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Let talk about Bak Kwa here. The previous threads are all few years old liao. My wife's staff managed to help us to get quite a few boxes this year, after queuing up for slightly over half a day. Their pineapple bak kwa is really 肉干皇 can get quite tough if not eaten fresh, but their marinate is better than 美真香 imo. Never tried 五香 bak kwa before.

The words 'pork fat' and 'nutritious' don't quite go together, but that may soon change, given a surprising finding by scientists which was first published in 2015 but went viral only recently. According to a BBC report in January, researchers who analysed more than 1,000 raw foods found that lard is among the top 10 foods which provide the best balance of a person's daily nutritional requirements Pork fat was ranked 8th in a list of 100 foods, with a nutritional score of 74 - the higher the number, the more likely it will meet your daily nutritional needs. It is listed as containing "a good source of B vitamins and minerals" as well as being "more unsaturated and healthier than lamb or beef fat". Here are the top 10 most nutritious foods and their nutritional scores, according to the study: 1. Almonds, 97 2. Cherimoya (a type of fruit), 96 3. Ocean perch (a deep-water fish), 89 4. Flatfish, 88 5. Chia seeds, 85 6. Pumpkin seeds, 84 7. Swiss chard, 78 8. Pork fat, 73 9. Beet greens, 70 10. Snapper, 69 In addition, pork fat contains oleic acid with 60% monounsaturated fat. Monounsaturated oleic acid has been found to be good for the heart, arteries and skin, and also helps to regulate hormones. As a comparison, butter contains 45% monounsaturated fat But as with many things, moderation is key. Excessive consumption of fat can lead to obesity, according to a Singapore-based nutritionist interviewed by the Chinese daily. "As long as it's pure and unprocessed, it can be beneficial for the body," said the nutritionist. But she recommends not consuming more than six spoonfuls a day, and stresses the importance of a balanced diet: "For example, meat is a better source of Vitamin B than fat, and essential omega-3 fatty acids are obtained from other foods." Still, it's good news for the rest of us who can tuck into our favourite roast pork or kou rou bao (pork belly bun) with just a little less guilt.

1999 ban on raw pork from Malaysia lifted Raw pork from Malaysia is back in markets here, marking the end of an import ban on the product for more than a decade. The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) recently approved the import of frozen pork from one slaughterhouse in Sarawak. The first consignment arrived here in February and, as of last month, about 9 tonnes of frozen pork products have been imported from there. The ban on the import of live pigs and raw pork from Malaysian was introduced in 1999, after an outbreak of the Nipah virus. The virus, which is carried by pigs, killed 100 Malaysian pig farmers and an abattoir worker here. A spokesman for AVA said Sarawak's state animal and veterinary public health programmes were assessed, and inspections were conducted at the pig farming area and slaughterhouse to ensure that their bio-security control measures and hygiene standards meet AVA's requirements. "During our inspections, areas of improvement were highlighted, which the slaughterhouse rectified accordingly," she said. A trial sample batch was also tested at AVA's Veterinary Public Health Laboratory and met food-safety requirements. Austria was also approved as a new source of pork last year and, as of last month, about 175 tonnes of frozen pork from Austria have been exported to Singapore. In April last year, Singapore imported its first batch of beef products from Britain since 1996, after AVA lifted its ban on deboned beef from Britain in September 2013. Over the last year, around 2.5 tonnes of chilled or frozen beef products have been imported from 15 slaughterhouses. The ban had been placed on British beef imports due to the threat of mad cow disease. At that point, Singapore was importing about 15 tonnes of beef from Britain, which made up about 0.12 per cent of overall beef imports. AVA has since found the situation in Britain to be "well-controlled" and the threat of the disease "negligible". It added that, as a precaution, it allows the import of only deboned beef from cattle under 30 months of age as they have less nervous tissue, which reduces their risk of contracting the disease. The spokesman said the agency will monitor all consignments and take the necessary action when there are food-safety lapses. It will also continue to diversity its food sources. "By buying from diverse sources, we are better buffered against potential short-term supply disruptions from any one source," she said. [email protected] Buzzing in and around Singapore - See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/1999-ban-raw-pork-malaysia-lifted#sthash.NeZwv7nx.dpuf

The largest U.S. public pension fund intends to sever ties with roughly half of the firms handling its money, one of the most aggressive industry moves yet to reduce fees paid to Wall Street investment managers. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers, will tell its investment board on June 15 of its plans to reduce the number of direct relationships it has with private-equity, real-estate and other external funds to about 100 from 212, said Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos. The action will be made public on Monday. The dramatic move by the $305 billion Sacramento-based retirement system will create some big winners and losers in the investing world. The list of external money managers Calpers uses include some of the biggest names on Wall Street, including private-equity firms Carlyle Group LP, KKR & Co. and Blackstone GroupLP. The push by Calpers to downsize could have broader ramifications beyond its own portfolio. Calpers is considered an industry bellwether because of its size and history as an early adopter of alternatives to stocks and bonds, and the shift could prompt other U.S. pensions to scale back their ties to Wall Street. “There really will be a significant amount of discussion at other pensions” about whether they should cut external managers in the wake of Calpers’s decision, said Allan Emkin, a managing director at Pension Consulting Alliance who has advised the fund since the 1980s. The pullback would take place over the next five years and is expected to save Calpers hundreds of millions of dollars in management fees. It paid $1.6 billion to external managers last year. The reduction in outside managers won’t fundamentally change Calpers’s investment strategy, or the percentage of assets managed in-house versus externally. The remaining 100 or so outside managers will simply get a bigger pool of funds varying from $350 million to more than $1 billion, Mr. Eliopoulos added. The goal, Mr. Eliopoulos said, is “to gain the best deal on costs and fees that we can.” The 50-year-old Mr. Eliopoulos became the pension fund’s top investment official last September after helping Calpers recover from severe losses sustained during the 2008 financial crisis as head of its real-estate portfolio. His first major move as chief was to shed a $4 billion investment in hedge funds, part of a movement to simplify the approach of a fund that in recent decades loaded up on assets such as real estate, private equity and commodities. Fees paid to outside managers have ballooned over the past decade as many public retirement systems followed Calpers into hedge funds and private equity in an attempt to boost long-term returns and meet their mounting obligations to retirees. But now some pension officials are tiring of the high expenses often charged by outside managers as state and local governments struggle to make up for losses incurred during the financial crisis. Many U.S. pensions, including Calpers, still don’t have enough assets to cover their future costs despite a run-up in the stock market in recent years. “Fees are becoming an increasingly scrutinized area at public pensions,” said Jean-Pierre Aubry, an assistant director at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. In New York City, outside money-management expenses are under review after an April report from Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said external investment firms have cost the city’s local retirement systems billions in the past decade. A similar discussion is under way in New Jersey, where state pensions have paid out $1.5 billion in fees over the past five years, according to a recent report presented to the state Senate last Thursday. In Pennsylvania, where the state is grappling with a $50 billion pension hole, Gov. Tom Wolf declared in a March budget address that “we are going to stop excessive fees to Wall Street managers.” California’s proposed reduction in outside managers is part of a larger effort to reduce risk and complexity at a fund that manages investments and benefits for 1.7 million current and retired workers. Calpers posted a total return of 18.4% for its most recent fiscal year ended June 30, beating its benchmark, but it only has enough assets to cover 77% of its future retirement payouts. As recently as 2007, Calpers had about 300 external managers—a remnant of its pioneering foray into alternative investments such as real estate, hedge funds and private equity. Over the past eight years, it reduced that number to 212, but it is still difficult for the pension fund to effectively monitor all of its investments, according to Mr. Eliopoulos. There are so many outside managers currently that Calpers doesn’t have the ability to make sure all those funds share the same objectives as the large California pension fund and are performing well, according to Calpers Chief Operating Investment Officer Wylie Tollette. “We need to do a better job of keeping track of how those managers evolve, what strategies they’re good at, what they may not be good at to ensure they’re effectively earning their place at the table every year,” said Mr. Tollette, who currently gives Calpers a “B-minus” at doing those tasks. “For an organization like Calpers we need to be an A, if not an A-plus,” Mr. Tollette said. As a measure of overall assets, Calpers currently pays about 0.34% toward management fees, Mr. Tollette said. In 2014, the $1.6 billion spent on those expenses included a one-time incentive payment of $400 million to real-estate funds. Mr. Tollette said that by 2020 he would like to see the amount drop “below” 0.25% of total assets, excluding performance fees. External funds charge management fees, plus a share of the investing profits. Calpers doesn’t expect to immediately terminate outside firms or liquidate holdings, according to Mr. Eliopoulos, who pushed for the hedge-fund decision as well as the move to whittle the number of external funds. The fund’s evaluation of external managers is expected to begin next month. Calpers will consider investing performance, the length of the relationship and strategy, among other factors, Mr. Eliopoulos said. The biggest cuts are expected to occur in Calpers’s private-equity portfolio, where the number of private-equity managers will slim to about 30 from roughly 100. Real estate will go to 15 outside managers from 51. Fixed income and global equity, which is largely managed in-house, will drop to roughly 30 from nearly 60 now. Only the group that invests in timber and infrastructure projects like roadways is expected to rise, from about six managers to 10. Some 15 slots will go to upstart firms that Calpers plans to identify over the next several years. Mr. Eliopoulos said the staff discussed a reduction higher or lower than roughly 100 but decided to land on a whole number. “There’s no science to this. This is a judgment,” he said.

CadBury kanna Buried. http://www.nst.com.my/latest/health-ministry-confirms-pig-dna-detected-in-2-cadbury-chocolate-samples-1.604232 KUALA LUMPUR: Two Cadbury chocolate samples namely Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond were detected to have contained pig DNA (porcine). The pig DNA was detected by the Health Ministry in the sample of Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut with batch number of 200813M01H I2 and expiry date of Nov 13, 2014; and in the sample of Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond with batch number 221013N01R I1 and expiry date of Jan 15, 2015. Director-general of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement here today, said the analysis, however, did not find any pig DNA in the sample of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate. The analysis results showing that pig DNA was detected in Cadbury chocolates went viral on the social media since yesterday. The samples of the three chocolate products were taken to be analysed for monitoring purposes. Dr Noor Hisham said the product manufacturer, Cadbury Confectionery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, was expected to recall those products from the market immediately. "The Health Ministry also advises the public to study the batch number on the product label before consumption," he said.

one of the famous HK style roasted pork store at Tiong Bahru closing down. remember someone complaint in stomp that the price quite expensive there.

Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice said an image circulating on the Internet, of its air-flown fresh pork bearing a 'halal' sticker, is an insensitive hoax in poor taste. A mischievous hoax of a tampered packaging of NTUC FairPrice fresh pork carrying a halal certification mark has resurfaced on Facebook recently, after more than six years. NTUC FairPrice said it is both insensitive and done in poor taste. The image started circulating on the Internet in 2007. FairPrice CEO, Mr Seah Kian Peng, said it is mindful of the serious religious implications of the matter and regards this as a wilful act of mischief, and had lodged a police report then. Mr Seah assured the public that the original packaging of Pasar Fresh Pork does not carry the halal sticker from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS). He said as with all nutritional and product information for food items, FairPrice takes great care in ensuring the information printed is accurate and certified. Mr Seah urged the public not to circulate the image any further, so as to avoid any unnecessary confusion or offence. Anyone with queries can contact the FairPrice customer hotline at 6552 2722 or email [email protected]. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/halal-pork-label-insensitive-hoax-fairprice-20140127

Got a roast pork recipe from a colleague and managed to get it done in less than 3.5 hours. Just after last bit of final roast Chopping to bit size

Hi, Just to share that the Seng Kee Mince Pork noodle that was previously along Changi Road have moved to Serangoon Garden Hawker center. Mainly selling noodles now. The fish maw soup still available. But other side dishes no more liao.

Dear all, Got this craving for pork chop with apple sauce can anyone kindly recommend where can I pork chop with apple sauce. Been on a goose hunt for this, please help Thank you! Best regards, Rustyz

Any tried using their services for conversion of their standard ICE HU and screens? Intending to do an upgrade for my car and they are not exactly cheap... so will like to hear some frank reviews on:- 1. Skill of dismantling and putting things back.... any scratches? rough etc? I am very particular about this as I hate car panels to be scratched...so far only 2 hifi shops do perfect jobs. 2. The new functions in the HU and screen...good? I heard from grapevine that the features are super solid....but best is to hear from horses mouth. Thanks!

Porker... Happy New Year!

http://shrine.lowyat.net/?p=1108 Cause I think its very cute! Any WS that can do custom big decals like this one?

AVA has said that even though pigs may have the H1N1 virus, its still safe to eat. What do you think? eat more pork or stop eating pork for a while?

Don't turn elections into auctions S'pore not immune to populist calls to spend more, says PM Lee, on need to protect reserves By Jeremy Au Yong WHEN politicians bid to outdo one another with more and more goodies for voters, expect trouble in paradise. That was the message from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday when he cited Norway and Australia to make a case for protecting Singapore's reserves. In both countries, he said, the populist call for government handouts had coloured local politics. In Australia, the war between its two main political parties prompted newspapers to introduce a 'pork-o-meter' to track the race to offer voters more and more goodies during the last election. In Norway, the clamour was for more money to be taken from a reserve fund meant for the future. Newsweek magazine, in describing the situation, headlined it Trouble In Paradise. Yesterday, PM Lee gave an extensive account of what went on in both countries when he spoke during the debate to amend the Constitution to allow the Government to tap more of the returns from investing the country's reserves. In Norway, the saga began with the discovery of oil in the 1970s. It became rich. In 1990, it started a Petroleum Fund, into which was channelled the sales proceeds from its oil and gas. The reason: It did not want to be left with nothing when the oil wells dried up. Today, the fund has an estimated US$350 billion (S$519 billion). 'Even Norway, famously prudent, with conservative, hard-working, frugal people, finds it difficult to resist a populist push - spend just a little more.' In 2001, Norway's government included some of the fund's money in its budget. Parliament capped the sum at 4 per cent of the value of the fund. 'But once they had set the rules, they broke the rules,' Mr Lee noted. The Norwegian government exceeded the 4 per cent limit from 2002 to 2005, arguing the economy was not doing well and it was thus necessary to spend more. In 2005, they renamed the fund the Government Pension Fund - Global, to remind Norwegians that the money was not to be touched. Spending slipped below the 4 per cent ceiling in 2006 and last year, and that is because oil prices soared. Still, some Norwegians clamoured for more. Said Mr Lee, referring to Newsweek's story: 'This is a country which had everything - oil, gas, welfare state, womb to tomb, all provided for - but still there is an opposition party arguing you should pump more oil and have more profits, improved services and lower taxes. So there is no way you can avoid these pressures.' Elections are due in Norway by next year. 'Then, we will see whether the majority of Norwegians continue to uphold the principle of saving for the future,' Mr Lee added. For Australia, the events played out during last year's election. Then-prime minister John Howard announced a A$34 billion (S$34.3 billion) tax package on the first day of the campaign. Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd responded with a A$31 billion package. Mr Lee said: 'So major newspapers in Australia started to keep track of the cost of campaign promises. They called it a pork-o-meter. So as you put in more, the dacing (weighing scale in Malay) goes up.' In the end, Mr Howard's promises hit A$65 billion and Mr Rudd's, A$56 billion. 'Finally, the election was not decided on the pork-o-meter. The people wanted a change...and they chose Kevin Rudd.' In telling these stories, Mr Lee stressed he was not out to criticise others but to show the nature of election politics, to which Singapore was not immune. 'We too, face the reality of election politics. Opposition parties often demand the Government spend more, particularly near election time. They never ask where the money will come from, least of all do they explain where the money for their programmes will come from at election time.' Mr Lee added: 'Therefore, we have to take extra care to safeguard our reserves for the future, to frame the rules to prevent our elections from becoming auctions. Therefore, we need to put in place a system that will subject the Government to tight fiscal discipline regardless of which party is in power.' [email protected] LUP, NSS, GST credits anyone? "buy votes, fix oppositions?" hehehehe seems to me they dont really know what they are saying...

looks good........ http://www.suzukisport.com/SWIFT-SC/outline/index.html

China rejects pork imports from U.S., Canada Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:47 AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - China has rejected shipments of pork kidney from the United States and of spare ribs from Canada after finding traces of a banned growth agent in them, in the latest volley of cross-border accusations over product quality. The Xinhua news agency cited the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) as saying that the 18.4-tonne shipment of frozen kidneys and the 24-tonne shipment of frozen pork ribs had been returned to the exporters by local quarantine officials in southern Guangdong province. The growth agent ractopamine, commonly used in the United States, is at the centre of negotiations between U.S. and Chinese officials over the pork trade. China has banned use of ractopamine and refuses to import pork containing it. Richard Raymond, the U.S. Agriculture Department's undersecretary for food safety, said on Thursday following meetings with the AQSIQ that he hoped Beijing could change its stance on ractopamine if Codex Alimentarius, an international food safety body, could endorse tolerance levels for it. China has highlighted several quality concerns over U.S. products in recent months, in apparent response to complaints in Washington about the safety of Chinese exports ranging from toys to toothpaste. Beijing is also taking steps to clean up its own manufacturing sector, whose reputation has been tarnished by recent product recalls, including for lead-tainted toys. Separately, Xinhua said that authorities had reprimanded dozens of factories in eastern Zhejiang province after finding that 40 percent of the children's clothing they produced did not meet quality standards. The district where the factories are located, in Huzhou city, makes one fourth of the country's children's garments, Xinhua said. It cited the local quality supervision administration as saying their "quality index" was at its lowest since 2003. The garments had problems with their dyes, fiber content and stitching, Xinhua said, adding that none of the companies involved exported their products. The inspection was part of a nationwide campaign to improve product quality and food safety in the wake of the recent scandals, it said.