Celebrity food travels: Actor Chua Enlai’s top places to eat in New Delhi

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If traveling were a global competition, Chua Enlai may definitely be a gold medallist. The artist and network visited 29 countries next year, 13 of them for the first time. In 2025,” My goal is to go to my 100th UN state”, he enthused.

And, on all of his journeys,” I almost always miss the food at home as I’m constantly seeking the taste of where I am. Trying the regional cuisine is an extremely significant part of my travels. I expect every meal to be an occasion – get it a city food’ event’ or a Michelin star-worthy’ event’. No moment noodles, bits of chili sauce or room service team sandwiches for me, satisfy”.

Alternatively,” Dining on fresh, locally-grown make is a pleasure that we don’t often get in Singapore”, he said. ” We should go and have that great stuff”.

His idea is that” we may even find culture, history and architecture on a dish”. ” To be honest, I may not always like what I taste, but meal completes the practice for me”, he shared. ” Temple, bite. Cathedral, bug. Beach, bug. Political centre, bite. Native food, twice tick”.

Some of the exotic foods he’s sampled recently are tsuivan ( fried noodles with meat and vegetables ) in Ulaanbator, khinkali ( soupy dumplings ) and khachapuri ( cheese and egg bread ) in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Ghanaian shito in Accra, which is “made of dried shrimp or other seafood with peppers and spices. I thought it was hae butterfly hiam! It’s savoury and savory and a delightful accompaniment to anything. I tried to buy some but evidently every family makes it different and my manual said that the best shito is the one made at home. Sounds like the terms of any Baba or Nyonya I know”!

When visiting a new place, he looks for meals trips to visit,” I even go to Netflix and look up Guy Feed Phil to see if he’s been where I’m going, then attempt to go where he went”.

One thing he isn’t limited to:” I don’t include a special tooth, so those IG-worthy cafes’ embellished’ with OTT pastries and several other bakery items don’t do it for me”.

Asking him to pick one city to share his recommendations for is “like asking someone to choose their favourite child”, he lamented.

But he finally settled on New Delhi, since” I travelled to Delhi twice in the past year”. But his total number of trips to the city number more than five, he estimates, as” I very much enjoy travelling to India. It’s a massive country with so many sights that one can never complete it”. New Delhi, in particular, is” cosmopolitan enough to offer a variety of traditional and imaginative modern fusion cuisines”.

At the same time, the Old Delhi area within the city “is utter chaos yet utterly memorable. Everything and anything happens on those narrow streets. It is fabulously noisy. There are people everywhere going about their daily routines alongside cows and rickshaws”. While he enjoys the sights and sounds of the abundant street food on offer,” I am bit cautious about it as I have a sensitive tummy. I just love watching them cook and put it on display”.

So, where does he like to go when hunger pangs hit?

INJA

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Newscaster Glenda Chong gives birth to her first child: ‘I just want to spend quality time with him’

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Chong revealed that her 10th IVF treatment was the woman’s past, regardless of the outcome, in a prior meeting with CNA Today.

” I remember telling ( Justin ) that this is the last time for me, and if it doesn’t work, we stop and start looking at retirement plans, what are we going to do, and other things like that,” she said.

” We had no expectations; we just thought,” Ok, if it works,” it will. Fantastic, you are aware. If it doesn’t function, then so be it.

She became pregnant and gave birth to her brother after it was successful.

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Burger & Lobster closing sole Singapore outlet at Jewel Changi Airport, offering 1-for-1 lobster rolls

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Burger &amp, Lobster Singapore responded to supporters on its Instagram page by stating that the ring was leaving Singapore and that the closing is continuous. In the past, Burger & Lobster had shut down its Raffles Hotel location in the late 2024.

Following an incident in May 2022 where over 130 diners reported experiencing gastroenteritis at the Jewel Changi Airport outlet, Burger &amp, Lobster Singapore was fined S$ 3, 000 ( US$ 2, 250 ) in April 2024.

CNA Lifestyle has contacted Burger & Lobster Singapore for opinions.

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What’s ‘involution’ and why is it worrying China’s policymakers?

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The issue has been at the forefront of international discussion in China, perhaps getting the attention of senior politicians.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang addressed the issue of “neijuan-style competition” for the first time in its highly anticipated work report released on Wednesday ( Mar 5 ) at the opening of the National People’s Congress ( NPC ) in Beijing. &nbsp,

” We will develop and improve fundamental organizations and laws for this purpose more quickly,” Li said.

We did end local isolationism and market segmentation, end barriers to financial flows in terms of industry access and exit as well as production factors, and implement comprehensive measures to combat rat race competition.

His words follow previous commitments, including one made at the Central Economic Work Conference ( CEWC ) in Beijing in December, where officials demanded industry self-control and sustainable market strategies to combat industrial overcapacity and vicious competition. &nbsp,

Dr. Chen Bo, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute, told CNA that the fact that this name appears in the state labor report “evideth the government’s solid concern over this bad phenomenon. &nbsp,

It is anticipated that effective steps may be introduced through like high-level government records and the policy-making process.

On the other hand, Nanjing University’s Yangtze Industrial Economic Think Tank producer Liu Zhibiao downplayed the value of the first time neijuan was mentioned in a state work report.

He claimed that the key to the success of the Central Economic Work Conference was to be merely “executed.”

A fair competition symposium with top executives from conglomerates like the Alibaba Group, JD.com, and Mercedes-Benz China was held on February 25 at the chair of China’s top industry regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation ( SAMR ). The session’s goal was to address involution and gather market feedback on possible solutions as well as market challenges.

Regional governments have also laid out strategies to combat neijuan.
 
Officials in the eastern seaside Jiangsu province suggested tackling involution in important industries through planned commercial planning, while Hunan put the emphasis on regulating competition in the promotion of investment.
 

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Commentary: Using screen time as stress relief? Here’s why that doesn’t work

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WHAT MEAN DOES CUTTING DOWN SEEM IMPOSSIBLE?

Cutting back is difficult because of instant gratification, which may be why two-thirds of teen respondents to the same CNA-IPS study struggle to do so.

The dopamine system in the brain is hijacked by social media and video apps, leading to a cycle of regular novelty-seeking. Every “like,” alert, and video deliver a small dopamine hit, many like a slot machine, where the odd get keeps users enthralled. &nbsp,

This basically rewires the mind over time, making focus harder and stillness feel intolerable. The effects go beyond social media. &nbsp,

Almost 60 % of adults in the US state that they check their phones while driving, and one in four employees say they are more distracted at work than they have in the past, with over half citing social media as the main culprit. &nbsp,

A modern detox feels less like a good reset and more like a withdrawal, which causes anxiety and discomfort because screens are so important to our daily lives.

Additionally, these programs have been designed for forced use. While algorithms carefully amplify material that elicits severe mental responses- dramatic news, outrage, and so on, eternal scrolling, autoplay, and push notifications are designed to maximize engagement. &nbsp,

Cutting lower is difficult because these systems were created to produce restraint feel strange, not because we lack courage.

Social support worsens our dependence, to add to it. Detaching feels isolating when everyone around us is plugged in. We are ensnared by the need to be connected.

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Foreigners from 63 countries can use QR code clearance when entering Malaysia from next year: Home minister

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In an development of a pilot program that has resulted in quicker airport clearing for passengers in Malaysia, foreigners from 63 nations will be able to enter the country using only QR codes without needing to present their passports starting in Malaysian.

Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, the home minister of Malaysia, confirmed this on Tuesday ( Mar 4 ) in response to a question in parliament.

Starting on January 1, 2026, Saifuddin said,” We plan to allow all travelers from 63 countries, including long-term go holders,” adding that the system makes use of artificial intelligence, including facial recognition, iris scanning, and biological technology.

At the Johor area gates and Kuala Lumpur International Airports 1 and 2, as well as QR code, Indonesian people are currently the only ones who can pass through the immigration process. &nbsp,

Just Malay bus passengers and those traveling on motorcycles are officially permitted to use the QR script system at the country’s borders. &nbsp,

CNA has reached out to the Home Ministry of Malaysia, asking which 63 nations are included and whether Singapore is. &nbsp,

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China expands defence budget by 7.2% amid Sino-US rivalry, geopolitical tensions

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As China continues its military modernization push amid a disturbed geopolitical landscape, it has announced a 7.2 % increase in its defense budget for this year, keeping with its 2024 increase.

As Chinese Premier Li Qiang was scheduled to deliver the government work report at the NPC’s opening session on Wednesday ( Mar 5 ), the pot is projected to increase to 1.78 trillion yuan ( US$ 245.6 billion ).

The NPC meeting and the conference of the nation’s leading political advisory body, which are held annually at the Two Sessions, are where the headline figure is revealed.

The most recent number represents the national defense budget’s 10th straight season of single-digit growth. China’s defense funds increased by 7.2 percent next year.

NPC spokesman Lou Qinjian stated at a press conference on Tuesday ( Mar 4 ) that” China’s defense budget has been stagnating at less than one-third of the GDP ( GDP ) for many years, lower than the global average.”

China’s defense spending is carefully monitored as a indicator of how Beijing may increase its military might, particularly as it struggles with making tensions in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait and a growing Sino-US conflict.

China’s President Xi Jinping stated in 2022 that it wants to “basically full” the “modernization of national defense and the military” by 2035 and to create a “world-class military” by the middle of the 20th century.

He has also emphasized that the modernization of the military is essential to “guarding national independence, security, and development passions.”

The increased defense budget by China’s Director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, according to Professor Kerry Brown, chairman of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, comes at a” carefully important” time, as American competition becomes more difficult under the Trump administration and security challenges become more difficult.

With America engaging in combat with its allies and rivals, the earth is becoming incredibly chaotic, he observed, and the majority of nations will be very defensive in this kind of atmosphere.

China is “defensive at the best of times,” and this is even more so now because of the increased vulnerability that its culture and America are likely feeling, which is difficult to predict.

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Watch live: Premier Li Qiang delivers speech detailing China’s economic policies

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Premier Li Qiang will deliver a speech enumering China’s remaining economic policies for the rest of the year on Wednesday ( Mar 5 ).

According to an annual job report that CNA saw, China will continue to aim for an economic growth rate of around 5 %, the same as it was the previous two years.

According to experts, the number is optimistic given that the second-largest economy in the world, the United States, is still struggling with a slow real estate market, low client spending, and a growing trade war with the United States.

See Li’s talk live on CNA.

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China sets GDP growth target of ‘around 5%’ for third year running, despite worsening trade war

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China will set a goal of “environ 5 %” of economic growth this year for the third consecutive time, according to the annual work report that Chinese Premier Li Qiang will present at the beginning of China’s annual Two Sessions.

Gross domestic product ( GDP ) for China reached 134.9 trillion yuan ( 18.77 trillion US dollars ) in 2024, an increase of 5 %.

China has kept its 2023 development goal, but achieving it this year may require overcoming growing outside forces and local pressures.

A business battle is raging on the international before, with the US imposing 20 % duties on Chinese goods powerful on March 4. &nbsp,

Beijing has retaliated by imposing more levies of up to 15 % on American agricultural and food items starting on March 10. This is in addition to the 15 % taxes on US liquefied natural gas and coal that were announced last month. &nbsp,

The second-largest economy in the world is struggling with weak domestic demand, a troubled property market, an aging populace, and rising youth unemployment.

Beijing has cut its consumer price index ( CPI ) target by about 2 percent, a significant decrease from the previous year’s target of 3 percent, in response to weak consumer demand. This is also the first time the CPI objective has been set below 3 percent since China first began putting the number in the yearly work report 20 years ago. &nbsp,

The changes come after its CPI, a crucial inflation indicator, increased by only 0.2 % between 2024 and 2023, its lowest increase since 2009.

Additionally, the Chinese government announced a record budget deficit of about 4 % of GDP this year.

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IN FOCUS: Would you get beauty treatments in someone else’s home?

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A PROFESSIONAL’S PERSPECTIVE

Dr. Stephanie Ho, a specialist neurologist who runs her own office at Scotts Medical Centre, is aware of the appeal of these home-based companies.

These companies make it easy for clients because the treatments can be done in a private environment and may fit their schedules.

According to Dr. Ho, a skin expert with more than 25 years of medical knowledge, this reduces travel and simplifies transportation. &nbsp,

She continued,” Home-based treatments typically cost less than what people will pay in hospitals because of the high rental costs of commercial spaces.”

They could possibly customize their treatments to more in-depth specifications, such as applying one treatment to the mouth to the eye area while applying another remedy to the scalp, Dr. Ho suggested. &nbsp,

Putting off the advantages, there are a number of potential risks that need to be addressed.

According to reports in the media, some home health professionals may use illegal substances like unapproved injectables, illegal laser procedures, fake Botox injections, or unconfirmed skin-lightening products, according to Dr. Ho. &nbsp,

Home-based experts are less likely to have seen proper and thorough training and certification, which can lead to poor methods and uncomfortable processes, she continued. &nbsp,

Such processes could result in serious complications like burns, swelling, infections, or suboptimal outcomes.

She added that home businesses do not face rigid industry regulations. Tools and instruments may not be properly cleaned, increasing the chance of cross-contamination, infections, and skin reactions.

Home-based settings may not have the appropriate medical tools or trained staff to handle allergic reactions, burn, or other difficulties, in contrast to specialized facilities.

Because of the lack of professional liability insurance, buyers may not have many options when something goes bad.

Even in the most improperly lit or ventilated areas of the house, it might not always be suitable for professional techniques.

While using home-based beauty treatments, clients should be careful with health, solution safety, and practitioner credentials to ensure safe and competent treatments, according to Dr. Ho. &nbsp,

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