STORY: Singaporean baker pursues career in south China metropolis
SHOOTING TIME: July 12-19, 2023
DATELINE: Jan. 16, 2024
LENGTH: 0:02:27
LOCATION: SHENZHEN, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Singaporean baker Sim Ser Kiat
2. SOUNDBITE (English): SIM SER KIAT, Singaporean baker in Shenzhen

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE (English): SIM SER KIAT, Singaporean baker in Shenzhen
"My name is Sim. I was sent here from Singapore by an oil company. And I came to Shekou in 1988 with the oil industry. I opened a coffee shop in 2004. Four years after I opened the coffee shop, I started making bread.

When I started making the baguette, I came across many formulas that were not really good. And finally, I found one from a Paris baguette champion, and later I went to Paris and I tried to get his bread. Later on, when I made the bread here, I had the French community, it was a large French community here, they tried my bread. And when they approved of it, it was when I said my baguette was okay.

Today, many Chinese are health conscious, and they know good clean bread, clean in the sense of less, no additives. Nowadays, many Chinese understand, and so they're starting to like this hot Western bread.

I loved Shenzhen when I first came here in 1988, and I didn't want to leave. So that's the reason I opened up a shop. The changes were fantastic. It was a small fishing village when I came. Not a single high rise except for the Nanhai Hotel, but today it's amazing. So many tall buildings everywhere.

As more and more foreigners come to Shenzhen, you will find that there are breads of many flavors, like Italian, French, German, British, and Japanese. Shenzhen is becoming more and more international. And so are breads.

I'm still full of energy and innovation when it comes to bread. At present, I still research some new varieties according to the needs of customers, such as gluten-free bread for diabetics and naturally flavored bread with South Asian flavor.

In the future, if possible, I would like to open more branches in Shenzhen."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shenzhen, China.
(XHTV)