Some candy

SINGAPORE: Samples of the popular White Rabbit candy that were sent for testing contained traces of pig and cow DNA, Malaysia’s Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religion) Fuziah Salleh said on Wednesday (Sep 11). The milk-flavoured candy is a product from China and not certified halal by Malaysian authorities, she added. “Based on (the investigation), the pig and cow DNA which we analysed came out positive," the minister said. “We suspect that the ingredients used in the White Rabbit candy may include gelatin." Speculation over the halal status of the candy surfaced again on social media in recent weeks, after Brunei’s Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on May 18 that tests by the Halal Food Control Division found pork protein in samples of the candy. On Wednesday, Fuziah said that the labelling on White Rabbit candy sold in Malaysia does not specify the kind of gelatin used. "The label does not specify what kind of gelatin, what animal it is sourced … [Read more...] about Traces of pig, cow DNA found in White Rabbit candy: Malaysian minister

For this year’s annual Women Shaping the Future issue, we asked 12 of today’s top musical acts to talk about the women who have inspired them most in their lives and careers. Here, Angel Olsen shares why she’s always telling people to listen to more of R&B/disco/roots veteran Candi Staton ‘s music. I moved to Chicago from St. Louis in my early twenties. The winters were really tough, and I’d have to get up at 5 a.m. to go open the cafe where I worked. Candi’s music was something I would turn to every day on my way to work. Now, when I listen to her music, I always think about Chicago. It was the first time in my life that I was really introduced to different kinds of music, and Candi was a big slice of that. I had moved in with this guy who became my long-term boyfriend, and he introduced me to jazz and soul. I remember being really drawn to her music. A lot of people try to get me into other singers, but there’s something about her vocals — maybe it’s just that I can … [Read more...] about Angel Olsen: No One Sings Quite Like Candi Staton

In October 2017, Candi Staton was at a Nashville recording studio, working on a new song called “The Prize Is Not Worth the Pain.” As her band stretched out the disco-funk tune into an extended jam, the singer began improvising phrases and one-liners. At the very end, Staton eventually arrived at the hard, declarative truth she had been working toward the whole time: “I am somebody,” she growled with a preacher’s conviction, “all by myself.” When Mark Nevers, Staton’s producer, heard her sing that line, a lightbulb went on. “It was just shocking,” he says. “I was like, ‘That’s it. That’s what this whole record’s about.’” I am somebody all by myself . Candi Staton has been striving to live up to that promise throughout her career, while moving freely among a variety of scenes and eras. Her work has taken her from the golden-age gospel circuit of the Fifties to the historic R&B recording studios of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in the early Seventies and the iconic New York … [Read more...] about Candi Staton Isn’t About to Stop Now

You’d think that in the age of mobile phones and smart watches that the good ol’ wristwatch would be in its death throes. But Singaporeans, it would seem, still love their wrist candy. Look no further than the number of Facebook groups about watches. Today, there are at least 27 Singapore-based ones, with some memberships, such as the Rolex Owners Club Asia, Seiko Club Singapore and Singapore Rolex Club, running in the tens of thousands. And while many might simply be watch enthusiasts, a lot are actually collectors of one sort or the other. It was a far cry from 15 years ago, when Sugiharto Kusumadi opened his first specialty watch store, Red Army Watches. READ: How to curate your watch collection, according to industry experts “Back then, it was mainly high-end; we didn’t have options for affordable mechanical watches, which collectors prefer,” he said. Kusumadi, who also co-founded alternative watch microbrand store Watch Wonderland, reckons there are a … [Read more...] about ‘I own 470 G-Shocks’: Exploring the obsessions of Singapore’s watch collectors

With The Willoughbys , writer/director Kris Pearn adapted a beloved children’s book of the same name by Lois Lowry, looking to be as faithful as possible to the “subversive” nature of her story, while bringing to it his own personal touch. Pearn’s second feature, following 2013’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 , centers on the Willoughby children, who grew up with parents who could not be more disinterested in them. Exploring the sometimes-wide gap between the families we’re born into and those we choose, it watches as the kids send their selfish guardians off on vacation, setting off on a globetrotting adventure and forging new connections. In conversation with Deadline, Pearn breaks down his narrative and visual approach to the feature—which debuted on Netflix last April—a clever, darkly comedic parable, through which he hoped to say “something real.” Related Story 'The Willoughbys' Review: Ricky Gervais As A Chatty Cat Leads Cool Voice Cast In … [Read more...] about ‘The Willoughbys’ Director Kris Pearn Adapts Children’s Book By Lois Lowry For Netflix, Leaning Into Its “Roald Dahl Subversiveness”