What is Unique about Singapore Hawker Centre Culture?

In 2018, when Singapore submitted its hawker culture for inclusion in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, murmurs were heard questioning "What is so Unique about Singapore Hawker Culture"? Afterall, all of Singapore's Southeast Asian neighbours have vibrant street hawker cultures. Every countryman or woman can rightfully argue that their own country's hawkers are the best, so why is Singapore jumping the gun on UNESCO recognition? Malaysia even proposed a joint submission.

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

When Sir Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore in 1819, there were around 1,000 inhabitants, most of whom were sea nomads and fishermen.

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

It wasn't long before street hawkers became a thorn on the British colonial government's side as they clogged up traffic and drains as well as littered the streets with food waste. Food poisoning was rampant and pests like rats and cockroaches were out of control. The colonial government saw hawkers as a nuisance yet tolerated their presence because of their vital role in providing cheap sustenance for the masses - they were Singapore's food army. (Image courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.)

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 地牛 or toads).

At the Heart of Nation Building

The turning point came in 1972 when the post-independence government launched the hawker centre building programme in tandem with building public housing estates. It was a visionary, herculean, ambitious programme to build homes for everyone and a concerted effort to put every street hawker into a hawker centre.

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 🤔

The word "hawker" refers to a mobile peddler who hawks his goods (not necessarily only food) from place to place. Strictly speaking, there are no street food hawkers in Singapore today as they are all housed in fixed stalls inside buildings i.e. 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

Every public housing estate have hawker centres which serve as "community dining halls". Today, there are over 110 hawker centres across the island. Most Singaporeans living in HDB estates live within walking distance from a hawker centre.

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.

They are like social nodes, knots in a fishing net which hold Singapore's multicultural social fabric together.

The Singapore Menu

All the ethnic communities of Singapore - Malay, Indian, Chinese, Eurasian, etc., are represented in the diverse food stalls here. Malay mee rebus, Indian putu mayam, and Chinese chicken rice stalls sit comfortably side by side. I call it 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

Because hawker centres are so much part of our lives, eating in hawker centres is part and parcel of being Singaporean. In a hawker centre, ethnic boundaries fade, politicians and tycoons eat together with workers, students and retirees. Everyone queues, eat at common tables and return their used bowls and utensils to the collection point.

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

If a government agency were to conduct a survey, it will also confirm that Singaporeans overseas are most homesick for food (besides family and friends). I mean, Singaporeans may not be the only people away from home who are homesick for food but the degree to which we are afflicted must be unequalled 🤦‍♂️ It is almost embarrassing but we admit to it unabashedly 😂

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.

We are now at the crossroads. Singapore is today one of the most affluent countries in the world. Hawker centres are no longer simple, bare bones structures but well equipped and aesthetically pleasing temples of food through continuous upgrading.

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?

What is Unique about Singapore Hawker Centre Culture?

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