Prologue

hawkerculture
Aug 31, 2015
2 min read

The people who give you their food, give you their heart. – Cesar Chavez

The next time you sit down at the round table after accomplishing the fine art of ‘chope-ing’ your seat, and later slurping up that glorious bowl of prawn noodle and ending it off with a revitalising glass of freshly-squeezed sugarcane juice, just take a minute to think if you can still enjoy that simple yet hearty meal, say, ten years later. Will your children get to enjoy the things that you used to look forward to each day?

That age-old bowl of prawn noodle and sugar cane juice serve as a grim reminder to all of us, of the status of Singapore’s hawker fare and culture—old and endangered.

As Singapore celebrates its golden jubilee, the government has put forth its manifesto for the next fifty years to keep Singapore going and for her to stay relevant in a highly competitive world. The rapid growth and progress of the nation, while essential, is taking a toll on its heritage. Globalisation has marked its presence by opening up the gates to capitalism, while modernisation has altered social ideals in ways, unimaginable.

Apart from treading on thin ice as their businesses get consumed by massive conglomerates and corporations, many of our wok warriors are also slowing down due to age. The aunties and uncles who we used to patronise for our morning dose of kopi and kaya toasts, aren’t as healthy and fit as before. The years have worn their strength and chiselled off their bones. With little interest of taking over these businesses—that have more or less become the beating heart of Singapore—the extinction of Singapore’s hawker centres will just be a matter of time.

Through conversations with different hawkers which will be documented on this site, we hope that a wind of change will come to sweep off the fear of loss and lift up our hopes of seeing a continuity for Singapore’s hawker culture. Let us preserve the heritage that we hold so very dear to—not in the way that we place it in the museums, but the way we pickle our acar to be eaten and become part of our lifeblood.