Tzu Chi volunteer, Nancy Chew (middle) and members of the ‘Veggie Group’ go on a date to do the five-element fitness exercise at Bedok Reservoir Park every weekend morning. (Photo by Ee Choon Kang)
"32345678, 423456, next move!" Just when the morning rays lighted the sky at 7.30 am on a weekend, cheerful music of the five-element (note 1) fitness exercise filled a corner by the lake of Bedok Reservoir Park. Nancy Chew and her friends from the East Zone Veggie Group, dressed in colourful T-shirts that promote vegetarianism, beamed away as they got ready to start their exercise.
A woman who happened to walk by naturally joined the group in their moves. While catching her breath after the exercise, she realised that there were slogans printed on everyone's T-shirt: "Animals are friends and not food", "I love animals and don't eat them". She was curious and could not help asking about them.
In response, Nancy Chew quickly took out a navy-blue T-shirt with a similar slogan from an eco-friendly bag. She eloquently explained that her group mates were wearing these T-shirts to promote vegetarianism and invited the lady to try a plant-based diet by starting with one meal.
Since the Veggie Group started introducing the T-shirts in various colours and styles in 2021, putting one on and promoting vegetarianism to relatives, friends, and even strangers has become a part of Nancy Chew’s daily routine.
Wearing the Vegetarianism Attitude
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Master Cheng Yen has been mentioning about the "Great Lesson” and constantly called for vegetarianism and "nothing else". During the pandemic, Tzu Chi volunteers in Singapore stepped up efforts to become part of the vegetarianism movement. They brainstormed a wide variety of methods to promote vegetarianism which eventually blossomed in the community. The East Zone Veggie Group’s launch of vegetarianism T-shirts was one of the many creative ideas to promote vegetarianism. The thoughtfully designed T-shirts come in various colours and slogans. Viewers can scan the QR code on the back of the shirt to watch exquisite and lively videos that promote plant-based diets.
"‘Animals are friends, not food.' I hope that when you have your meals, you can eat one portion of vegetable more and one portion less of meat or have one more vegetarian meal and thus cut down on one meal of meat. And then gradually get used and switch to a plant-based diet”. This is what Nancy Chew told the lady who passed by the exercise group on that day at Bedok Reservoir Park as she held up a Vegetarian T-shirt in both hands for the lady.
However, there are many temptations everywhere in this world. The lady scratched her head and said, "But I like to eat everything, and I enjoy all kinds of food," and eventually did not agree to accept the T-shirt. Nancy Chew did not take it to heart and quickly got ready to devote her energy to the next chance to persuade others to become vegetarians.
Every weekend morning, putting on a Vegetarian T-shirt, doing the five-element fitness exercise at Bedok Reservoir, seizing every opportunity to promote vegetarianism and inviting others to join the Veggie Group has become one of the many activities that the group engages in to promote vegetarianism on their ‘Veggie Date’.
Donned in Vegetarian T-shirts, Nancy Chew and friends in the Veggie Group have become ‘mini signboards’ that promote vegetarianism as they move around. They flash in all corners of the community and spread the word in silence, hoping to promote plant-based food to more people and spread the message of love and the belief in cherishing life.
Gao Jin Lian, a volunteer who initiated the exercise activity, said that Nancy Chew always spares no effort in promoting vegetarianism. "She is very active and cooperative. In the Veggie Friends group, she is always the first to sign up for an activity".
"Sister Nancy always supports us quietly behind the scenes, but whenever we face any issues and need her, she will always be the first to step up and help. It is fair to say that she understands truly and achieves what Master Cheng Yen teaches about 'harmony and cooperation".
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Putting on attire with the vegetarianism message is a creative idea of the ‘Veggie Friends’ group. (Photo by Ee Choon Kang) -
Dressed in the Vegetarian T-shirts, Nancy Chew (left) and friends of the Veggie Group have become ‘mini signboards’ that promote vegetarianism as they walk around. (Photo provided by Nancy Chew) -
Volunteers in Vegetarian T-shirts picked up trash at the beach park. (Photo by Alice Lee Choy San) -
The Vegetarian T-shirts come in various styles and colours – some are printed with a QR code for the public to scan while others show a simple and powerful slogan on the back. (Photo by Ee Choon Kang)
Making Vegetarianism Advocacy Part of Life
Today, vegetarianism is not only Nancy Chew's lifestyle choice but also her attitude towards life. In addition to encouraging and promoting vegetarianism, she has also learned to cook delicious vegetarian food that comes in a variety of colours, fragrances and flavours. Together with a group of volunteers, Nancy Chew also organises a monthly ‘Veggie Kitchen’ activity to demonstrate vegetarian cooking to move heartstrings through taste buds and help more people appreciate how lovely vegetarian food can be.
Nancy Chew said it is a huge challenge that many people who are used to eating meat steer clear of vegetarian food as they have the misconception that vegetarian food is not delicious. So, it is important to slowly adjust the taste of vegetable dishes over time and use fresh ingredients to produce different flavours in a healthy diet. Vegetarian versions of popular dishes with meat such as yong tau foo, rojak, sushi, kebab, dumpling and vegetarian bak kut teh should also be offered.
This step-by-step approach will allow non-vegetarians to accept vegetarian food that is delicious, nutritious and healthy.
The Veggie Group runs a monthly ‘Veggie Kitchen’ at which Nancy Chew (middle) often takes the lead to demonstrate and teach vegetarian cuisine as part of a step-by-step approach to allow non-vegetarians to accept vegetarian food so that they can eat delicious, nutritious and healthy food too. (Photo provided by Nancy Chew)
In addition to these activities, Nancy Chew also promotes vegetarianism to the best of her ability. Her daughter's friends and the Safe Distancing Ambassadors who often greet her in the community have all become her target audience to receive free Vegetarian T-shirts.
When Nancy Chew's daughter, Thien Jia Yu’s friends, visit them, Thien Jia Yu would also introduce them to the T-shirts. "Look how cute my mother's T-shirt is!" "Do you know that the big QR code on the back can be scanned? Isn’t it fun and interesting?"
Thien Jia Yu shared that her two good friends not only happily accepted the T-shirts but have also started learning to eat more vegetables. One of them now eats vegetarian lunch almost every day and often goes to vegetarian restaurants to try new dishes. She even took the initiative and asked Thien Jia Yu’s mother for advice on cooking vegetarian sliced fish soup noodles.
"They particularly like to eat the vegetarian sliced fish soup noodle that mom cooks. The taste is really similar to the sliced fish soup noodle sold outside, and there are more vegetables, vegetarian fish slices, tomato, baby corn, white radish. It is so colourful!"
In 2021, Tzu Chi Singapore launched the Healthier Me 21-Day Challenge programme for the first time in the East Zone, and Nancy Chew participated in taking turns to deliver vegetarian bentos to the participants. (Photo provided by Nancy Chew)
Responding to Doubts with Equanimity
After exercising at Bedok Reservoir Park on weekends, the group donned in their vegetarian T-shirts would usually stroll to a hawker centre nearby for breakfast and grocery shopping at the wet market. Vegetarianism is still a minority culture in Singapore. Upon seeing a group of people in colourful T-shirts of similar styles, most passers-by would take another look out of curiosity. Occasionally, one would come forward to have a chat.
Nancy Chew revealed that there was once when someone “challenged” the values of the Veggie Group members in their Vegetarian T-shirts. A male diner at the hawker centre stared at their T-shirts curiously and observed them silently for as long as half an hour. Then, he walked over with a smile and said, "I love animals, but I love to eat them even more."
The line obviously targeted at the slogan, ‘I love animals and don't eat them’. Nancy Chew remained calm and with a smile, went on to share with him the concept of vegetarianism as she always does. She said to him that vegetarian food can be delicious and it not only protects the environment but also saves sentient beings.
After listening, the male diner gave a thumbs up to express his understanding of their belief in vegetarianism but also admitted that there was no way he could refrain from eating meat. Realising that the male diner was not ready yet, Nancy Chew wished him well and said, "I still hope you will replace a meat-based meal with a vegetarian meal. Even if you only eat one vegetarian meal every ten days, it is already wonderful and a blessing for yourself".
Prejudice and misunderstanding are due to a lack of understanding. She said, "Actually, he (the male diner) has no ill intention and was just trying to be funny, but we would still try our best to convey our message. We never know when the seeds of kindness we plant will sprout. Maybe one day when the time is right, his view will change".
Nancy Chew chooses to respect other people's decisions to eat meat. "I still do what I can to raise donation funds from those who sell fish and pork in the market. I know it is difficult to convert them (to vegetarians), but these are people I know of, and I understand they have families to support, so I still wish to maintain a good relationship with them."
The Veggie Group used to promote vegetarianism at hawker centres on the 1st and 15th day of every lunar month but the activity has been cancelled due to the fluctuating conditions of the pandemic. (Photo provided by Nancy Chew)
The Reason for her Perseverance
Nancy Chew, who has joined Tzu Chi for 30 years, could feel the urgency in Master Cheng Yen’s appeal to Tzu Chi volunteers to speed up their pace in promoting vegetarianism after the outbreak of COVID-19. This journey of persuading others to go vegetarian has helped her gain a deeper understanding of what Master Cheng Yen once said: "It is easy to encourage kindness but challenging to promote vegetarianism." Nancy Chew sighed, "It is difficult for most people to curb their desire for meat unless they encounter a change in their health".
And what has made Nancy Chew resist the numerous meat-based food temptations and insist on a strictly meatless diet? It turned out that Nancy Chew's husband was diagnosed with cancer and was in a dangerous condition in 2001. Nancy Chew found out through her reading later that red meat and sugar are the main culprits for the growth of cancer cells. So, she suggested to her husband to change his mindset and eating habits, switch to a diet of natural and organic fruits and vegetables and take the five-element vegetable soup as a form of diet therapy.
After five years of having a natural diet with less salt, less oil and no sugar, her husband’s cancer cell index dropped to a normal level and she witnessed how "to be healthy, you must eat whole grains, vegetables and fruits".
Other than bearing in mind Master Cheng Yen's appeal that vegetarianism is the only ultimate cure, Nancy Chew realised that the world seemed to have halted since the pandemic broke out. Everyone was trapped at home, and with natural disasters happening often, she asked herself, "What else can I do?” It prompted her to be more determined to promote vegetarianism. Under the pandemic situation, it has become critical that vegetarianism is “the only way to go". It is also an important message to spread and an urgent movement to promote.
For Nancy Chew today, a plant-based diet is not only an eating habit but a way of life. She hopes to inspire more people to become vegetarians in the near future. "It's actually very simple, and I don’t complicate it – animals are friends and not food, so if you love them, don't eat them”.
"Everyone has compassion. A single firefly produces little light, but if many come together, the world will be a brighter place filled with love".
Note 1: According to the five elements theory in Chinese culture, everything in nature is made up of the five basic elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Where human life is concerned, the five elements demonstrate how all aspects of human health are interconnected with nature. Hence, this theory is not only used in Traditional Chinese Medicine but in other aspects such as food and diet.
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