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Monday, 19 Feb, 2024
Out of the frying pan, in for a good cause
How do you like your pancakes in the morning? How about pandan-infused and flipped by your professors?
On 16 February 2024, that’s precisely what visitors and passers-by got to enjoy as the second floor Atrium at Duke-NUS was filled with eight bustling pancake stations for this cherished annual tradition. Trading in their office wear and lanyards for chef hats and aprons, the deanery and faculty, as well as leaders from SingHealth, put their culinary skills on display, with all proceeds going to students’ community service projects.
“Fun and personable”—was the verdict from Ms Marie Elaine Teo, a new member of Duke-NUS’ Governing Board, for whom this was the “first contact with Duke-NUS”. In response, Professor Ooi Eng Eong, Associate Dean of Office of Academic Medicine—and excited first-timer to the pancake grill—laughed that people would “see us squirm and struggle!”
Other tongue-in-cheek remarks included Professor Ng Wai Hoe, Group CEO of SingHealth, who explained that he had wanted to volunteer at the event “for many years now, but every time I ask them, they say they want skilled labourers. This year, they opened up slots and accepted my unskilled labour”. More importantly, he was looking forward to “celebrating the strong partnership between Duke-NUS and SingHealth”.
Highly-awaited were the pancakes flipped by Professor Thomas Coffman, Dean of Duke-NUS, and for good reason—not only has he flipped pancakes for the event since he became Dean in 2015, but he has been “cooking pancakes all [his] life.”
“I have serious pancake credentials,” Prof Coffman grinned. “I have three sons, and when they were little, every Saturday was pancake breakfast.”
His favourite part of the event? “Camaraderie—to see people, like Ng Wai Hoe in a funny hat, trying to make a dragon pancake.”
Prof Coffman added that this year, in a bid to get more students to participate, the entry price was changed to a pay-as-you-wish model. “It’s as much about getting people here as it is about raising money,” he explained.
The significance of community-building was deeply felt, as the event was forced on hiatus during the pandemic’s most acute years. Associate Professor Christopher Laing, Vice-Dean for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said, “It’s even more important to do these events now that people are working from home more. It’s about community, really, isn’t it? At the end of the day, the pancakes are great, and they’re nice to eat, but the act of coming together and eating is really about the reinforcement of community.”
Asked what made a good pancake, Assoc Prof Laing said, “Not making it too thick. And second thing is, making them with love.”
Impressively busy too was pancake chef Ms Karen Chang, Senior Vice-Dean and Group Director of Corporate Services. The demand for her pancakes saw queues extending far and beyond the Atrium, snaking even to the third floor of the School, drawing crowds for charity! And charity is the lifeblood of Deans’ Pancake Breakfast—which was first created in 2008, as a means for the School to show its support for students’ community service projects. Projects featured this year included Camp Simba, Project DOVE, Duke-NUS’ Blood Donation Drive and the Paediatric Brain & Solid Tumour Awareness project.
Mr M. Hema Prashaad, Class President (Class of 2025), noted that the event was a great way to create exposure and pitch projects to funding organisations. For him, community service is most rewarding when one “sees the smiles of all the beneficiaries, and the culmination of the work you put in prior, ultimately bearing fruit on the day itself.”
Representing Project DOVE which “raises funds and awareness to highlight countries that lack accessible healthcare”, Mr Teo Kai Qin, part of the fundraising team for Project DOVE, felt inspired by the show of pancake solidarity.
Other students agreed. Mr Nate Wang, Class of 2027, said: “I was pleasantly surprised that so many busy people are involved in fundraising.” His classmate, Mr Lucas Ho, added: “When you see your professors involved, you realise how connected Duke-NUS is to Project DOVE as a whole.”
Other chefs included Duke-NUS Medical Alumni association president Dr Anu Pandey (Class of 2015) who had previously served as the Student Council’s Vice-President for community service. The significance of the event, for Dr Pandey, rested on seeing faculty outside of their capacities as mentors and teachers—“giving them the opportunity to let down their hair, and for some of the students and alumni to have this social interaction with our bigger bosses.”
In addition to the pancake stations, there was also a surprise smoked salmon crostini station, manned by Assistant Professor Suzanne Goh, Associate Dean for the MD Programme, and her spouse, Paul, a former chef. Every year, the pair contribute their signature salmon crostinis, which are made from scratch as much as possible—they even try to bake the bread themselves most years.
The morning, filled with warmth, an abundance of laughter, and unlikely, but delicious, pairings—salmon crostini and pandan pancakes—mirrored the Duke-NUS heart for community work: unexpectedly innovative, earnest, and most of all, served with love.
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