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Tuesday, September 15, 2026
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Both Barack Obama and Lee Hsien Loong eat with the common folks – but differently

The Independent
By The Independent

The picture of Anthony Bourdain treating American President Barack Obama to a cheap $6 meal in Vietnam has set social media abuzz.

The President's chopstick skills are on point . #buncha #hanoi

A photo posted by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on


This was what the crowd looked like outside the Vietnamese cafe in which Obama and Bourdain ate.
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Like Bourdain, our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong too likes to treat famous personalities to a good meal at food outlets where the common man eats. Not too long ago, he treated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian restaurant Komala Vilas, and this is what the crowd outside the restaurant looked like.

picture: TNP
picture: TNP

But unlike Obama who is surrounded by common folks as he wolfs down the $6 meal, our PM is surrounded by…
from one angle - servers and security
from one angle – servers and security

from another angle - empty tables
from another angle – empty tables

from yet another - Minister Ong Ye Kung
from yet another – Minister Ong Ye Kung

And then when he goes out to eat at hawker centres…
Person who took picture said PM was “swarmed with guards” while he lined up to place his order.
Person who took picture said PM was “swarmed with guards” while he lined up to place his order.

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