A Taste For The Accessible

Delivering high quality, affordable health care to the masses is his life work. And off-duty, Dr Daniel Chan’s passion is in seeking out high quality, accessible eats.

- Koh Yuen Lin

The cost of food is going up, observes Dr Daniel Chan, co-founder and the group deputy chief executive of Fullerton Health – a Singapore company that is one of the leading providers of corporate health-care solutions across the Asia-Pacific. He is not referring to the local fine-dining scene, where the cost of a meal can rival that in some of the glitziest cosmopolitan cities around the world. But, really, his mind is on simpler fare. He takes his closest and oldest clients to feast on nasi padang, and power lunches with his business partner means a trip to the nearest kopitiam (coffee shop). Here, he shares his penchant for down-to-earth fare with us.

Tell us about your power kopitiam meetings with your business partner.

(Dr Michael Tan) and I are both born and bred in Singapore – hawker food is comfort food to us. We have to eat despite how busy we are, so that’s when we brainstorm and problem-solve. The kopitiam environment is one that we are comfortable in – and the service is quick and efficient! Our meal could be bak chor mee, chicken rice, char kway teow, or Teochew muay (Chan belongs to the Hokkien dialect group, while Tan is Teochew), and we finish off with local kopi (coffee). No offence to artisanal coffee but I like my kopi siew dai (coffee with milk and less sugar).

What are some local stalls that we might ïƒ nd you at?