Cover Chan Kwai Sum at Marguerite
Chan Kwai Sum at Marguerite
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Also known by his Instagram handle, Chanksters, Kwai Sum sits with Tatler Dining Singapore to talk about the pleasures that consume him
Over the past decade, much of Singapore’s dining scene has been defined by Instagram. Not only in the sense of the camera eating first, but in the intriguing way that micro-communities have formed around the act of dining in the city’s hottest eateries. Through Instagram, middle-aged foodies have met and formed tight-knit friend groups who migrate, like hungry nomads, from eatery to new eatery, in search of ripe pastures.
If one were to plot members of these ravenous groups in a Venn diagram, the data sets would show a particular name appearing in the intersecting circles. Chan Kwai Sum—or @chanksters as he is often known by his Instagram handle—is arguably the city’s most ardent, sociable foodie. Scroll through your feeds and there he is at supper with chefs such as Labyrinth’s Han Li Guang and Euphoria’s Jason Tan. Here he is at Dick Lee’s birthday party, at Lee’s performance in Tokyo, at actress Michelle Chong’s birthday dinner, eating his way through Ipoh with well-known foodies such as Wong Ah Yoke, at dinner with society friends Marilyn Lum, Tan Min-Li and Iroshini Chua. He is at every new restaurant, every private dining experience and at numerous charity events.
Social nomad though he may be, Chan remains an enigma. Most people know that he is a private investor. We know that he loves food, loves hanging out with different groups, and that he eats more than a few meals a day with different people. But who is he? How did he quietly stake his prominent place in foodie society?
Above A makan trip with foodie friends to Bukit Mertajam in Penang
Above At a Noma pop-up in Kyoto this May
A makan trip with foodie friends to Bukit Mertajam in Penang
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At the most crowded tables, Chan is often happily quiet. He speaks in measured tones, never raising his voice to be heard, yet sometimes dishing out startling insights about the latest society and culinary gossip. When the table bursts into explosive conversation, he falls back in his seat, content to absorb the atmosphere and information or disappear into his own thoughts.
“Kwai Sum likes to be around people, but it doesn’t mean he likes to talk,” says his close friend Alicia Loke, who credits Chan with opening her eyes to foodie experiences on a trip to Cannes in 2018. “He’s much better one-on-one.”
Another close friend, public relations consultant Jill Sara, agrees. “He’s just happy to be in your company. You don’t have to go into deep conversation with him. He’s there to enjoy the moment.” Indeed, Chan’s demeanour is quite the opposite of what one would expect from a bon vivant. Though he is quick to smile and eager to dive into any meal, he is steadfastly reserved, saying little when asked about himself and sparing with personal anecdotes.
The simple facts about Chan are these: his late father Chan Weng Hong was the chief interpreter of the judiciary between the 1970s to the early 2000s. He lives with his mother Winnie in their family home just outside the Orchard Road belt. A Public Service Commission scholar, Chan spent his post-university years teaching chemistry at Victoria Junior College before leaving after six years to dabble in various business investments.
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Above Chan (pictured second row, fourth from left) and his friends at Takayama restaurant in Singapore to enjoy a delectable kaiseki meal
Chan (pictured second row, fourth from left) and his friends at Takayama restaurant in Singapore to enjoy a delectable kaiseki meal
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“I guess I got distracted,” he replies when asked why he chose to leave teaching. “There were so many interesting things going on.” Among them was ticketing company Gatecrash, and the now-defunct performing arts school The Next Stage, which he also ran as its principal. He invested in F&B companies such as a soy-based ice cream maker Soyato and tableware manufacturer Capella Concepts.
“I had some successes and some failures, and I realised that if I want to do something well, I have to be at the heart of it. I have to run it operationally,” he says. “But till now, I haven’t found anything I’m passionate about that would be viable, so I’ve just been ensconced in my comfort zone.” Chan has since exited his operational investments and turned his focus to managing his own portfolio of funds, equities, and Reits, or real estate investment trusts.
Loke is right. One-on-one, Chan is chatty and forthcoming, his slender fingers moving with expressive grace as he speaks. Among his early passions was music. In junior college, he taught himself to play the piano. It took him several months to learn his first piece, Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu, an etude that requires mastery of the three-over-four polyrhythm and intended for experienced pianists with well-rounded technique (surely those long fingers helped). He is partial to the music of romantic composers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, whose pieces he loves to play.
“I learnt how to play the electronic organ when I was younger, but I can’t sight read for nuts. I’m better at hearing, so mostly, I play by ear and with a bit of sight reading,” he says simply, as if this were something any teenager could do if they just put their mind to it. “I like music, but I don’t enjoy lessons. I always found exams a chore. So, I’m quite unconventional and the way that I sail through life is the same. I’m a free spirit,” he says with a gentle smile and a shrug.
Chan’s passion for travel was sparked on a trip to Scandinavia in 2012. “My friend Iro [Chua] asked me along on a trip to Scandinavia. The natural beauty I experienced there was so different from anything I knew … such as witnessing the aurora borealis at Abisko, which seemed to dance on my chairlift up the mountain,” he recalls. “That made me realise that I should explore the world while I can.”
Above Chan at Nikuryori Kanae, a yakiniku restaurant in Kyoto, Japan
Above Chan Kwai Sum (pictured second from left) on holiday with friends in Copenhagen, Denmark, to try out two-Michelin-starred Alchemist
Chan at Nikuryori Kanae, a yakiniku restaurant in Kyoto, Japan
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Chan and Chua are long-time friends. He went to primary school with her husband Kevin Chua and travels often with their family. “More than 10 years ago, Kevin booked us a table at Noma for our 10th wedding anniversary. When I told Kwai Sum that we were going to Noma, he said, ‘Please, can you include me?’. After that trip, he asked us to include him in all our family trips. So, of course we try to as much as we can. Even my dad is very fond of him,” Chua shares. “He’s so kindhearted and easy-going. Like when we travelled to Cuba, I’m like, ‘I need to go in a pink car! I don’t want to go in a red car!’ And he’s like, ‘Ok fine, let’s go in the pink car’,” she laughs. “I’m not the easiest person to travel with, but he’s definitely chilled out enough to adapt.”
Chan’s travel plans included seeing South Africa over five years, but by the third year, Covid-19 struck. No socialising during the pandemic? No problem. Chan made numerous new foodie friends online while sheltering at home. And when restrictions eased, allowing outings of two or five people, he made plans to meet those friends IRL, or in real life. “That’s how my social groups grew, until now, I’m quite …,” he pauses to find the right word before laughing, “Laden.”
While Chan says that food and travel are his passions, it appears he has neglected to include another: people. In foodie circles, Chan is renowned for organising meals at the latest hotspots and the dining rooms of chefs he is fond of. “They are great opportunities to catch up with friends while introducing them to my favourite new eateries. As I have a diverse group of friends with varied tastes and preferences, I take much pleasure in bringing them together to meet kindred spirits and to try the latest culinary trends, explore new cuisines and uncover new chefs. Some dinners are organised to support friends’ establishments.”
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That said, Chan reveals that he has less FOMO, or the fear of missing out, when it comes to dining out these days, thanks in part to the introspection that the pandemic afforded him. “I think I’m done with that phase,” he says. “I don’t have to be the first to go to restaurants when they open anymore. In the past, it was more of a curiosity. Right now, I’m very happy. I’ve been going to Japan every other month and I’ve made some Japanese friends, so I have another social group there. I have friends in different cities, so when I travel, we meet and catch up.”
It is difficult enough maintaining old friendships when you are a busy adult. One study published in the Sage Journal estimated that it takes spending 40 to 60 hours together within the first six weeks of meeting to turn an acquaintance into a casual friend, and about 80 to 100 hours to become more than that.
How does Chan do it? “I put in tremendous effort to maintain these friendships. For example, if I meet a person and like them, I make an effort to organise another meal a couple of months down the road and keep it going.” But why? “I suppose that’s [in] my nature.”
Chan’s quotidian activities are enviable. “I eat out every day. Usually, I try to have one big meal and the rest are small ones. My ideal is to have six small meals a day. I call it grazing. I usually have dinner with friends. If I have a big dinner, I might have a light lunch and maybe a light supper.”
When we point out that that are a lot of meals in a day, he says, “Life is short, so I try to pack in everything, like maybe have two dinners because that will free up another day to do my own stuff.” We wonder aloud if his sweeping social and social media presence is fodder for gossip. He answers quickly: “I don’t really care. That’s what keeps me happy and sane. Life is too short for all of that.” And just like that, it is time for his next appointment.
Credits
Photography: Frenchescar Lim
Grooming: Angel Gwee
