Singapore Slingers form legend that will never die

FOR decades, executives visiting Singapore have headed for Raffles Hotel not purely to indulge in the unadulterated luxury of what the author Somerset Maugham once described as a ''legendary symbol for all the fables of the exotic East''.

The lure for many is instead to sample the world-famous Singapore Sling cocktail in its original hotel home.

The Sling was created at Raffles in 1915 by Hainanese bar-tender Ngiam Tong Boon. And, in the hotel's own museum, visitors can now view the safe is which in locked away his precious recipe books . . . as well as a Sling recipe hastily jotted down on a bar bill in 1936 by a customer who had asked the waiter for it.

Originally, the Sling was concocted as a drink for women - hence the pretty pink colour.

Today, it is very definitely a drink enjoyed by both men and women, without which any visit to the Raffles is incomplete.

Enshrined in Raffles folklore is the tale of two bon vivants who took a Concorde flight from London to Singapore in 1985 just to have a couple of Slings at the hotel. They flew back again the same afternoon with one remarking: ''I crossed the world to have one . . . and it was worth it.'' The recipe for this unique ''icy pink'' drink is: one half measure of gin, one quarter cherry brandy, one quarter mixed fruit juices (lime or lemon, orange and pineapple), a few drops of Cointreau and Benedictine, a dash of bitters, and a glace cherry with a slice of pineapple on top.