Healthy food/healthy living is an option

".. but we do have a choice, and we make choices."

Met my Friend LX at JCoDonuts at Bugis junction. Really like this coffee/Donuts cafe. It located at a rather cosy corner and has its own unique character. The website introduces its business and has a section on healthy ingredient. LX was a secondary friend, who is now pursuing a PhD at Australia, doing a topic on Education. I remember LX told me that fruits were really cheap at Australia, and he even bought a fruit juicers and going for a healthy living style. However, he will be back to Singapore following his expected completion of the PhD by end of the year.

We went for a walk nearby after finishing our coffee. The weather was very hot and humid, a total contrast to the cool environment in the cafe. Bugis areas are often very crowded with stalls situated along pedestrian walkway nearby, and there is a market place nearby, in which "fast food" style local dishes were served, you can "eat in" or take away. I remember now each of such stall is classified with governmental approval of "cleanliness and hygiene' standard, either A, B or C. Interestingly in the UK, I don't remember we see this, perhaps there were not very many such outlet, though takeaways are quite common. What however is practiced in the UK, is the food labels highlighting the food nutrients in term of sugar, fat and salt mainly. See the website here. UK has serious problem about overweight and especially among the men. Has any research about similar situation in Singapore been done yet?

I kind of feel that, I cannot imagine the Singapore government doing the food labels like what the UK did, because if that is the case, a lot of food stalls will have to close down, many things in Singapore like those you find in Bugis area, are nice but sweet stuff and what's more Singapore is famous for it's food. It is a food paradise, where do healthy option stands here, nowhere to be seen really. Foreigners visiting here is fine, tasting food like this once in a while is fine. If you live in Singapore, you are often surrounded by tempting and tasty food, healthy food/healthy living becomes an option but for some, they don't even have a sense about healthy living and sadly, only know the importance after problem arise like high fat, high blood pressure, etc kicks in.