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Singapore, August 25, 2012 A local food blogger was uninvited to the exclusive Diner en Blanc (The White Dinner) after he posted a list of local foods he suggested that guests could bring to the event. The "pop-up picnic" was to be held at a secret venue on Thursday and blogger Daniel Ang was invited to cover the event, reported The Straits Times. The 12 food suggestions he had posted on his blog on Tuesday include: chee cheong fun (rice noodle rolls), fishballs, chicken rice, chwee kueh (steamed rice cake) and tau hway (soya beancurd). When he asked the organisers whether his post was all right, he was told that it was. However, he was asked to remove it the next day. "They said the local delicacies were not on a par with the image of the event and told me to take the post down," said Mr Ang to The Straits Times. He refused to do so and was then "uninvited" by the organisers on Thursday. Mr Ang said the organisers had removed a post on their event's Facebook page stating that local foods were barred. "All the organiser said was that we should bring quality food. Why can't local food be quality food? This is really disrespectful to Singapore culture," he said. The Straits Times said that other bloggers initially invited to the event were also uninvited. Since the controversy erupted, Mr Ang has received more than 10,000 hits on his blog yesterday. Upset netizens were also asking if tau hway was too low-class for the event. Diner en Blanc is an event in which guests dressed in white bring their own picnic tables, "good" food and drinks, such as wine or champagne, to the venue revealed on the day itself. Singapore is the first Asian country to host this. Such picnics first started in Paris 24 years ago and are now held in 20 cities in countries such as Australia, Spain and the United States. Event organiser Clemen Chiang, 38, told The Straits Times there is "some confusion here" as the point is for people to make the effort to prepare their own food and not da-baoing food (Local parlance for takeaway food). "The diners have to ask themselves if they are comfortable eating you tiao (fried dough sticks) and drinking champagne. If you feel comfortable putting you tiao on your table, carry on." He also explained that the bloggers were dropped due to space constraints. All 888 seats planned for the event have been taken. Rules for the Diner en Blanc are that picnic tables must be smaller than 75cm by 75 cm and dressed up with white tablecloth, electric candles and an ice bucket. Disposable cutlery, beer and hard liquor are banned. According to The Straits Times, a group in Facebook are holding an alternate event called "It's Super White" to snub Diner en Blanc organisers, and will be held nearby on the same day.
