I shall try to answer that question from my own perspective as a
Singaporean who also loves the street food of neighbouring countries.
First of all, I will be the first to acknowledge the exciting street
hawker cultures of our neighbours. I am a big fan of street food of all
these countries as well as in India, China, etc. Hey, this blog is
afterall named Johor Kaki because I am a big fan of hawker food in
Johor.
From my travels, one of the things that make street food in each country
special is their uniqueness - each country and even state, province or
city is unique in their own way. So, here is my take on what is unique
about Singapore hawker culture.
The History of Singapore Hawker Culture is the Story of Singapore
The entrepôt of Singapore established by Raffles in 1819 created a huge demand for labourers and tradesmen of all kinds. Raffles drew these from India, China and Indonesia. (Image courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.)
Street food hawkers appeared in Singapore as soon as immigrants from
Indonesia, India and China arrived in Singapore en masse. Most were
men who came without their families. A veritable army of street
hawkers sprung up to feed these hungry and tired masses. These hawkers
sold inexpensive comfort food from their hometowns. Hence, Singapore
hawker food is an instant melting pot of regional cuisines - dishes
from the ancient Indian, Malay / Indonesian and Chinese civilisations all at once, right from the beginning.
Singapore's Food Soldiers
By the turn of the 21st century, the colonial government instituted
hawker licensing and pioneered simple hawker shelters with roofs and
running water (precursors of today's hawker centres). But, progress
was slow, so the vast majority of hawkers remained in the streets,
playing cat and mouse games with health inspectors (known pejoratively as teh gu or toads).
At the Heart of Nation Building
Today, 81% of Singaporeans live in public housing (build by Housing
& Development Board or HDB) and all hawkers are in hawker centres
(with some in coffee shops). Singapore's hawker centre is as unique as
our transformational public housing programme to house an entire
nation - the two are intimately intertwined.
There are No Hawkers in Hawker Centres 🤔
In some forgotten past, the hawker shelters became known as "hawker
centres" which is an oxymoron. This error was realised and hawker
centres were renamed "Market and Food Centre". But, while the term
is semantically correct, it is a clumsy mouthful. So, most people
continue to call it by the oxymoron "hawker centre". Even the term
"food centre" couldn't change people's habits. So yeah, the term
"hawker centre" stays. We are uniquely Singaporeans, mah.... .
Community Dining Halls
People living in high rise HDB flats come down to have their meals and meet
their neighbours in "community dining halls". So, hawker centres
play a crucial role in social bonding and nation building. In a way, hawker centres are like school tuckshops but on a nationwide scale.
The Singapore Menu
The ethnic stall mix is unique in the same way as the Singapore
population mix is unique. In Singapore, it is a blend of
Malay-Indian-Chinese-Other cuisines whereas in Thailand, Thai dishes
dominate; in Indonesia, you will find mostly Indonesian dishes; in
Taiwan, it's mostly Chinese dishes. You get the idea.
National Identity
In a National Environment Agency (NEA) survey in
2016, 75% of respondents said they visit a hawker centre at least once
a week while 90% felt that hawker centres are an important part of Singapore’s
identity. “Food heritage” was voted the most important aspect of
Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage, in a poll of 3,000 people by National Heritage Board (NHB) in 2018.
But, all these statistics and surveys merely confirm what we Singaporeans already know from what our eyes, ears and tastebuds tell us living in
Singapore everyday.
A Foodie Nation
When we travel, we will realise that most major cities around the
world have good Indian, Chinese, Thai, and to a lesser extent
Indonesian food. It is nigh impossible to find a good Singapore
restaurant or stall beyond our shores. So, no
Singapore Hokkien mee,
Hainanese chicken rice,
Hainanese satay, Hainanese curry rice,
Nyonya laksa, sup tulang merah,
bak chor mee,
fishball noodles, etc., definitely not in the Singapore way, anyway.
How many of us gobble down a fishball noodle or chicken rice, etc.,
before boarding a plane or before going home after disembarking at
Singapore Changi Airport? I will be the first to raise both hands to
confess 🙋
Uniquely Affordable
Affordability is in the DNA of Singapore hawker culture. Hawkers first catered to the needs of the teeming mass of sinkeh coolies who came to Singapore with only their shirt on their backs and many were in debt paying for their passage. When the colonial government relocated hawkers to hawker shelters they charged only nominal rent. The main objective was to get the hawkers off the streets and the shelters were simple zinc roof, open-air affairs.
The post-independence hawker centre building programme was
similarly aimed at clearing the streets of hawkers. Hawker licences
were also given out as a means to create employment for low income
families, hence rental fee was low. The young country was relatively
undeveloped, deemed over populated and the government was urgently
finding ways to create jobs for the people.
However, hawker prices have generally stayed traditionally low. Most
meals cost between $3 to $5. Singapore is now a first world country
but hawker centre prices are still at developing country levels. Hence, those cringey, sensational headlines that shouted "Cheapest Michelin Star in the world" when the first Singapore Michelin Guide was launched in 2016.
This has created a certain tension as hawker prices has not kept up
with rising rental, supplies, utilities, manpower, and
miscellaneous (e.g. cleaning) costs. Some hawkers have reported
profit margins of only 20 cents per serving (which is
unsustainable).
It's not an easy balance to strike as a segment of low income Singaporeans still
rely on hawker centres for affordable meals.
What other things do you think make Singapore hawker culture unique?
Written by Tony Boey on 27 Sep 2021
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