A Baguette A Day

Ming doesn’t really work in the central business district; he’s actually a professionally-trained baker, although he has a bit of a funny story behind that. “I wanted to work in a kitchen, and the head chef asked me to choose a section — right or left. I chose the left, because it was air-conditioned, and that’s how I started baking.” It’s something that he’s grown to learn immensely, however. “Working as a pastry chef or baker has always been a dream of mine,” he says. “I love the smell of freshly baked bread and croissants every morning. One never gets sick of that. Plus, a baguette a day reminds me to enjoy the simplest things in life.” The trade-off, however, are the “anti-social” working hours as a chef. “Working every Friday, Saturday and Sunday tends to kill off one’s social life,” he says. “There’s no way around it except to sacrifice sleep to meet up with the people that matter in your life.” Ming has also found a small way around the standard dress code in the kitchen by accessorising.  “We wear chef pants, a chef jacket and kitchen clogs, but I do wear a black beret as my head gear in every kitchen, ever since I started working in my first kitchen,” he says. “I picked it up in Spain during my travels in university.” If he really had to pick, Ming thinks he would be a sailor. “I’m an avid fisherman, and I try my best to go on a fishing trip at least once every two months,” he says. “I’ve always loved the sea.” No matter what he does, Ming finds it important to keep working hard. “Always strive for excellence, and try to find value even in the most mundane of tasks,” he says. “And don’t stop smiling.”