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SINGAPORE: Mr. Syed Habeebullah’s father used to sell mee siam on the streets from a tricycle. He and his son now run an Indian cooked food stand at Block 11 Telok Blangah Crescent Market and Food Center.
“I’ve been in this street vendor center since 1974, my father got his license on November 16, 1974,” he said proudly.
He smiled when asked about the probable inscription of Singapore’s traveling culture on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
“It’s very good for the name of Singapore,” he said, but went on at the same time to say that not many young Singaporeans want to become street vendors today.
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Even as Singapore’s street vendor culture is set to be inscribed on the UNESCO list next month, a formal recognition that it is a living culture worth safeguarding, some say it is difficult to keep traditions alive and well. tastes as Singapore develops.
Hawker stops at Block 11 Telok Blangah Crescent Market & Food Center.
Chef Damian D’Silva, an advocate for traditional food, said this is potentially “just another compliment” for Singapore.
“Is my thinking about street food going to change? To be really honest with you, no. Because, because at the end of the day, it is a way of making a living … The only thing I think is good for Singapore is that it encourages the younger generations, ”he said.
But he lamented that street vendor food is changing and that some dishes that take time, effort and skill to make are in danger of disappearing.
“Char kway teow is an art, you have to fry it for 10-15 years before you become a master. You need to know when to add the egg, when to add water, when to turn the heat up or down … it’s all time, ”he said.
“It’s not just about getting prizes, it’s about preserving the food that we see disappearing in three, five, 10 years, because we don’t want to lose this, I don’t want to lose this.”
A plate of “black” char kway teow at Joo Chiat Place Fried Kway Teow. (Photo: Denise Tan)
Food writer Annette Tan said that street vendor culture is “a part of who we are,” but believes it inevitably evolves with the times.
“I think it makes me very proud that something that we hold dear and that is such an important part of our lives is being recognized,” he said.
“But as times change, ingredients change, techniques change … street vendor food will not disappear because it is such an important part of the fabric of our lives, but the quality that we are used to in vendors traveling, that can change. “
She added: “But with everything that disappears, something new comes and replaces it.”
The Hawker culture has already evolved with successive generations of Singaporeans. Decades ago, the ubiquitous hawker centers the island is known for were built to house hawkers who fed the masses while sitting on roadside stools.
That worked when many families lived in kampungs and commercial premises, but with the new public housing came street vendor centers and markets, where much of Singapore’s street food now thrives in the form of traditional dishes or upstart fusion food.
More changes can be expected, said the people the CNA spoke to, as today’s youth are better educated, have better job opportunities and want more than just a basic living.
READ: Almost a third of street vendor stalls in Singapore offer electronic payment
Anthony Low, who chairs the street vendor division of the Federation of Traders Associations (FMAS), left the Singapore Armed Forces 23 years ago to run his father’s ngoh hiang post. He was 29 years old then and no one else wanted to take up the mantle, he said.
Anthony Low, president of the street vendor division of the Federation of Traders Associations (FMAS), leads Xin Sheng Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker. (Photo courtesy of Mr Low)
Now, a veteran street vendor with two stalls in Jurong and another on Chinatown Food Street, recalled how “paiseh” (embarrassed in Hokkien) had felt serving his former colleagues at his food stand. But things are different now, he said.
“The UNESCO nomination is an affirmation for us, I think people saw street vending as a humble occupation … but in recent years, the reputation has improved,” Xin Sheng owner Ngoh Hiang Prawn told CNA Crackers.
“It seems that our hard work behind the scenes to improve our food is being recognized.”
Whereas an earlier generation of street vendors worked hot woks and open flames out of necessity, a new generation of “street vendors” comes armed with business plans and modern culinary techniques.
“I think that young people, when they enter the trade, they also want to achieve something. They are not satisfied with having just one position, “said Low, 52.” They have ideas, they want to build a business and even aspire to expand abroad.
Mr Aaron Wong (center) and his apprentices at the Jiak Song hawker stall. kitchen
Jiak Song, Masterchef contestant Aaron Wong’s street vendor stand in Telok Blangah, serves a humble bowl of mee hoon kueh for S $ 3.50 to S $ 5, and has drawn long lines since opening in August.
While the grueling hours are a common complaint among street vendors, Wong said his team can prepare all the ingredients for the day in two hours, even with custom-made dough, dumplings and meatballs. The assistants at your station start work at 7 a.m. M., They sell 250 bowls at 2 p.m. M. And they leave at 4 p.m. M. said.
He believes that traditional tastes and a more streamlined operations system can be combined to make street food vending more palatable to a new generation.
“I think it’s not about reinventing food, we like our picky eaters as they have been since the dawn of time. I think that what needs to be reinvented is the way a street vendor operates, ”he said.
By showing this journalist his small kitchen, he demonstrated how an insulated boiler and induction cookers make the stall more comfortable and safe to operate, and all the ingredients are neatly organized.
A street vendor throws mee hoon kueh dough into a boiling stock pot at the Jiak Song street vendor stall.
“These systems are not new things, they have been used by restaurants for a long time. It is about incorporating them into a street vendor stand, “he said. He already has plans to open a few more stalls and a central kitchen.
While Wong’s position has only been in operation for a few months, he has also hired an apprentice under the National Environment Agency (NEA) Hawker Development Program.
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About 150 participants have completed training under the program, of which 50 have moved on to apprenticeship training and 35 participants will start incubation positions. These stalls come equipped with basic equipment and rental allowances for the first 15 months of operation.
These recent programs aim to train aspiring street vendors, paving an easier path toward a trade that has traditionally been passed down to family members. While the median age of street vendors is 59, the median age of new entrants since 2013 is 46, NEA said.
But with the UNESCO list in view after two years, more can be done to maintain the culture of street vendors, those in the industry said.
“Getting awards won’t mean much unless we do something about it, if the government takes advantage of this and looks at all the peripheral and related opportunities this can bring,” said Makansutra founder KF Seetoh.
People wearing face masks at Old Airport Road Hawker Center on September 11, 2020 (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Singapore’s street food can be promoted around the world, he said, and hopes authorities will see merit in supporting street vendors who want to venture abroad: “The possibilities will be immense.”
FMAS’s Mr. Low proposed having a street vendor appreciation day or month to recognize the hardcore, while Mr. D’Silva suggested that street vendors who truly excel receive “a fair rent”.
Dr. Wong King Yin, professor of tourism and marketing at the Nanyang Business School of Nanyang Technological University, said that while the UNESCO listing will not have an immediate impact on food businesses, it may have a lasting impact on how Singaporeans identify themselves.
“I think the value lies more in how the street vendor culture can connect all Singaporeans and give everyone a sense of belonging,” he said.
