a 'chapter closed but not forgotten'. He added: 'It has left Asians with no illusions as to the nature of hegemony. The nearness of colour and affinity of ethnic origins do not make hegemony any the better.' The paper chronicled post-war Japan's economic and diplomatic rise, but also highlighted regional discomfort as Japan sought access to South-east Asia's raw materials and markets. This perception of exploitation led to boycotts and protests across cities like Bangkok and Jakarta. It also reported Mr Lee's advice to Japan to proactively export skills and machines to South-east Asia, which should be treated 'more as a partner and less as a hewer of wood and drawer of water'. As Japan's influence expanded, so did unease over its military potential. A 1979 report described the country's Self-Defence Forces as a 'euphemism', warning of its capacity to become a formidable force in Asia. While modern Japan now views South-east Asia as equal partners, its evolving security role continues to invite close regional scrutiny. Today, as The Straits Times' fourth Japan correspondent, I have had the honour of following in the footsteps of my distinguished predecessors. The first was Peter Hazelhurst, a veteran of The Times of London who joined the newspaper in 1982 and left a lasting legacy in Tokyo. The impact of his journalistic career was so profound that upon his death in 2021 at the age of 84 – having relocated to South Africa after his retirement in 1989 – the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan devoted five pages to remembering him in its in-house magazine. He was succeeded in 1989 by Kwan Weng Kin, a former Singapore diplomat who reported from Japan for 26 years until his retirement in 2015, and who was a respected voice on Japan in the paper. Hau Boon Lai did two stints in the bureau, from 1999 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2014, and continues to serve as a copy-editor in the newsroom. Today, the digital era has expanded The Straits Times' reach beyond Singapore, allowing its unique geopolitical insights to resonate globally. Japan remains a compelling, evolving story, and I'm privileged to help tell it as the next chapter unfolds.
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
A father's gift of time
To mark the day each of his children was born, one man turned to The Straits Times, and a family tradition was created. Mr Cheah Kok Keong kept The Straits Times issue of the day his child, Cheryl, was born, gifting it to her on her 21st birthday on June 7. Alongside it was the June 8 copy. The passage of time, and the ways in which it is marked, has long fascinated Mr Cheah Kok Keong. So when each of his three children was born, he quietly began a family tradition: he saved copies of the day's edition of The Straits Times to gift them when they came of age. On June 7, 2025, when his youngest child, Cheryl, turned 21, he presented her with a yellowing but well-preserved copy of the June 7, 2004, edition, carefully sealed in a vacuum bag. Alongside it was the June 8, 2004, edition. 'June 7 was the day Cheryl was born and June 8, the day after, covered what happened on June 7,' says Mr Cheah on why he saved two days' worth of newspapers . The present wasn't exactly a surprise to Cheryl as she had seen her older siblings, Stanley and Clara, receive their birthday newspapers when they turned 21. But the gesture still moved her. 'I'm very happy that my father saved those issues,' she says , adding that she will be keeping them in the airtight bags they came in . Reading a physical paper feels 'more engaging and connected' compared with perusing an online story, she says. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Man charged over distributing nearly 3 tonnes of vapes in one day in Bishan, Ubi Avenue 3 Singapore Public healthcare institutions to record all Kpod cases, confiscate vapes: MOH, HSA Singapore Man allegedly attacks woman with knife at Kallang Wave Mall, to be charged with attempted murder Singapore Singapore boosts support for Timor-Leste as it prepares to join Asean Singapore UN aviation and maritime agencies pledge to collaborate to boost safety, tackle challenges Singapore High Court dismisses appeal of drink driver who killed one after treating Tampines road like racetrack Singapore 18 years' jail for woman who hacked adoptive father to death after tussle over Sengkang flat 'You have to hold the paper as you read it,' she notes. 'Digital news can be distracting with pop-ups, and information can be edited or deleted, losing the sense of permanence and credibility.' She points out how her father's idea mirrors a trend that's gaining popularity on TikTok, where young Japanese visit convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and Family Mart to print newspapers from the day they were born. 'They're paying to find out what was happening when they were born, and he thought about it years ago,' she says with a smile. Mr Cheah, 59, a senior manager at the National University of Singapore's Advanced Robotics Centre, views newspapers as 'time capsules'. They connect people to the historical events that coincided with their birth dates and make for unique gifts, he says. 'I like history, especially recent historical moments linked to our experiences. I like to make sure that my children know what happened on the day they were born,' he adds. His passion for commemorating milestones extends beyond his family. In 2014, he contacted KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) to propose an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a Guinness World Record that the hospital had broken in 1966. That year, KKH recorded the world's highest number of deliveries in a single year, with 39,835 babies born. Mr Cheah was among them. His idea: to gather as many people as possible born at KKH. On Oct 16, 2016, that vision came to life when 2,241 people born at KKH – aged seven to 84 – gathered at Bishan Stadium. They broke the Guinness record for the largest reunion of individuals born at the same hospital, surpassing the previous record of 1,221 people set by The Medical City, a network of hospitals and clinics, in the Philippines in 2015. Then in 2017, while organising an appreciation ceremony for national servicemen as part of the NS50 celebration, Mr Cheah discovered that Taman Jurong – where he has lived since 1995 – was where Singapore's first batch of national servicemen had enlisted 50 years earlier. Mr Cheah, who is a grassroots leader in the area, says he brought this to the attention of then Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the MP for Jurong GRC who was overseeing the Taman Jurong ward. Mr Tharman is now Singapore's president. The result? On Aug 6, 2017, some 500 Taman Jurong residents, students, Singapore Armed Forces personnel and pioneer national servicemen gathered at Taman Jurong Greens neighbourhood park to witness the unveiling of a heritage marker. 'It was here, on Aug 17, 1967, that Singapore's pioneer batch of 900 NSmen in the 3rd and 4th Singapore Infantry Regiments were conscripted into the army,' said a Straits Times report of the event. In 2025, upon learning that The Straits Times would be marking its 180th anniversary, Mr Cheah contacted the paper to share how it has become part of his family's legacy. The June 7 and 8, 2004, editions of The Straits Times that Mr Cheah Kok Keong saved. He says newspapers connect people to the historical events that coincided with their birth dates and make for unique gifts. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO Cheryl, a student at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, says she occasionally reads the online version of The Straits Times , and likes that the information is reliable . 'It's more official and it won't give fake news or play jokes,' she says. 'Many online news companies do not reach out to the original source to ask for permission to post, or go out of their way to verify information before posting online .' Mr Cheah, meanwhile, is looking forward to another milestone. Carefully stored in vacuum bags are copies of the Nov 27 and 28 , 2023, issues of the paper. They mark the birthday of his grandson Theodore, and will be presented to him when he turns 21 on Nov 27, 2044.
