Rasa Singapura was one of my fondest memories of Singapore hawker centres. But, it's not the usual hawker centre.
It was a bold experiment by Singapore Tourism Promotion Board (STPB) to abashedly showcase Singapore's street food to international audiences, elevating it to a tourism product. Remember, this was the 1970s, the Singapore nation just a decade old, and street food had not yet earned the respect it enjoys today. It was a long way from cheap affordable sustenance for the masses to becoming icons of Singapore identity.
Rasa Singapura Food Centre was one of the key stepping stones, milestones of our nation building journey.
We ate here at Rasa Singapura around once a week as we worked nearby in early to mid-1980s.
The vision of the then STPB was to put the best of Singapore hawkers together under one roof. It showcased the diversity and quality of Singapore hawker (street) food to international audiences, laying the foundation for the long journey leading eventually to our hawker centre culture being inscribed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2020.
Rasa Singapura Food Centre was the building (on the right in this picture) next to the Singapore Handicraft Centre. Rasa Singapura which means Taste of Singapore in Malay, opened in 1978.
Over 700 hawkers applied for the 29 stalls. The final 29 tenants were carefully handpicked by the STPB panel.
This place was hot, and I don't just mean the heat that made us all sweaty.
It was crowded both with locals like us out for a good and affordable lunch at the Orchard Road tourist belt. And, throngs of savvy tourists here for an authentic Singapore hawker centre experience.
Car parking was always very challenging at that time. We had to park in an always full, open air car park and walk a short distance to the hawker centre on the upper level.
There's also orh luak (oyster omelette), popiah (Chinese hand roll), fried carrot cake, fish soup, fried banana fritter (pisang goreng), satay, roti John, fried Hokkien mee and more, I can't recall. (Help me by sharing your memories in the comments.)
There was a popular Indian rojak stall too.
I didn't try all the 29 stalls. I was a creature of habit, lunch hour was short, and what nice food to eat wasn't at the top of my mind at that stage of my life.
My favourites were kueh pie tee, popiah (Chinese hand roll), chicken rice and fried kway teow.
Monthly stall rental then was $600, all inclusive.
Prices were affordable. For example, fried Hokkien mee for S$2 and or luak for S$3.
Such concessions and benefits for the tenant hawkers came at a price - STPB kept an eagle eye on upholding high standards. STPB officers worked just next door to the hawker centre 🤭 They followed up promptly on public feedback which they took very seriously.
The media neither minced nor sugar coated words. Though I felt (reporter) Terry was a little harsh, the media was the public's food heritage guardian not the businesses' marketing arm.
The Straits Times conducted a survey in 1989 just before the closing of Rasa Singapura.
Half the tourists surveyed preferred Satay Club and Newton Hawker Centre, so didn't mind Rasa Singapura closing.
On the other hand, all locals surveyed unanimously hoped Rasa Singapura could be saved.
I was abroad during those final years and was quite sad to find out that Rasa Singapura was demolished when I came back 😞 (On a side note, when we came back to Lau Pa Sat we also found that it was repurposed beyond recognition into a festival market / food court. But, at least at Lau Pa Sat, the structure was conserved. Those were years of rapid, dislocating transformation.)
These young ladies' views about Rasa Singapura at that time echoes my own sentiments even today.
Sadly, Rasa Singapura Food Centre was closed in 1989, and demolished to make way for Traders Hotel (today's JEN Singapore Tanglin) and Tourism Court, Singapore Tourism Board's new headquarters.
After Rasa Singapura shut down, the 29 food stalls were scattered across the island. There were several efforts to replicate Rasa Singapura or lean on the brand's sterling legacy but all failed to recapture the spirit of the original.
Rasa Singapura, the place did not last very long, only 11 years from 1978 to 1989. The spirit it embodied now inspires the 100-plus new and constantly renewed hawker centres across Singapore.
Read more 👉
Four Characteristics of Hawker Culture in Singapore
Singapore Hawker Culture is Singapore's Migration Story
History of Singapore Hawker Culture
Can Singapore Hawker Culture Survive?
Immigrant Roots of Singapore Hawker Culture
Singapore Hawker Culture · Singapore as Asia's Kitchen
Singapore Hawker Centres as the Third Place
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Written by Tony Boey on 24 Jul 2025
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It is one of the best places representing Singapore Street food.
ReplyDeleteRoti John no horse run lol
ReplyDeleteI remembered it was very famous for Satay n Carrot Cake. But I was just a child and unable to visit on my own.
ReplyDeleteFish soup. I was in training then. The stallholder customised my orders - fish slices cooked with one slice of ginger, no salt, no MSG.
ReplyDeleteMe!! I am still searching for the Goreng Pisang stall ✌️✌️
ReplyDeleteThe mee goreng from the stall next to Waterloo Street Rojak was a childhood favourite, and still haunts my dreams to this day.
ReplyDeleteits the OG Sergeant Hainan Boneless Chicken Rice for me!
ReplyDelete