Xin Ru is a Singaporean psycholinguistics researcher who has received the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal and Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award. She is especially passionate about the neurodiversity movement, feminist movement, and plant-based movement. Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with Xin Ru. She told us that going meatless is the best evidence-based method to stay healthy and fight climate change.
Please tell us more about yourself
Hello from Singapore! My name is Toh Xin Ru and I’m 25 years old this year. I work in the research field and am also a disability rights advocate. My hobbies include reading fiction and non-fiction, engaging in joyful movement, and of course fuelling myself with delicious plant-based food.
I am glad that I made the decision to go plant-based
Toh Xin Ru
At the end of 2019, while on holiday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I chanced upon several vegan eateries which were listed in travel guides. They included V Secret Street Food in Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, where I enjoyed vegan versions of Thai cuisine, and Goodsouls Kitchen near Wat Phra Singh, where I had vegan desserts.
I became intrigued and resolved to find out more about the vegan scene when I returned to Singapore. Growing up, I had only known about Chinese vegetarian hawker stalls, which I ate from occasionally but was never particularly fond of.
Through social media, I discovered that there were in fact many new interesting vegetarian and vegan cuisines in Singapore. This opened up a whole new world to me and I started exploring these eateries in early 2020.
I started a plant-based diet for fun but sustained a plant-based diet because of facts
Toh Xin Ru
What started out as an adventure driven by novelty became more serious as I began delving into documentaries such as “Forks Over Knifes”, “Food, Inc”, “Cowspiracy”, “What The Health”, “The Game Changers”, and “The Last Pig”. I also read books such as “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer and “The Way We Eat Now” by Bee Wilson, which prompted me to look up relevant journal articles.
Collectively, they highlighted multiple arguments related to our health, ethics, and the environment, which all made a strong case for adopting a plant-based diet. These points became all the more pertinent in light of the zoonotic coronavirus pandemic outbreak in 2020, as well as global climate reports that 2020 was one of the warmest years on record.
As someone who has always been heavily involved in academia, I simply could not ignore the facts confronting me, and I decided to take concrete action as an individual by fully transitioning into a plant-based diet in 2020.
No Meat, No Dairy, that sounds good—make it two, please
Toh Xin Ru
In the midst of looking for vegetarian and vegan food in Singapore, I got to know many new people on social media.
One of them was Jun Xuan, a vegetarian and vegan food photographer and blogger who encouraged and helped me during my early foray into the local plant-based scene. We started meeting up to try out new food together, and eventually became a couple!
Now, I actively share my plant-based food recommendations on social media too, (IG @xinru_t), in the hopes of showing others that a plant-based diet can be healthy, tasty, and fun.
During our journey, we also had the pleasure to meet like-minded people who greatly inspired us. This gave us the idea to combine his videography skills and my storytelling abilities to film videos featuring plant-based business owners for free to share their stories.
Meetings without meat and making new friends for life
Toh Xin Ru
For instance, we filmed a video with Jacinda, the owner of The Breakfast Club, whose mysterious ailments and campervan trips propelled her to open a home private dining café focusing on whole-food plant-based renditions of international cuisines made using organic farm-to-table ingredients.
We also filmed a video with Joyce, the owner of Back To Basic Living, whose personal story and volunteering experiences motivated her to open a zero waste raw vegan café and social enterprise for autistic individuals.
How do you dissect the myths about plant-based diet with facts
The most common misconception I have heard about a plant-based diet is that it is unhealthy. Contrary to popular belief, a well-planned plant-based diet is extremely nutritious and beneficial for our health.
If people approach me with questions and are open to learning more, I explain to them about a whole-food plant-based diet, which primarily consists of fruits, leafy greens, starchy vegetables, beans and legumes, seeds and nuts, and wholegrains.
Systematic reviews show that a plant-based diet decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes (Qian et al., 2019; Toumpanakis et al., 2018), cardiovascular disease (Gan et al., 2021; Quek at el., 2021), and chronic kidney disease (Carrero et al., 2020; Chauveau et al., 2019). Crucially, recent research studies demonstrate that a plant-based diet lowers the severity of COVID-19 (Kim et al., 2021; Merino et al., 2021).
A plant-based diet can be nourishing, colourful, and of course, delicious
Toh Xin Ru
Moreover, following a balanced plant-based diet does not necessarily equate to forgoing pleasure, as there are many dishes and desserts that can be simultaneously wholesome and flavoursome.
Keep an open mind to the possibility of a plant-based diet
Toh Xin Ru
Many people think that it is not feasible to adopt a plant-based diet. While it can indeed be challenging sometimes, there has been an increasing plethora of plant-based alternatives in the market for home cooking, as well as plant-based options when dining out. My family and friends have been supportive in my journey, and have often been pleasantly surprised on occasions when they joined me in trying out plant-based food.
Must-try meat-free, vegan and vegetarian friendly restaurants in Singapore
There are so many good places to find plant-based food in Singapore, with new options popping up all the time! Apart from the eateries showcased in the photographs above, here are 5 places you can visit!
- Well Smoocht is my all-time favourite vegan café, with a wide selection of mains and desserts that never fail to impress me! They recently also launched an online store WS Deli, selling ready-to-eat packs that can be heated and assembled to recreate café-style meals at home.
- Green Common is a vegan café and grocery store that places a spotlight on the latest plant-based meat and dairy analogues! The most memorable menu items thus far feature the OmniFoods seafood range innovated by Green Monday.
- Am I Addicted is a Korean-influenced vegetarian café and pottery studio serving fusion dishes that are creative and aesthetic. This is one of the latest additions to Singapore’s plant-based scene!
- Privé is an alfresco dining concept located at attractions including Asian Civilisations Museum, CHIJMES, Jewel Changi Airport, and Singapore Botanic Gardens. Besides the vegan options in their permanent menu, they also have a blackboard menu with vegan seasonal specials!
- Hvala is a modern Japanese teahouse that is popular for its zen atmosphere and quality brews. They have been rolling out vegan options across all their branches, and even have an outlet that is fully vegan!
Aim for progress rather than perfection!
Toh Xin Ru
Although I began my journey rather late and still make mistakes sometimes, I am glad that I made the decision to go plant-based in 2020. Apart from being beneficial in supporting my health, it has been a tangible way of aligning my lifestyle with my values. I am also proud to witness the rising trend of the plant-based movement in Singapore. In particular, abillion is a start-up founded in Singapore which now has many users across the globe. Whenever members post a review of a vegan dish or product, the platform credits them with a US$1 donation to a charity of their choice.
As an abillion user since 2020, I have donated more than US$500 to various causes such as Room to Read ($1 puts a child in school for a day), Share the Meal ($1 feeds a child for a day), as well as Animal Concerns Research and Education Society Singapore.
To me, this platform encapsulates the crux of the plant-based movement – that small steps can culminate in a big impact.
Toh Xin Ru
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all images courtesy of Toh Xin Ru