Chit Chat centres on reshaping culinary perceptions by positioning insects as a luxury food option for Singaporeans, blending local flavours and cultural heritage with sustainable protein sources. (See jijie, Teh Tubruk) Through bold presentation and compelling storytelling, the campaign aims to challenge preconceived notions, emphasising the nutritional benefits and sustainable aspect to insect consumption. Ain’s project seeks to inspire a generation to embrace insects as a sophisticated and delicious culinary choice, driving forward a sustainable food culture for the future.

Let's talk about your personal experience with eating insects. When was the first time? Did you try it before this project?

Oh, before the project, no. Obviously, I was scared to try insects. I did a lot of research about whether it's halal or not, and I tried to make sure that it's for human consumption. So I found this brand through a Mothership article actually and was wondering where this Singaporean man got the insects. Then I just zoomed in and I saw “Thailand Unique”. So I searched it up and got it.

When I opened it and smelled it first, I was like, okay, it's not too bad. But I feel like the more I looked at it, the more I got scared to try. I started off with a mealworm, something that is small and looks like a french fry. It was not bad actually. I feel like it's all in the mindset.

Were there any challenges that you faced when trying to work on this project because you're trying to change people's perceptions and impressions of insects as food?

There were a lot of challenges actually because changing mindsets is already a difficult thing to do in the first place. For me, I tried not to focus on that because my objective is not to force people to change their diet or anything. My objective is more to promote the eating of insects as a sustainable option. For example, instead of getting normal flour, you can get cricket flour.

Oh, that's a thing?

Yeah, that's a thing. It's marketed to be sold in grocery shops. That's one challenge. So, for me to overcome that, I try to just focus on the products of my project. Trying to get people to take a first bite is also really difficult. So I tried to order chocolate covered grasshoppers instead; to give people options instead of the raw thing where they can actually see the entire body inside. And for Open Studios, I was scared, actually, that nobody would try the food.

So how did they react?

I think more people were inclined to eat the ones that are covered. So I brought in cricket spring rolls. It's a mixture of bean sprouts, carrots, bits of crickets also, and soy sauce, so it's not a foreign flavour. I didn't force them or anything, if they want to try they can try it. Surprisingly, people were saying that it's nice.

Another challenge for this project is probably trying to create the setup to be more familiar. I think I had difficulty trying to create my visual identity as well. I want to make it inviting, but also luxurious for Gen Zs. We wouldn't look at Hawker Center as a fine dining experience, but I still want to make it something that is better; like a nicer option, but they still feel like they're at home, like they're still in hawker centre.

For the menu, I tried to incorporate familiar sayings that you can hear in Hawker Centres, like 来 what you want, 你要什么. So it's still very inviting. It still feels homely.

How are you trying to convey that insects can be sold and seen as not food just for undeveloped countries.

I'm trying to convey the message through a website and on the website there will be an about us page and the menu. You can also order the food online. Another important page is the recipe page. So anyone can try to create the recipes at home if they wanna be more adventurous. So I feel like it's a sharing platform, like a forum that people can share. And I feel like it'll make people more open minded about eating insects.