Indian Restaurants in Singapore Hails Govt's Move Allowing Them to Hire Cooks From India, B'desh

Singapore: Indian restaurants in Singapore have welcomed a government move to allow m to hire cooks from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on work permits.

Cooks are t easy to come by for many Indian restaurants in Singapore, and festive periods like Deepavali put furr strain on m, according to a report by Channel News Asia on Tuesday.

It has become a little easier for se eateries after Ministry of Manpower (MOM) allowed m to hire cooks from three South Asian countries.

Four hundred Indian cuisine restaurants tapped work permits in first three months after applications were accepted in September last year, Channel had Ministry as saying.

"During ( festive season), we require a lot of hands because of catering (orders), because re are also certain special items which are made like sweet meats which are t on our rmal menu," Indian Restaurants Association president Gurcharan Singh said.

Applications from restaurants are assessed by industry stakeholders such as rewned chefs. Government ncies are also involved, including Indian Herit Centre.

Among businesses that have benefitted is Riverwalk Tandoor along Rangoon Road.

Its managing director Sharonjeet Kaur went as far as saying move was a “dream come true” amid challenges restaurant was facing in hiring chefs.

“Anyone can say, ‘I'm a chef’, but to specialise in tandoor, curry, even frying is a bit difficult because it's Indian food. It's t something that any person can just come in and do,” Channel quoted Kaur as saying.

restaurant was able to hire three more cooks over past year. With a small shift in manpower strength, restaurant was able to take more than 40 catering orders per day in lead-up to Deepavali last week, compared with about 30 previously.

Kaur said restaurant has even been exploring new types of dishes, taking inspiration from Western and Chinese cuisine.

“In India currently, trend is Indian fusion everywhere, so … we started on it, new ideas, new chefs. When y come in, y come up with ir own cooking style. So that's how we actually grow,” she said.

" move has allowed Indian restaurants to up ir game," said Gayatri Restaurant managing director S Mahendran.

“Within this one year, I think we have seen tremendous changes within Indian culinary . I speak for my restaurant and my fellow restaurateurs who have been in industry for quite some time,” he added.

While restaurants expressed gratitude for being able to hire more chefs, y said a higher quota for such foreign workers would help meet demand even more.

Currently, cap for such workers is 8 per cent of its total workforce.

“You need to have a total of 12 local workers to have that one foreign Indian chef in your kitchen,” Mahendran pointed out, adding that he hopes proportion of work permits allowed will increase.

Besides quota, Riverwalk Tandoor also hopes it can retain Employment Pass (EP) holders it hires when y are up for renewal. restaurant hires 11 EP holders who have been with company for more than 10 years, said Kaur.

“ EP (holders) that we have right w in hand, I believe y should be extended or given a chance, because that's how we are surviving,” she said.

(Except headline, this story is t edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed)