Steak feast to mark 50 years of ties

A huge feast of 10,000 cuts of juicy steaks will be fired up over grills around the island to celebrate 50 years of ties between Singapore and Australia later this year.

The food will be cooked at 50 barbecue pits around Singapore and distributed free as part of a series of events planned by the Australian High Commission here, which will also celebrate Singapore's 50th birthday.

Called "50 BBQs", the grill fest hopes to bring the iconic Australian BBQ to Singaporeans by stationing 50 BBQ pits around heartland areas across the island.

Street artists from Down Under will be coming over to liven up the heartland scene by painting on a total of 50 walls located at hawker centres, schools and HDB areas.

There will also be a dose of Australian theatre and puppetry at wet markets, shopping malls and MRT stations to entertain people as they eat and shop.

"Our idea here was not to have performances that people go to, but to have performances that come to people," said Australian High Commissioner Philip Green.

Both "50 Walls" and "50 Performances" will take place between May 18 and 29. More information on the "50 BBQs" will be released at a later date.

The announcement of the project, called "50 Bridges", came after Australia loaned four koalas to the Singapore Zoo in commemoration of 50 years of bilateral relations between the two nations.

Australia is the first country that Singapore forged diplomatic ties with after its independence in 1965.

"We celebrate this milestone in our relationship as any good friend would while looking very much forward to traversing the next decade together as strategic partners in the region and beyond," said Mr Green.

rtan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 18, 2015.
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