Lim Wah Chun has been catering vegetarian lunchboxes for a company of twelve employees weekly since August 2021. (Photo provided by Lim Wah Chun)
Seen adding a basket of fresh vegetables into the wok to be stir-fried, Tzu Chi volunteer Lim Wah Chun had been preoccupied since morning. From procuring ingredients to preparing the ingredients, cooking the dishes, packing the meals, delivering the lunchboxes, and collecting the used lunchboxes for cleaning, she was able to manage all these by herself within a few hours. Despite the busyness, Lim Wah Chun expressed jovially, “One does not feel tired doing the right thing. In fact, one derives joy from the process.”
In the process of encouraging more people to adopt a vegetarian diet, many Tzu Chi volunteers often commented, “It’s easier to convince people to do good deeds than to adopt a vegetarian diet.” Indeed, promoting vegetarianism is not a one-off effort. Getting people to make a dietary change is immensely challenging, especially during the initial stage. However, if there were someone who could share their experience, vegetarian recipes, and even readily provides a scrumptious vegetarian lunchbox, it would certainly be a great aid in one’s transition to a vegetarian diet.
Lim Wah Chun had prepared close to 2,000 sets of lunchboxes for a company of twelve employees since August 2021. As a result, it has changed some employees’ perception of vegetarianism, and some even went on to promote vegetarianism to the people around them.
Delectable food is the greatest promoter of a vegetarian diet
Recalling the reason behind catering vegetarian lunchboxes, it started with volunteer Chen Yu Cheng who aspired to promote vegetarianism in the company she was working in. She tried to encourage her co-workers to adopt a vegetarian diet by sharing with them the benefits of eating plant-based food. However, it proved to be challenging. In June 2021, Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner cum Tzu Chi volunteer Lim Lee Huang found out about Chen Yu Cheng’s wish. Aware that volunteer Lim Wah Chun had also been actively promoting vegetarianism and was a great cook, she decided to link these two volunteers together to achieve their common goal.
With the same goal in mind, both Chen Yu Cheng and Lim Wah Chun came to a consensus swiftly. They jointly decided to try catering vegetarian lunchboxes for one company continuously over the span of two weeks and measure the level of acceptance among the employees towards a vegetarian diet afterwards. The delicious lunchboxes were a big hit, and so the original plan to cater two weeks of vegetarian lunchboxes was extended to three weeks. Eventually, the catering of vegetarian lunchboxes went on to provide five days of vegetarian lunchboxes weekly. It has been eight months since the start of this project.
Delectable food has been most effective in encouraging co-workers who were not on a vegetarian diet to give a vegetarian diet a try.
When Lim Wah Chun prepared the lunchboxes, she would often try to use different ingredients to make the meals interesting and to increase the variety of dishes provided. For example, instead of solely serving rice as the main source of carbohydrates, she would also replace it with sushi, pasta, or bee hoon. Whereas for proteins, she would serve other ingredients such as tempeh, chickpeas, quinoa, or edamame, instead of the commonly used tofu. Apart from making the meals varied, she would sometimes give the vegetarian meals an exotic spin. Lastly, the finishing touch to a nutritional meal was to add different types of colourful fruits into the lunchboxes.
Lim Wah Chun was also thoughtful and meticulous when planning the lunch menu. “I usually try to prepare something special on Monday and Friday. This is because Monday is the first day of the week when employees return to work, so I hope to brighten up their Mondays. Whereas by preparing a good lunch for them on Friday, I hope to be able to make them anticipate their weekend joyfully.”
Despite planning the menu for lunch much earlier, there were occasions whereby the ingredients needed were unavailable in the market or the ingredients that she ordered ran out of stock. When this happened, she had to be creative and resourceful to make use of what was available to alter her menu. “I had to brainstorm there and then at the market to decide what alternate dishes to cook. It would be a bonus if the dishes were something they had never tasted before or cooked using seasonal ingredients. If it was a dish that I do not know how to prepare, I would look for its recipe on the internet.”
“It is indeed a big challenge. However, such a challenge has motivated me to solve problems. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Despite being 65 years old this year, volunteer Lim Wah Chun has as much drive as a youngster. “My plan in promoting vegetarianism is to start small but do it well and with perseverance. Most importantly, make people enjoy and love the vegetarian food they are eating so that they will be more likely to continue going meatless.”
The colourful and delectable vegetarian lunch packed in lunchboxes looks incredibly appetizing. (Photo by Lim Wah Chun)
Physical transformation apparent after several weeks
One of the employees, Toh Min Wei, mentioned that she felt more energetic after consuming a plant-based diet and there was also an improvement in her cholesterol level. The five-day vegetarian programme had improved her health within the span of several weeks.
Toh Min Wei shared that she had been dealing with irregular menstruation and menstruation cramps for a long time. The result of her recent medical check-up done several months back had been less than ideal too. Her doctor even advised that she would probably need to start taking medication in the next visit.
However, after trying out the vegetarian lunch for several weeks, she noticed an apparent transformation in her body. She felt lighter, her menstrual cycle became regular, and her pre-menstruation symptoms were less severe. Even her mood had been lifted. “My mood has become more stable and positive. I realise that I began to grumble less. I am more cheerful now and more grateful for what I have.”
Toh Min Wei used to perceive vegetarian meals as oily, salty, and often consisting of many processed vegetarian food. However, after savouring the variety of plant-based dishes prepared in the lunchboxes, she developed a new understanding of the vegetarian diet.
She explained, “In the past, I used to think that vegetarian meals consist mainly of food like mock char siew, which I find unappealing. However, the dishes prepared by Lim Wah Chun can vary from Western, Thai or Korean dishes and are prepared using whole food that is naturally high in protein instead of processed vegetarian food.”
Toh Min Wei has gained a new perspective on the vegetarian diet and has also started encouraging her friends and family to consume more plant-based meals. Having experienced the changes herself, she shared that a delicious meal does not need to be a seafood feast. “In the past, I used to think that meat dishes were more expensive hence is more worthwhile to consume a meat-based diet. Now, I no longer see it that way as I find that the food provided by Nature itself is the tastiest.”
Sending meals to the frontliners amid challenging times
Another person who often sang praises about Lim Wah Chun’s culinary skills was one of the staff from Tzu Chi Free Clinic (Redhill). Since June last year, Lim Wah Chun has been preparing lunch consisting of two vegetarian dishes for Tzu Chi Free Clinic staff twice a week. Lim Lee Huang, a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner working in the Free Clinic, commented that cost is not a concern to Sister Lim Wah Chun when she prepares the dishes. The dishes she makes are very diverse and have a taste of home too.
Lim Lee Huang recalled that there was a sharp spike in the number of community COVID cases in Redhill in June 2021. Block 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre, which was situated near Tzu Chi Free Clinic (Redhill), reported a high number of COVID cases, making it the third-largest COVID cluster in Singapore. As a result, the affected Market and Hawker centre were closed for fourteen days. The volunteer who was supposed to prepare lunch for the clinic staff was unable to turn up due to the pandemic. At the same time, Clinic Manager Lai Hin Wai, who could also prepare lunch for the staff, happened to be on a fourteen-day home quarantine.
Lim Lee Huang movingly said, “True love and concerns often reveal themselves in the process of overcoming a challenging situation. Just like how Wah Chun volunteered to prepare and transport the lunch for the clinic staff after knowing about their plight.”
“The clinic staff were full of praises for the lunch prepared by Lim Wah Chun. They often looked forward to having their lunch. The number of staff registering for lunch remains consistently high.”
During the lunch break, Lim Lee Huang would drive over to Lim Wah Chun’s house to collect two freshly prepared and piping hot vegetarian dishes for the rest of the staff. (Photo provided by Lim Lee Huang)
Lim Lee Huang explained that Lim Wah Chun would always prepare two vegetarian dishes and would ensure that there were a variety and nutritional values in the dishes she serves. (Photo by Lim Lee Huang)
A good affinity that started with the Buddha Bathing Ceremony
Equipped with excellent culinary skills and being a person who would often experiment with new dishes, Lim Wah Chun used to be someone who rarely cooked and loved meat dishes. She did not even know what a vegetarian diet was.
“I used to enjoy eating chicken, pork and mutton,” Lim Wah Chun admitted. In the past, whenever there were family gatherings, she would be very upset if they did not order her favourite meat dishes. Looking back, Lim Wah Chun repented on her past ignorance.
The turning point for Lim Wah Chun was the Buddha Bathing Ceremony back in 2011. She had only become a Tzu Chi volunteer for a year back then. To participate in the Buddha Bathing Ceremony, she made a vow to observe a vegetarian diet for 108 days.
A change in diet often requires a period of adjustment. Many people often succumb to their past dietary habit of consuming meat during the process. However, this was not the case for Lim Wah Chun as she persevered and completed the 108-day vegetarian diet. She has since continued her vegetarian journey and even moved on to promote vegetarianism. “I was very clear about why I chose to be on a vegetarian diet and was determined to participate in the Buddha Bathing Ceremony. After the ceremony ended, I thought, ‘It seems alright. Why don’t I just continue being a vegetarian?’ And so, I continued going meatless until today.”
Lim Wah Chun rarely cooks prior to retirement. Through online learning and her creativity, she has been able to experiment with cooking new dishes and preparing a delicious spread of highly raved vegetarian food. (Photo provided by Lim Wah Chun)
Having advocated vegetarianism for quite some time, she concluded that it is easier to get people to donate to charity than to adopt a vegetarian diet. It takes lots of time and patience, and hence, she often starts small.
When asked about how long she would continue to cater vegetarian lunchboxes, Lim Wah Chun laughed and replied, “How can a person stop promoting vegetarianism? Stopping is not an option. Once one starts doing it, they will have to continue with it.”
With the ongoing pandemic, she has been actively changing people’s dietary habits to prevent further calamities and diseases. In the past eight months, Lim Wah Chun had prepared close to 2,000 vegetarian lunchboxes and this momentum is expected to continue growing in the future.
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