VN’s Trong meets China public security minister
THE Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Vietnamese government and the people attach great importance to fostering friendly relations with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), state and people, said CPV General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong during a meeting with Chinese Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi on February 19 in Hanoi.
Vietnam is willing to work with China to maintain highlevel exchanges, control disagreements, foster cooperation in all fields, and promote stability in bilateral relations, Trong said.
Zhao highly appreciated the outcomes of cooperation between the two countries in Covid-19 prevention and control in recent times.
The minister expressed his belief that the Vietnamese people, under CPV leadership, will continue to gain even more great achievements in national construction and development as well as successfully implement the goals set at its 13th National Congress.
He said the two public security ministries would continue to promote cooperation in crime prevention, contributing to deepening SinoVietnamese relations for the practical benefits of the two countries’ people and maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world.
Trong proposed the two ministries continue to foster collaboration in security and legal implementation and promote the special role of the police force.
MOTORISTS parked beside the Padi House restaurant chain wave their hands out of their windows to signal to waiters, who come to take their orders that will be eaten on the spot.
Lockdown-weary Malaysians have jumped at the chance for an unusual eatingout experience allowing them to enjoy restaurant food despite coronavirus curbs – in-car dining.
The Southeast Asian nation is struggling with a virus resurgence that last month prompted officials to re-impose restrictions, including a ban on dining inside restaurants.
To get around this, the chain – which serves a mix of local and Western fare in the city of
Cyberjaya outside Kuala Lumpur – came up with a plan to bring their menus and meals to car-bound customers.
“We serve the food on proper plates for [people] to dine in their car like they are dining in a restaurant,” Chong Kar Yan, the company’s social media marketing manager said.
Their first drive-in dining site, in a car park beside one of their restaurants, proved such a hit they have now opened a second at another outlet in the city.
“I do feel safer eating in a car compared to a restaurant because we do sanitise the car,” said customer Narinderjit Singh, when AFP made a visit to one of the in-car dining sites.
“I sit at home throughout the day, I work from home – this gives me the opportunity to go out.”
Officials recently relaxed rules, allowing people to dine inside restaurants again, as the number of daily cases declined.
But Padi House will continue offering in-car dining, an option welcomed by customers who remain worried about the virus.
Malaysia is still recording close to 3,000 cases a day and several deaths.
“The good thing about this is that you’ll reduce your interaction with other people, so that you can avoid Covid19,” said customer Ahmad Yunus Faeez.
ATUNISIAN entrepreneur growing edible flowers says she is surprised by the appetite for her homegrown product in the North African country and hopes to see a “new culinary culture” bloom.
Sonia Ibidhi, a 42-year-old journalist, turned to organic farming of the niche but indemand product “out of love” for working on the land.
Among the flowers she grows are borage, a blue starshaped flower that tastes like cucumber, chive flowers – purple blossoms with a flavour similar to onion – and nasturtiums, bright yellow to orange flowers with a radishlike taste.
“I thought the flowers would be for export and of no immediate interest to the local market, but I’ve been surprised by the growing demand, in particular from some top-end hotels,” she said.
After bringing back 42 seed varieties from France, Ibidhi began planting around a dozen types of flowers.
She said she chose the mountainous Tabarka region in the country’s northwest for its humid climate and abundant fresh water, and now uses her own seeds.
“I do something that I love, that is beautiful and colourful,” she said proudly.
She said she hoped her flowers would spark “a new culinary culture in the country”.
Tunisians already use certain flowers in their traditional cuisine – some sweets feature dried rose petals, while lavender is an ingredient in a spice mix used in couscous recipes.
But fresh flowers, which can be used for dishes from soups to salads as well as teas, are a novelty.
‘Culinary journey’
In a luxury hotel in Gammarth, an upscale northern suburb of the capital Tunis, chef Bassem Bizid uses nasturtiums for his fish tartar and accompanies other dishes with a flower-leaf salad or a sorbet garnished with fresh violets.
Clients are “very satisfied to discover something new”, he said.
The hotel’s master chef, Italian Alessandro Fontanesi, said that during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the flowers went beyond introducing a new look and flavour.
“Not only are we using a rare Tunisian product, which makes the plate more attractive and adds a special taste, but it can take our clients on a culinary journey,” he said.
Ibidhi launched her business in 2019, after four years of planning.
As well as needing to do an “enormous” amount of paperwork, she said she had to repeatedly explain to the forestry department “what edible flowers were for”.
She sold her car to help finance the business, and later received a grant from the African Development Bank, she said.
She now pays the state 1,400 dinars (around $520) annually to lease 5ha of land.
But Ibidhi now fears seeing her business wither.
As well as edible flowers, she has planted a large quantity of strawberries, selling both the fruit and the leaves, which can be used for herbal teas.
But the authorities say growing strawberries is in breach of her lease agreement.
Ibidhi said she risked a large financial loss were she to uproot them.
“My flowers have become my world,” she said. “I will fight tooth and nail for my project.”