Latest news with #ReunionIsland
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Singapore firms gamify ageing well, 500 illustrations of toast: 7 Lifestyle highlights
We have selected seven Lifestyle and Culture stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing The Busan International Film Festival in South Korea celebrates its 30th anniversary in September with an expanded and revamped programme. Singaporeans are embracing insurance companies' health programmes that combine incentives, challenges and support for healthier lives. The bouchon gratiné is a favourite snack on Réunion Island, made with a baguette, chilli sauce, siu mai and melted cheese. Photo: X/ LudovicShooter While going over his business ledgers, Daniel Chan, the fourth-generation owner of Hong Kong's Koon Chun sauce factory, made an interesting discovery. One of his biggest groups of clients came from Réunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, with a population just shy of 900,000.
South China Morning Post
10-08-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How a Hong Kong chilli sauce became a sandwich favourite 8,000km away on Réunion Island
While going over his business ledgers, Daniel Chan, the third-generation owner of Hong Kong's Koon Chun sauce factory, made an interesting discovery. One of his biggest groups of clients came from Réunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, with a population just shy of 900,000. Advertisement 'We were sending two containers of soy, oyster and chilli sauce there every month,' Chan says. 'I was so curious why they would like our sauce so much.' Chan took the 36-hour journey to Réunion, with stops in Mauritius and South Africa along the way, to find out. Réunion Island was discovered by Arab and Portuguese sailors before the French claimed it in 1642, naming it Île Bourbon. It was initially used as a supply stop for ships, before the French East India Company began developing plantations, using slave labour from Africa and Madagascar to grow coffee, spices and later sugar. The island was renamed Réunion during the French Revolution in 1793 but reverted to Bourbon under Napoleon before finally becoming Réunion again in 1848, when France abolished slavery. The 19th century saw the arrival of indentured labourers from India, China and Southeast Asia, shaping its multicultural society. Advertisement In 1946, Réunion became an overseas French department. Today, its history of colonisation, slavery and immigration is reflected in its Creole culture, blending African, European, Indian and Chinese influences.
The Guardian
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Yazz Ahmed: A Paradise in the Hold review – British Bahraini trumpeter's fiery blend of instinct and improv
Since the release of her 2011 debut album, Finding My Way Home, British Bahraini trumpeter Yazz Ahmed has been exploring her heritage through jazz improvisation. Using Arabic quarter-tone scales with guitar, horns and traditional percussion such as the darbuka drum, Ahmed's music is a fiery blend of instinctive soloing with melodic lyricism. While 2019's Polyhymnia took inspiration from formidable women such as Saudi Arabian film-maker Haifaa al-Mansour, Ahmed's fourth album turns towards folk traditions to produce 10 tracks of atmospheric intensity. Drawing on the polyrhythmic Arab sea-music fijiri and wedding poetry, the album marks the first time Ahmed has collaborated with other singers. On opener She Stands on the Shore, vocalist Natacha Atlas's warm tenor interweaves seamlessly with Ahmed's plaintive trumpet melody, swelling over bowed bass to evoke the undulating waves, while Randolph Matthews' lower register on To the Lonely Sea artfully embodies an eerie sense of hard winds and crashing waves. Some features are less effective, with the droning bass of Though My Eyes Go to Sleep, My Heart Does Not Forget You jarring against Alba Nacinovich's keening melody, and the group vocalisations of Al Naddaha struggling to be heard amid Ahmed's doubling trumpet lines. Instead, Ahmed excels when her compositions play fast and free. The fierce polyrhythms of wedding song Her Light spiral into an ecstatic dance, while the joyous Into the Night features Ahmed's extended family performing traditional ululations and hand-clapping to continue the sense of celebration. The 10-minute title track is another highlight. Pearl-diving music is an a cappella vocal tradition for guiding ship workers by blending rhythmic droning with high-register melody, and Ahmed uses a processed sample of one such performance to build a vamping groove alongside bass clarinettist George Crowley's expressive solo and percussionist Corrina Silvester's extended darbuka break. The effect is infectiously jubilant, drawing the listener into Ahmed's distinct and modern imagining of Bahraini tradition. Released on 28 February. Reunion Island producer Jako Maron's latest album, Mahavélouz (Nyege Nyege Tapes) is a thumping techno odyssey centred on the country's stringed bobre instrument. Blending processed kick drums with the bobre's harsh twang, tracks like Zésprimaron are invigoratingly loud, channelling the raw chaos of 90s rave-era Prodigy. Korean instrumentalist Park Jiha continues her exploration of traditional instruments such as the piri and saenghwang to produce expansive ambient soundscapes on All Living Things (Glitterbeat). Showcasing a more intricate compositional style, heavily layered tracks like Grounding and A Story of Little Birds are beautifully enveloping. Folk guitarist Piers Faccini and kora player Ballaké Sissoko release their debut album Our Calling (No Format!), highlighting the perfect tonal blend of both stringed instruments and their vocal harmonies to produce soft, lilting tracks celebrating the natural world.
