Violet Oon has long been described as the doyenne of Singapore’s heritage food and, more recently, a national treasure. The indomitable 79-year-old has spent decades documenting, cooking and championing Singapore’s culinary heritage, making her something of a living repository of our nation’s social history.
Her own life is full of film-worthy turns. As a young child, she spent a year and a half in India, which gave her a new appreciation for Singaporean food. “When I came back… it was like a reunion with a lover,” she said of missing the food of home in an interview in 2019. She nursed early ambitions of becoming an opera singer but decided not to pursue it because “I realised I would never be the best in the world.”
