Can Singapore Hawker Culture Survive?

The future of Singapore's UNESCO recognised hawker culture is sometimes doubted and often debated. There are factors for and against its survival - it is good that the issue is often spotlighted, suggestions voiced, solutions implemented and the public engaged.

As Singaporeans are passionate about their hawker food, everyone has opinions on both sides of the fence. The picture is not all doom and gloom. In fact, I am pretty optimistic.

Voice of the People

An engaged public as a major stakeholder is a strong positive factor in favour of the survival of our hawker culture. Eating in hawker centres or "community dining rooms" as officially put, is part of being Singaporean. All ethnic communities that make up the Singapore melting pot eat as one in hawker centres. The Singapore hawker centre is also a great leveller as people of all social economic class enjoy meals under one roof - everyone queues and sit at common tables.

A 2010 government survey found that nearly half of Singaporeans eat at hawker centres at least six times a week. In 2016, a National Environment Agency survey found 75% of Singaporeans visit a hawker centre at least once a week and 90% feel hawker centres are an important part of Singapore’s identity.

Over 110 hawker centres dot every corner of our entire island. They are like the knots in a fishing net holding Singapore's social fabric together. Hawker centres are nodes of Singapore's multicultural society. 

Not surprisingly, "food heritage" emerged the most important aspect of Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage in a survey of 3,000 people by National Heritage Board in 2018.

So, a lot is at stake.

Hawking a Dying Trade?

Of 6,000 hawkers in 110 Singapore hawker centres, their average age is now around 60 years old. They are retiring en masse. For example, according to the National Heritage Board, only 20% of the original hawkers that moved into the Chinatown Complex Food Centre in 1983 were still in the trade in 2016. As old hawkers retire, they are not replaced by new blood in sufficient numbers.

The working conditions (the hawker centre stall is a tiny cubicle), long and odd hours, and low profit margins deter most young from joining the profession. The old hawkers themselves do not wish it upon their own offsprings becoming hawkers. Also, hawking still hasn't entirely shake off its blue collar and employment of last resort image.

It is far easier to build spanking new, swanky new-age hawker centres than to fill the hawker stalls with skilled hawkers. Stalls vacated by retiring hawkers and unfilled stalls at new hawker centres may sow the ground for cannibalisation of our hawker culture.

To have generic food manufactured in a central kitchen (cooking factory), served at hawker stalls by minimally trained "plug & play" type employees is neither preserving our hawker culture nor food heritage as the skills and culture are not passed on. Our hawker culture is not "hawker themed" fast food.

But, change is in the air. 

There's an emerging group of young hawkers who are keen to preserve their family's heritage. They are hawkers by choice. Take Ler Jie Wei, who left his banking career to continue his great-great-grandfather's legacy. Jie Wei serves his great-great-grandfather's 100 year old noodles at Famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee stall. 

Jie Wei still cooks soupy bak chor mee, the way it was passed down from his great-great-grandfather. It is a mound of crunchy noodles, a couple of wantons, and blanched minced pork in a pork bone soup flavoured with dried sole fish (ti poh). Lard, pork fat crouton and fried shallot oil add more flavours and aroma to the humble but popular noodle dish. The savoury umami flavours in the soup pack quite a punch - I love this.

The success and examples of these young heritage heroes may inspire others to join the trade to preserve their family's legacy. I often hear this sentiment from young hawkers: "My grandfather / father / mother worked so hard for so many years to build up this brand, I don't want to see it disappear just like that".  

Our Hawker Food is Not the Same Anymore!

Some people, especially the older generation, lament that Singapore food is not longer what it used to be. Step into a hawker centre today, and we will see some stalls serving versions of traditional dishes that are hardly recognisable from the original.

But, evolution of our heritage dishes is inevitable with changing times and tastes as Singapore continuously add more influences into our already well endowed culinary melting pot.

Take Gwyneth, a Culinary Institute of America degree graduate who runs One Prawn Noodle with her contemporary take on prawn noodle. Gwyneth combines modern kitchen technology, techniques and processes with tradition to produce her umami rich prawn soup and took the humble dish to new heights with add-ons like her signature handmade prawn balls.

At Duke of Congee, Culinary Institute of America degree graduates, Tien Jia and Lilyan serve traditional congee from their little stall using modern equipment, techniques and streamlined processes. While the way the food is prepared and cooked may be updated with the times, the essence and flavours of the dish are preserved.

Adaptation and innovation are what keep our food heritage relevant with changing times.

These young hawkers are the leading edge of a culture shift - running a hawker stall is no longer employment of last resort but a career choice, a passion driven aspiration like any other respected profession.

Our Traditional Hawker Dishes are Disappearing! 

Some say our hawker culture is dying because more and more Japanese, Korean, Italian, etc food stalls are taking up space in our hawker centres. There's space for them. In fact, there are empty stalls in many hawker centres - I mean we have enough space for everyone.

I say let's embrace them instead of lament them. Singapore hawker culture has always been evolving and inclusive anyway. Change is the only constant in Singapore hawker culture - it's an extremely tired overused cliché I know but it is true. And, Singapore has always been open to new cuisine. How else can we explain culinary blasphemy like Hainanese curry rice, satay bee hoon, curry fish head, chili crab, Indian rojak, etc., becoming mainstream Singapore food heritage?

So, I say bravo to the likes of Chef Choo who brought his skills garnered while working at Pete's Place Italian restaurant at Grand Hyatt to his Chef Choo Signatures stall at Golden Mile Food Centre.

Kudos to ramen crazy Hock Soon and wife Kalene who went on multiple study trips and attended training courses in Japan to learn the art of ramen before they opened Ramen Taisho stall in Maxwell Food Centre.

Some Hawker Dishes will Just Not Make it into the Future

Some dishes - the more complicated ones, those less palatable to contemporary taste buds, the ones harder to master, the non scalable ones, e.g. sak kei ma (an ancient biscuit) will fade away, unfortunately. Sak kei ma is a sweet eggy snack made with fried eggy dough, compacted and melded together with malt sugar.

A single batch of this ancient Manchurian snack takes two days to make. There is only one hawker stall left in Singapore that still makes sak kei ma by hand - at Pan Ji in Chinatown Complex.

Perhaps, there may be a scheme for such heritage dishes which grants it conservation status (like what URA do for built heritage) so that it can be supported and preserved for future generations in Singapore hawker centres. 

Char kway teow will not disappear. There will always be char kway teow because the demand will always be there for a good stir fried noodle dish. But, the acme of skills of top artisans will likely go with the retirement of the current handful of masters such as at Guan Kee, Outram Park (Hong Lim) and Hai Kee.

The problem here, I feel is we underprice our master hawkers' skills. A plate of char kway teow from a master hawker costs the same as at any other char kway teow hawker. The master is rewarded by having more customers, a longer queue waiting patiently to savour his masterpiece but each plate is priced the same as any average char kway teow. The customer gets greater value for money but the master hawker only sells more plates of char kway teow.

We need to find ways to reward our hawker masters better. As we think of long term solutions that may require a culture shift (that usually happens at glacial speed), perhaps those who are able and willing may volunteer tipping the best hawkers?

There is No Money in Hawking as Singaporeans are Spoilt by Cheap Prices?

Part of the survival challenges our hawker culture face is blamed on the public's perception that hawker food should be affordable. Some hawkers reported that their net profit per serving is as low as 20 cents.

"Culinary prejudice" is cited as a threat to the survival of Singapore hawker culture. It is said that Singaporeans willingly pay $20 for Japanese ramen or Italian spaghetti but scoff at paying the same for Hokkien mee or bak chor mee.

Are people biased in favour of Japanese or Italian? I am afraid that $20 ramen or spaghetti may also not find much of a market at public hawker centres.

Chef Choo Signature sells his excellent spaghetti aglio olio at $4 a serving (cheaper than some char kway teow). Hock Soon sells his most premium ramen at Ramen Taisho at below $8 (same as Tai Hwa bak chor mee). Nope, most Singaporeans won't pay a premium just because it is Japanese or Italian cuisine - no "culinary prejudice" there.

Are people biased against hawker centres then, i.e. suddenly become tight fisted when eating at hawker centres? 

Sumo Big Prawn's lobster noodle which went for $25 a pop was a runaway success when it was launched in 2016.

A Noodle Story sell their unique take on wanton mee at $15 for a large serving to long queues everyday at Amoy Street Food Centre.

So, lots of Singaporeans will part with good money if you are able to come up with a good hawker dish that captures their imagination and tickle their fickle taste buds.

Having said that, average hawkers do have a plight. Low profit margins of 20 cents per serving which some hawkers report, is neither sustainable nor even conscionable. This is a challenge that needs closer investigation and solution.

Where are the Customers?

Like the hawkers, the age profile of hawker centre patrons also tended towards the middle aged set. It's no use having more hawker centres, well filled with hawkers but there are not enough customers and the clientele base is shrinking.

The young are more inclined towards cafes, ice cream parlours, pizzerias, and other such air conditioned eateries with trendy decor and concepts. These are places to see and be seen.

Customers are also more fickle - they may willingly queue for hours for the latest Instagrammable food fad, only never to return again but go on to chase after the next in-thing. So, food fads sprout like mushrooms but quickly disappear once their short season in the media limelight is over.

Such a culture is not conducive to developing deep artisanal skills that can come only from cooking the same dishes and running the same food stall for decades (like our pioneer generations of hawkers).

Still, good hawker stalls by young hawkers are attracting more young people into hawker centres.

Some parents bring their toddlers to hawker centres so that eating in "community dining rooms" become engrained in the next generation's lifestyle as they grow up. 

That's a lot of challenges and new ones will come up all the time, e.g. the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has put our hawkers through tough tests. But, there are some bright sparks that give me hope about the future of our hawker culture.

Do UNESCO Recognition Bring Any Tangible Benefits?

Inclusion in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (in 2020) gave a morale boost to our hawker brigade, that their efforts and contributions are appreciated and recognised, even at the global level. Beyond feeling good, there are both tangible and intangible benefits of the UNESCO accolade.

With UNESCO recognition comes greater appreciation and change of public perception and attitude towards the trade. This may encourage more young people to join the trade and also eat at hawker centres.

Seeking and gaining UNESCO recognition for our hawker culture is a highly visible commitment by our government towards preserving and promoting our food heritage. It helps government agencies focus attention and resources to that end, e.g. government schemes to encourage more young hawkers such as institutionalised training, apprenticeship, mentorship, financial support, conferences, etc. 

The UNESCO requirement for a report card every six years on Singapore's efforts to protect hawker culture could serve as a catalyst as well as focal point to co-ordinate and channel our (government and grassroots) efforts together. These efforts could be put into cycles of five or six year action plans to fulfil the UNESCO requirement.

What Value does the Michelin Guide Create?

Whatever we may think of the Michelin Guide's recommendations, there can be no denying that the Guide is still seen as a world authourity and tourist reference on a country's cuisine. The inclusion of hawkers in the Singapore Michelin Guide, like the UNESCO accolade, enhances the public perception of our hawker heritage and hawking as a profession.

The Michelin Guide bring curious (often younger) Singaporeans (who would otherwise not visit hawker centres) to stalls listed in each year's updates. When the borders are opened post-Covid, the Michelin Guide will bring tourists (business) to our hawker centres (as it did before Covid struck in 2020).

Having said that, we Singaporeans, of course trust our own tastebuds about food that we enjoy since childhood. Each Singaporean have our own list of favourites and don't need any foreign guide to grade our food. We just appreciate them for helping us market our hawkers to the world, thank you.

Facing the Uncertain Future with Confidence

Ultimately, it is not possible to list all the possible challenges to our hawker culture that will emerge in the future. For example, no one could have anticipated the hard times that Covid-19 is putting our F & B industry through now (and, we still haven't seen the end of the tunnel yet).

But, there are certain enduring qualities in our hawker culture that took us to where we are today that will hold us in good stead in the future - inclusiveness, adaptability, unity.

Inclusiveness / openness - the willingness to embrace changes and the new, which is the way we are since Singapore launched itself as a free port in 1819.

Adaptability - the ability to adapt to changes in ourselves and in the environment. Living by the mantra of "innovate or die" we expect changes in our food, how it is made, and how the whole business of hawking food is conducted.

Unity - hawker culture is a living culture. It is not a statue or a monument but made up of small businesses that need to be fed to survive. So, hawkers and customers need to unite to support each other. Hawker culture won't survive just because we read about them or merely voice our support; they need us to patronise them. So yeah, visit hawker centres and show your support by eating there. 

Singapore hawker culture is resilient. I am sure it will survive, provided we as a country together, take the correct steps to support it.

I love to hear your views about the future of Singapore hawker culture 🙏

       

                     

             

             

               

               

             

           

           

           

                         

           

             

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Written by Tony Boey on 25 Sep 2021 | Reviewed 3 Nov 2022