of perm sec tan yong soon talks about his culinary course at le cordon bleu paris

Cooking up a holiday spirit: The Straits Times has a report about Tan Yong Soon, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, who recently attended a culinary course at the famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris with his family.

WITH a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, the young Indonesian woman asked me: 'So, are you having fun?' It was end November, in the second week of my basic culinary course at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, the famous cooking school. During a short break between classes, I told her I was there with my wife and son for the fun of it. We were not preparing for careers as chefs or planning to open a restaurant. But my body language showed signs of fatigue and weariness, not those of someone who was having fun. I decided to attend the culinary course in June last year. My 20-year-old son Yanqiang had discussed with my wife Cher Ling, a senior investment counsellor at a bank, what he wanted to do between early November, when he would finish National Service, and August this year, when he would begin his studies at Brown University in the United States. He wanted to spend the time meaningfully. Cooking was always one of the activities he considered. He had been interested in patisserie, mostly in eating, but also baking occasionally.

Other links:-
- Perm Sec Tan Yong Soon openly boast about spending S$46,500 to learn French cooking
- Spending thousands for a cooking course - on holiday!