All About Veggie Ms Veg 菜菜姐 is a blogger from Singapore. She shares her favourite vegetarian/vegan places and food at IG. Meatless Movement recently had a chat with her to find out how she feels being a vegetarian.

Tell us more about yourself, please.

My Name is Meifang, or Ms Veg as most of my friends or followers know me as. Some people call me 菜菜姐 which means Sister Veggies in Chinese. I am from the little red dot – Singapore!

Going plant-based is the most direct action we can take to make a positive impact.
@allaboutveggie_msveg

The primary reason I remained vegetarian was because of my ethical and religious beliefs. Under the influence of my parents, (my mum particularly) and in tandem with my belief that a vegetarian diet better enables one to keep a pure body and mind, it was only natural that I converted to one.

I’ve been a vegetarian for 27 years now. Compared to what it used to be, being one has become more appealing and accessible. More and more people are ditching meat for many other reasons, including health, love for animals and climate change. My husband became a vegan about 5 years ago. It was more of a gradual transition, and in terms of excluding eggs and dairy completely, it doesn’t change my own habits that much.

Before we became Ms Veg & Mr Vegan, he was a reader of my blog.That’s how we “met” online.

I am not afraid of being different.
@ allaboutveggie_msveg

When I was younger, I had to deal with all the mockery and judgement from my meat-eater classmates, wondering why would anyone willingly limit their dietary choices. I often receive mean remarks like “But aren’t you killing plants?”, “Why aren’t you losing weight when you have stopped eating meat?”. I also struggled finding vegetarian options for food, so most of the time, I just bring sandwiches from home.

During my school days, I would bring my friends to eat out at vegetarian places with me whenever possible. I would also take the opportunity to educate them how one can eat healthy as a vegetarian, and explain to them that I made this decision to support the environment through my choice of diet. Just like human beings, animals are also a part of nature, so I don’t see a reason why animals should die for our plates. I am happy that most of my friends fully support my choices.

Fast forward to 20 years later, many of my friends are turning vegetarians too. Switching to a vegetarian diet today is so much easier thanks to the rise of plant-based foods during these recent years. There are also tons of videos and articles out there talking about vegetarian and the cruelty of animal agriculture that contributed to the growing acceptance of vegetarianism.

I absolutely feel amazing and proud to be a vegetarian.
@allaboutveggie_msveg

One of the secrets to sustaining as a vegetarian is to have good buddies to eat with. I also managed to make new vegetarian friends through my social media platforms where I blog about good vegetarian places everywhere.

I feel good, proud and am always willing to share the goodness of a meatless diet. I’m not a vegan yet though I envy the courage and dedication of those that do it.

Turning vegetarian make one feel more rested and have more energy. I would like to think I am healthier as one too. I believe my diet keeps me looking young. Yes, I’m 40, but I don’t look my age!

I’m a vegetarian and I am glad to be one. If I could be happy and healthy without harming animals, why wouldn’t I? Vegetarianism is one of my core values but I want to avoid the interrogation that usually follows. It’s natural for people to disagree that they start questioning. Not everyone is convinced. So I began to read a lot about vegetarianism and cruelty. A little bit of dialogue goes a long way when it comes to changing a person’s mindset.

So let me share my favourite quote with you

《孟子》：“君子之於禽獸也，見其生，不忍見其死；聞其聲，不忍食其肉。”
ALL human kinds have an innate sense of benevolence and righteousness. When one sees an animal alive, he can’t bear to see it die. when one hears the scream of a struggling animal, he can’t bear to eat its meat.” … Mencius Chinese Confucian philosopher

Where are some of your favourite places in Singapore?

Every now and then, I receive requests from my friends asking me to bring them to vegetarian places after reading my posts.

I think Greendot deserves to be mentioned here. They are popular even among my non vegetarian friends. I like their pao fan (new launch). To me, this is their best dish so far. Their Laksa is hard to miss too.

Here’s a pic of the pao fan I had from Greendot.

Another one is a vegan home chef that I really enjoy buying from has got to be Veggie-an. Thank you Tomoe San for your awesome Japanese Yummy Bento meals.

The third one I would highly recommend is Warung Ijo Indonesian Vegetarian. They serve one of the best Indonesian cuisines you can find in Singapore. I love almost 90% of their menu. And they are extremely vegan friendly too.