What and how we eat can vary from one religion to another. What are the beliefs underpinning your religion's views on food? Does lab-grown meat blur the lines?
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00:00 If I go flying, I would actually order vegetarian food for two reasons.
00:04 One is they will serve you first.
00:06 Correct.
00:07 Hi, my name is Quek Isim.
00:20 I am from the Singapore Baha'i community.
00:24 Hi, I'm Rajesh Arsha and I represent the Jain faith.
00:28 Hi, I'm Seng Koo Tuevon from the Hindu faith of the Inter-Religious Organisation.
00:32 Nice to see you Raj, nice to see you Quek.
00:35 To kickstart our appetite, I'm going to talk about food.
00:38 How about that?
00:39 Typical Singaporean.
00:41 So let's start by asking ourselves,
00:44 what are some of the customs or practices that involve food?
00:48 As you know, the basic tenet of Jainism is Ahimsa, which is non-violence.
00:53 The easiest way to have non-violence in action is to be vegetarian.
00:58 So you don't harm another living soul,
01:00 because we believe that there is a soul in every living thing.
01:03 The concept is very simple.
01:05 We are guests on the planet and we should live like guests.
01:09 We should consume as little as possible.
01:12 And whatever, even in order to survive, we need to consume,
01:16 needs to be at the lowest level, one sensory, two sensory at max.
01:20 And that's one of the reasons why, if you would ask a Jain,
01:24 "Hey, you know, you're a vegetarian, but I hear you don't eat underground roots."
01:28 And that's what we do, we don't eat underground roots.
01:31 I mean, there are exceptions to underground roots,
01:34 like we eat ginger, but it is dry.
01:37 So when there's no water in it, for medicinal purposes,
01:40 for spices purposes, turmeric, dried, it's okay.
01:44 In India, from where most Jains come from, Gujarat, Rajasthan,
01:48 they are generally a vegetarian community.
01:51 So it's a lot easier for them to do it over there and be strict about it.
01:55 I'm a Singaporean, born here, raised here, my parents came from India.
02:00 They brought the traditions with them, the dietary restrictions with them,
02:05 and we had to deal with all of these in the schools.
02:09 Sometimes we had to go hungry, army.
02:11 We were eating rice and tomato ketchup and cucumber sometimes,
02:15 because we can't get vegetarian food.
02:17 Things are very different now.
02:19 So in the local context, of course, there's a lot more choices
02:23 because we have a multi-religious, multi-racial, multicultural Singapore.
02:28 Yeah, I gather that it's basically driven towards a meat-free regime, right, Jains?
02:34 What about Quek, what about Bahai?
02:36 We don't spend that much time thinking about what not to eat.
02:41 That's the only thing that I can tell.
02:45 Singapore will suit you for sure.
02:48 You know that the Bahai faith is quite a new faith.
02:52 It's only about 179 years old.
02:55 The principles are very universal.
02:58 I guess food-wise, there is not much restriction
03:01 because the faith covers people from all over the world,
03:05 from the North Pole to the South Pole, to the desert people.
03:10 So we can't say that, "Oh, you have to be vegetarian,"
03:14 because vegetables are not available in those cold parts of the earth.
03:19 There is something in the writing that in the future,
03:23 men will not eat meat.
03:25 There will be a time when the food of the future is just grains and seeds and fruits.
03:33 Is it part of and parcel of an evolution process?
03:37 Evolving towards...
03:39 Evolving because it is expected that men will become more passionate.
03:43 Compassionate.
03:44 Yeah, compassionate.
03:46 All this food transportation will allow all kinds of vegetables to be transported everywhere.
03:54 The Hindu faith itself,
03:57 yes, a lot of Jain beliefs are also being basically centred towards a vegetarian regime.
04:05 But it allows a spectrum because the faith itself has got a very wide spectrum.
04:11 Where it is very tailored is for those who want to strictly follow the path of the faith.
04:18 Then they are told to restrict the intake of the food with consciousness.
04:24 Consume the food with a thought process.
04:27 The reason being is that they give a different value and degree to the food
04:33 that it can impose on you.
04:35 Like in Hinduism, they will say it's guna.
04:38 The guna is an attribute of the food.
04:40 They say this particular food will make you agitated.
04:43 This particular food will make you calm.
04:45 This particular food will put you to sleep.
04:47 Therefore, look at the value of what the food can provide
04:51 and the scriptures have ordained certain kinds of food as per se.
04:55 The soul doesn't need food to survive.
04:58 Your body needs the food to survive.
05:01 And if it is only a question of survival, can you survive on the minimum?
05:06 We do so much for this six-inch journey.
05:10 It's all a matter of taste buds.
05:12 After you have consumed the food, below this, there's nothing that you can taste.
05:17 I think in Singapore context, there are plenty of choices actually.
05:20 Not much of a problem.
05:21 Correct. Some people will need the masala in their food to make it vegetarian.
05:25 Some people will just say, "No, it's okay. As far as vegetarian, I can eat."
05:28 But I must say that we have actually benefited from all this vegetarian food
05:35 because I now learn how to enjoy vegetarian food more than ever.
05:40 If I go flying, I would actually order vegetarian food for two reasons.
05:46 One is they will serve you first.
05:48 Correct.
05:49 Always, that's a trick.
05:51 But the other reason is it actually tastes much better.
05:54 Something in the news that has come,
05:56 Singapore wants to produce 30% of the food locally by 2030
06:01 because of land scarcity, there's hydroponics and all that they talk about.
06:05 What do you think about the lab-grown meat?
06:08 Ethically and philosophically, I will avoid it
06:12 because it is still originating from a single cell.
06:16 Whether you call it a stem cell or whatever it is, to do something.
06:20 If let's say I needed a body part replacement and eventually in future,
06:24 you have to use a stem cell to keep me alive,
06:28 that would be another ethical question.
06:30 But as far as for consumption, I would draw the line at lab-based.
06:35 Plant-based, I'm still okay to a certain extent, but I don't quite like the flavour.
06:44 Although plant-based is something that right is right,
06:48 but it actually mimics the wrong.
06:51 So as far as I would be concerned, I would either not have it or minimise it.
06:59 Now if I've gone to a five-star restaurant or event and they've prepared a vegetarian meal,
07:05 but using mock items or plant-based items, then I wouldn't disrespect that.
07:12 Some stricter genes would probably, it is probably good in Singapore's context
07:19 to feed the population.
07:21 That is something that we can't say no to.
07:24 It's more of a social community requirement.
07:30 I remember in the 1960s, there was always a theory that the population growth
07:36 is going to outgrow all the supplies of food and all that.
07:40 There would be a shortage of plants and vegetables and all that.
07:44 But you see, technology has given us more than what we need.
07:49 So that is not a doubt.
07:51 I mean, we will be able to outgrow our population again.
07:56 But to produce food in a lab, when the time comes, if it needs to be,
08:01 probably we have to do that.
08:03 Imagine you flying to Mars and then you want your meat with you.
08:08 You can't carry a gold car with you.
08:10 That is really far-thinking.
08:12 I want to bring everybody back to this one idea.
08:16 Why is there insufficient food?
08:21 Are there too many more people?
08:23 Is the population too much that our planet cannot provide?
08:26 If you look at the amount of wastage to bring one kilo of wheat from another country,
08:33 vegetables looking so pristine and so nice,
08:37 if we can maybe move towards eating less,
08:43 you go to buffets and you go to restaurants and there is the amount of wastage you see.
08:47 You could feed the rest of the planet without growing a single extra grain.
08:51 I've got nothing against it because it is the way that you've got to feed the masses
08:55 and we want to also be self-dependent just the way we went about with the water.
09:00 So it's a good idea, I think, that we are going towards a lab grown, made at the hydroponics.
09:05 We are having those multi-storey vegetable farms and all that as well, right?
09:11 Using UV lights and all that type of thing, grow lights and all that to grow on trays
09:16 rather than using arable land, which is the way to go, actually.
09:20 I learned a lot from how Jane looks at it and the Bahá'ís look at it.
09:24 And there's so much that we can talk about.
09:26 I'm sure a lot of you all are interested in wanting to know about food.
09:31 Therefore, please list your questions below and thank you very much.
09:35 Bye!
09:37 (Music)
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