65-year-old vendor shares joy with thousands of free ice creams
Ice cream vendor Cheong Peng Siong and his assistant Tang Chun Tan serving customer Ren Hui Li and her children near Clementi Mall on Aug 10.
SINGAPORE – With one hand on a knife and the other steadying a slab of ice cream, Mr Cheong Peng Siong slices it into small rectangular blocks, and sandwiches them between two crisp wafers.
A long queue forms near Clementi Mall on Aug 10, with people eagerly awaiting their turn to receive a free serving.
The ice cream giveaway was sponsored by Income Insurance to celebrate its 55th anniversary. It saw thousands of free ice cream wafer sandwiches distributed across Singapore on Aug 9 and 10.
A long queue forms near Clementi Mall on Aug 10, with people eagerly awaiting their turn to receive a free serving.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Mr Cheong was one of six ice cream vendors Income partnered with to hand out about 10,000 free servings at various locations, including Orchard, Punggol and Clementi.
Over the two-day event in Clementi – that saw sunny mornings and a rainy afternoon on Aug 10 – Mr Cheong and a crew of helpers gave out around 1,800 servings of ice cream to people young and old.
He removed his gloves during a break, revealing some blisters on his finger, which he said gets stiff due to the cold. Asked if it hurts, the 65-year-old said he is used to it.
He remained upbeat throughout the day. 'My favourite part about this job is seeing happy customers when they receive their ice cream.'
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore 55,000 BTO units to be launched from 2025 to 2027, will help moderate HDB resale prices: Minister
Singapore First voluntary redevelopment projects for HDB flats likely to be launched in first half of 2030s
Singapore Israel's plan to step up Gaza offensive dangerous and unacceptable: MFA
Singapore Over 118,000 speeding violations in first half of 2025; situation shows no signs of improvement: TP
Singapore Four men arrested in Bukit Timah believed to be linked to housebreaking syndicates
Singapore Criminal trial of Hyflux founder Olivia Lum and five others starts on Aug 11
Singapore 'We could feel the heat from our house': Car catches fire in Bidadari area
Blisters on Mr Cheong Peng Siong's finger on Aug 10.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Growing up with 16 siblings, Mr Cheong, helped with his mother's kueh business and made youtiao dough sticks, so he is no stranger to hardship.
'Back when I was a child, life wasn't easy. I liked ice cream, I did not have any opportunities to have it because we were poor' he recounted in Mandarin.
Ten years ago, he was drawn to selling ice cream because it allowed him to control his own time.
Mr Cheong moving his ice cream cart to a sheltered walkway due to the rain.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
On weekends, Mr Cheong usually sells 200 to 300 servings of ice cream at a corner at Tampines Bus Interchange. He runs his business daily.
When asked if the job is tiring, he shook his head. 'Every job is tiring.'
Mr Cheong taking a short break have his lunch duck rice and roasted meat, which he took roughly five minutes to eat.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Ms Kimberly Wong, is in her 50s, who joined the queue with her 13-year-old poodle Duchess, was handed two ice cream sandwiches – one for the dog – by Mr Cheong.
'I think it's a very nice gesture, and sometimes it's nice (for companies) to give back,' she said.
Ms Kimberly Wong, who joined the queue with her 13-year-old poodle Duchess, was handed two ice cream sandwiches – one for the dog – by Mr Cheong.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
'I saw a big group of people queuing, so I decided to join in,' said Madam Wong Mei Ngor, 82, in Mandarin. 'I'm happy with the ice cream, especially because it's free.'
Madam Wong Mei Ngor receiving her free ice cream.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Besides the ice cream giveaways, Income Insurance also gave each vendor a personalised financial protection plan.
Mr Cheong received a one-year SilverCare Prestige Plan, a personal accident plan for senior citizens.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
9 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Philippines' Marcos says China 'misinterpreted' his comments on Taiwan
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), at the House of Representatives, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David/File Photo MANILA - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that Beijing has "misinterpreted" his comments saying Manila will be inevitably drawn in to a conflict between China and Taiwan should one erupt. China accused Marcos of "playing with fire" after the Philippine leader said during a visit to India that "there is no way that the Philippines can stay out of it" due to its proximity to the democratically governed island. "We are, I think for propaganda purposes, misinterpreted," Marcos told a press briefing. "I'm a little bit perplexed why it would be characterized as such, as playing with fire," he added. China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Marcos said Filipinos working and living in Taiwan will have to be evacuated if a conflict does arise but maintained that he wishes to avoid confrontation and war. Over a hundred thousand Filipinos live and work in Taiwan, according to Philippine government data. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business Keppel to sell M1 unit's telco business to Simba for $1.43 billion Business Nvidia, AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US, official says Singapore Healthy lifestyle changes could save Singapore $650 million in healthcare costs by 2050: Study Singapore BTO income ceiling, age floor for singles being reviewed: Chee Hong Tat World Netanyahu says Israel's new Gaza offensive will start soon Opinion Anwar's government: Full house but plenty of empty offices Singapore Man's claim amid divorce that his mother is true owner of 3 properties cuts no ice with judge Business Singapore can deliver and thrive in a fragmented global economy: Morgan Stanley analysts "War over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict. That is what I was trying to say," Marcos said. Marcos' comments come at a time of heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal voided Beijing's sweeping claims in the region, saying they had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects. REUTERS
Straits Times
39 minutes ago
- Straits Times
The quiet technocrat who enacts Putin's ruthless agenda
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Mr Sergei V. Kiriyenko, a first deputy chief of staff to President Vladimir Putin, has turned himself into a key engineer of the Russian leader's autocratic machine. The Kremlin official boasted of his commitment to healthy living, opening a door in his office to show a visiting businessperson what looked like a private gym. Then he described his latest project: stage-managing 'referendums' in occupied Ukraine to make it look like those regions wanted to join Russia. The Moscow businessperson, who had come to see him about another matter, recalled that the official, Mr Sergei V. Kiriyenko, had gone into great detail about the referendums, even listing the percentage breakdown of the results the Kremlin would declare. He added that Mr Kiriyenko left the impression of a calm, ambitious bureaucrat 'solving a concrete, technical problem'. Since that meeting three years ago, it has become more clear than ever that Mr Kiriyenko is the man who turns President Vladimir Putin's ideas into action. As the Russian leader wages war, Mr Kiriyenko oversees wide-ranging government efforts to tighten Mr Putin's grip on the country and on occupied Ukraine. He has also recently gained new power inside the Kremlin, taking over much of the portfolio of another Putin aide who disagreed with the invasion of Ukraine. Despite his modest title of first deputy chief of staff to Mr Putin, Mr Kiriyenko represents an underappreciated aspect of how the Russian president exercises power, forming part of a cadre of skilled, loyal and opportunistic managers who direct the sprawling apparatus of the Russian state. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business Keppel to sell M1 unit's telco business to Simba for $1.43 billion Business Nvidia, AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US, official says Singapore Healthy lifestyle changes could save Singapore $650 million in healthcare costs by 2050: Study Singapore BTO income ceiling, age floor for singles being reviewed: Chee Hong Tat World Netanyahu says Israel's new Gaza offensive will start soon Opinion Anwar's government: Full house but plenty of empty offices Singapore Man's claim amid divorce that his mother is true owner of 3 properties cuts no ice with judge Business Singapore can deliver and thrive in a fragmented global economy: Morgan Stanley analysts For more than three years, Mr Putin has leaned on Mr Kiriyenko, 63, to manage the political aspects of the Ukraine war. Cracking down on domestic opposition. Expanding the Kremlin's control of the internet. Pushing Mr Putin's narrative into Russian schools and culture. Shaping propaganda and governance in occupied Ukraine. Attempting to legitimise Russia's land grab. Just in the past few months, Mr Kiriyenko's reach has extended to efforts to reintegrate Ukraine war veterans into civilian life and to push Russians onto a state-affiliated messaging app instead of Western ones. If Mr Putin makes a deal with President Donald Trump at their planned summit in Alaska on Aug 15 to end the fighting in Ukraine, it is likely to be Mr Kiriyenko's job to sell any compromise to Russians as a victory. In interviews, more than a dozen former colleagues and other Russians who know Mr Kiriyenko described him as a man whose proficiency in the minutiae of control and influence have greased the machinery of Mr Putin's autocracy. Many of the people, including three close to the Kremlin, spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The Kremlin declined to make Mr Kiriyenko available for an interview and did not respond to a request for comment. One of his former aides, Mr Boris B. Nadezhdin, said that he noticed Mr Kiriyenko's skill at managing personnel and at staying in his bosses' good graces three decades ago, when Mr Kiriyenko was a deputy energy minister. The two men would collide in 2024, when the Kremlin blocked Mr Nadezhdin's attempt to run for president against Mr Putin. Mr Nadezhdin noted in an interview that Russia's era of independent politicians had passed. He said that the Putin era belonged to those like Mr Kiriyenko – 'a person who does not try to implement any of his own plans, ideas and so on, but simply, clearly carries out tasks'. Without rules Mr Kiriyenko casts himself as a student of the cold calculus of power. He is a sixth-rank black belt in aikido, a Japanese martial art focused on harnessing an opponent's energy and turning it against them. He professes an interest in Methodology, a Soviet-era school of philosophy in which society can be engineered, managed and transformed from above. In the tumult of modern Russian politics, that focus on power has translated for Mr Kiriyenko into shifting alliances and repeated reinvention. 'In a game without rules,' he once told an interviewer, 'the one who makes the rules wins.' Mr Kiriyenko was just 35 in 1998 when he briefly became Russia's prime minister. His youthful image and meteoric rise – he'd been a regional oil refinery manager a few years before – earned him the nickname Kinder Surprise, a play on the name of a European children's candy. After losing his post when Russia defaulted on its debt, Mr Kiriyenko cofounded a party pushing Western-style economic overhauls. He took a crash course in literature to appeal to the urban middle class, reading five books a week in the midst of his 1999 election campaigns for Moscow mayor and for the Russian parliament, according to Mr Marat A. Guelman, then his campaign manager. 'He was quick to perceive, quick to change,' said Mr Guelman, who later turned against Mr Putin and now lives in Berlin. After Mr Putin won the presidency in 2000, Mr Kiriyenko pivoted again and quit parliament to work for the Kremlin. A few years on, Mr Guelman asked for help for an associate who had run afoul of authorities, describing him to Mr Kiriyenko as 'a person of our convictions'. Mr Kiriyenko, Guelman recalled, shot back: 'I don't have convictions now – I'm a soldier of Putin.' Mr Alfred R. Kokh, a 1990s-era deputy prime minister of Russia who also left the country, described a similar exchange. He complained to Mr Kiriyenko in 2003 about improprieties in that year's parliamentary election campaign. 'Are we going to la-la,' Mr Kiriyenko replied, 'or are we going to talk business?' Powerful friends Already ensconced in the Kremlin machinery, Mr Kiriyenko ran one of the government's biggest businesses from 2005 to 2016: Rosatom, the state nuclear energy conglomerate. During those years, Kiriyenko deepened a bond with a banking and media magnate, Mr Yuri V. Kovalchuk, according to Western officials and several of the Kiriyenko associates who spoke to the Times. A physicist by training, Mr Kovalchuk is widely seen as one of Mr Putin's closest friends. He persuaded Mr Putin to bring Mr Kiriyenko back to the Kremlin, some of those people said. Mr Kiriyenko had proven himself at Rosatom, modernising the company with Japanese management principles and extending Russian influence by striking deals around the globe. In his new Kremlin job, Mr Kiriyenko was entrusted with orchestrating Mr Putin's version of democracy, an exercise in cementing the president's legitimacy and keeping control of a far-flung nation. As the first deputy chief of staff overseeing domestic politics, Mr Kiriyenko planned the selection of the Kremlin's preferred candidate for governor in each of Russia's more than 80 regions, the elections to fill the more than 600 seats in parliament, and the stage management of Mr Putin's own reelection in 2018 and in 2024. 'He's the technical implementer,' said Mr Grigory A. Yavlinsky, a liberal politician in Moscow who ran for president, with the Kremlin's approval, in 2018. 'It's a huge amount of work.' Mr Kiriyenko also held contests to identify the next generations of technocrats, featuring online aptitude tests and role-playing leadership games. Just in 2025, finalists of his 'Leaders of Russia' competition have been named to government roles such as auditing construction projects in occupied Ukraine, managing bus transit in suburban Moscow and running the health ministry in Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East. He has broadened his portfolio further by taking on Russia's last bastion of free speech: the internet. In 2021, Mr Kiriyenko wrested control of the country's most popular social network, VK, from an oligarch. Mr Kovalchuk put up much of the money. Mr Kiriyenko's son became CEO. Mr Kovalchuk's grandnephew took another senior role. The power of that alliance was on display in a blitz that many analysts saw as a prelude to a potential ban on WhatsApp. In March, VK unveiled its own messaging app. In June, Russia's communications minister praised the company for releasing a 'fully Russian messenger' in a televised meeting with Mr Putin. Days later, Russian lawmakers passed a bill mandating that a Russian-made messaging app should come preinstalled on all smartphones. In July, the government announced that this app would be the one developed by VK. 'For us, the government is always a partner and a senior comrade,' Mr Kiriyenko's son and the head of VK, Mr Vladimir S. Kiriyenko, said in April. Backing the invasion As Mr Putin massed troops and plotted his 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the president's political aides were largely in the dark, Mr Kiriyenko's associates said. The three people close to the Kremlin said they were convinced that Mr Kiriyenko didn't share the fixation on Ukraine's pro-Western turn that drove Putin to attack the country. After the war started, Mr Kiriyenko soon refashioned himself once again. Trading his suit for olive-green shirts, he started traveling to occupied Ukraine amid the fighting, touring hospitals and schools. He worked on planning a public 'war crimes' trial of Ukrainians to show Mr Putin fulfilling his promise to 'denazify' the country, one of his associates told the Times in June 2022. The trial never materialised as Russian forces struggled on the battlefield, but Mr Kiriyenko said at a conference in 2023 that the war 'must end with trials of Ukrainian criminals'. He did succeed in putting on a different show – the sham referendums in which Moscow claimed Ukrainians under Russian occupation had voted overwhelmingly to become part of Russia. Inside Russia, Mr Kiriyenko used the levers of his office to try to engineer popular support for Mr Putin's invasion. The Public Projects Directorate, a unit focused on patriotic initiatives that Mr Kiriyenko oversees, developed propaganda lessons for Russian schoolchildren. Students in a new school subject called 'Fundamentals of Security and Protection of the Motherland' learn first aid skills at a school in Kursk, Russia. PHOTO: NANNA HEITMANN/NYTIMES His staff also pressured midlevel officials to serve stints as administrators in occupied Ukraine, said Mr Sergei Markov, a pro-Putin analyst in Moscow who has worked with the Kremlin. 'Sure, those who don't want to can refuse,' Mr Markov said. 'But in that case they understand that they'll face serious limits on their careers.' Mr Kiriyenko's portfolio also includes the arts. He has ramped up government support for pro-war entertainers who backed the war while blackballing those critical of it, according to Russian media reports. Mr Iosif I. Prigozhin, a major music producer, said in an interview with the Times that the Kremlin gave 'a blank check' after the invasion to musicians who were 'more focused on national interests'. Mr Prigozhin's wife, the pop star Valeria, has performed at patriotic concerts in Red Square. He called Kiriyenko 'positive, decent, sensitive and precise'. When Mr Kiriyenko's office seeks performers for events, 'the approach is not demanding, but suggestive,' Mr Prigozhin said. Mr Kiriyenko's policies are also backed up by the full force of the Russian state. Thousands of anti-war Russians have been prosecuted or forced into exile in an effort that many analysts, opposition figures and the former colleagues of Mr Kiriyenko say they believe was largely coordinated by him as the Kremlin official who oversees domestic politics. Ilya V. Yashin, a Russian opposition leader, had just been arrested and interrogated in July 2022 when he said he chatted with a security service agent in the grim corridor of a law enforcement agency in Moscow while waiting for his prisoner transport to arrive. The agent told him that his arrest was a 'political decision', dropping hints about a 'Sergei' in the Kremlin who was a 'buddy' of Mr Boris Y. Nemtsov, the politician who brought Mr Kiriyenko into government in the 1990s. The suggestion was that Mr Kiriyenko was responsible for his fate, Yashin recalled in an interview after his release in a prisoner exchange in 2024, though he noted he couldn't be certain of Mr Kiriyenko's role, if any. To Yashin, the irony was remarkable. Both he and Mr Kiriyenko were allies, at different times, of Mr Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader assassinated in 2015. 'Now Nemtsov is dead, and one of his friends put another one in prison,' Yashin wrote from jail in 2022. 'Absolutely opportunistic' In February 2025, Russian state news outlets reported that Mr Kiriyenko was managing public unrest in Abkhazia, a Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia. To help show the benefits of being on the Kremlin's side, Mr Kiriyenko offered a gift of 20 Russian school buses and organised a version of his trademark leadership competitions. Mr Kiriyenko's remit has been increasingly expanding outside Russia's borders. A different Kremlin deputy chief of staff, Mr Dmitry N. Kozak, oversaw relations with Abkhazia as recently as 2024. But Mr Kozak has lost influence in Moscow amid his criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, according to the three people close to the Kremlin, a US official and a Western contact. In the past few months, they said, Mr Kozak presented Mr Putin with a proposal to immediately stop the fighting in Ukraine, start peace negotiations and reduce the power of Russia's security services. The Russian president has kept Mr Kozak, who has been at Mr Putin's side since the 1990s, in his senior post. But he has shifted much of Mr Kozak's portfolio to Mr Kiriyenko, including managing Kremlin relations with Moldova and with the two breakaway regions of Georgia, the people said. The expansion of Mr Kiriyenko's influence shows how his star continues to rise at the Kremlin as he embraces and executes Putin's wartime policies. Mr Kiriyenko is 'effective' and 'absolutely opportunistic,' Yashin said. If Putin or a future Russian leader pivots back toward the West someday, Yashin said, 'Kiriyenko will find the words for it.' NYTIMES
Straits Times
39 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Coaches trust Australia's hard-hitters, says David
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Australia's T20 batters are backed by their coaches to go "all guns blazing" and will likely continue their attacking ways, middle order blaster Tim David said. David produced a sparkling 83 off 53 balls to guide Australia to a 17-run win in the series-opener against South Africa on Sunday and a record ninth victory in succession. "We've been playing together as a group now for a while, so there's not a great deal of instruction from the coaches,' said player-of-the-match David in Darwin. "They trust the players. "We trust ourselves to go out there and we understand the game situation. We make decisions on the fly because that's the nature of T20 cricket. "I think if you'd watched our guys bat over the last period, wherever they bat around the world and when they play for the Australian team, it's close to all guns blazing. "You can probably expect to see that a little bit from our team. That's how we think we play best." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business Keppel to sell M1 unit's telco business to Simba for $1.43 billion Business Nvidia, AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US, official says Singapore Healthy lifestyle changes could save Singapore $650 million in healthcare costs by 2050: Study Singapore BTO income ceiling, age floor for singles being reviewed: Chee Hong Tat World Netanyahu says Israel's new Gaza offensive will start soon Opinion Anwar's government: Full house but plenty of empty offices Singapore Man's claim amid divorce that his mother is true owner of 3 properties cuts no ice with judge Business Singapore can deliver and thrive in a fragmented global economy: Morgan Stanley analysts David has been in top form, racking up 215 runs in his past three T20I innings, which includes a 37-ball century against the West Indies in St Kitts last month. His hot streak has revived queries on whether he might consider reviving an ODI career that lasted only four matches against South Africa in 2023. However, David was not included in the ODI squad for South Africa and poured cold water on the idea of a return in the near future. "That's not part of the plan for me," David said. "To be honest, the things I've been building towards is the T20 World Cup next year and the major tournaments that are leading up to that. "Honestly, I don't operate much further than the next day ahead." Australia will look to seal the three-match T20 series against South Africa with another win in Darwin on Tuesday. REUTERS
