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Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright Manage No EE00001955 Country Singapore ICH Domain Social practices, rituals, festive events Traditional craft skills Others Address There are over 110 hawker centres spread across Singapore. Most hawker centres are located within neighbourhood centres of public housing estates, serving as important communal spaces. There are also hawker centres situated in business and recreational districts, where people work and play. Similar food practices and food centres can be found in neighbouring countries and internationally, each having their respective context, cultural influences, and socio-cultural functions.Year of Designation 2020
Description | Hawker Culture, involving the practice of dining and mingling at hawkers centres over food prepared by hawkers, is an integral part of the Singapore way of life. Evolved from street food culture, hawkers and hawker centres have become markers of Singapore as a multicultural city-state. During the formative years of Singapore’s independence, hawkers and local communities, with the assistance of the government, came together to develop hawker centres, providing stable livelihoods for hawkers and affordable meals for the population. Today, hawker centres across Singapore continue to serve the needs of diverse communities in residential, recreational and business districts. |
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Social and cultural significance | Serving as community dining spaces where friends and families gather, interact and bond over their shared love for food, hawker centres function as vibrant communal spaces that promote social cohesion based on shared experiences. As a public space that embraces people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to meet and dine together, hawker centres are social spaces in the dense urban landscape that strengthen social fabric and foster peaceful relations, maintaining cultural and community interactions. With hawker food being both safe and affordable, many families eat at hawker centres on a frequent basis. Families, friends, co-workers gather at hawker centres for breakfast, lunch or dinner and chat over kopi (local coffee). It is common for Singaporeans who return home from overseas to visit hawker centres to savour their favourite hawker food. |
Transmission method | From one hawker to the other, the culinary techniques and skills are often transmitted through on-site training over years, where they learn to prepare the dishes that have been mastered across decades. Recently, there are also initiatives to develop professional courses that will help new entrants enter the hawker trade. Hawker Culture is also transmitted amongst families, with parents and grandparents bringing their children to taste and experience the wide variety of hawker food available at hawker centres across the island. |
Community | Hawker Culture in Singapore is shared by those who prepare hawker food and those who dine and mingle over hawker food in hawker centres. Hawkers in Singapore include both men and women who have equal opportunities in practising the trade. Some of the oldest hawkers today have started their practice since the 1960s. Many of them specialise in one particular dish, refining the recipe over the years. They may transmit their recipes, knowledge and skills to younger family members or apprentices. Community organisations, NGOs, educational institutions, private and public sectors are also involved in safeguarding efforts. The population in Singapore, regardless of background, continue to dine at hawker centres through generations. |
Type of UNESCO List | Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
Incribed year in UNESCO List | 2020 |
Information source
National Heritage Board (NHB)
https://www.nhb.gov.sg/Materials related to
Article
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DI00000564
Mapping Out Singapore’s Hawker Centers with Google
In March 2019 Singapore submitted its nomination to inscribe its hawker culture onto the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Hawker culture in Singapore comprises hawker centers (community dining rooms), hawkers, and hawker food. It is a living heritage shared by those who prepare hawker food and those who dine and mingle over hawker food in hawker centers. As part of the Singapore government’s ongoing efforts to safeguard Singapore’s hawker culture for future generations, the National Heritage Board (NHB), the National Environment Agency (NEA), and the Federation of Merchants’ Associations, Singapore (FMAS) have partnered with Google to document Singapore’s beloved hawker centers on Google Maps to make them discoverable to anyone looking for quality and affordable hawker food. Through this public–private partnership, the parties involved hope to bring Singapore’s hawker culture into the digital age and help hawkers in Singapore establish their presence online through Google Maps and Search. The joint project also hopes to attract more customers and drive footfall to Singapore’s hawker centers, enabling the rest of the world to learn more about Singapore’s hawker culture. The project comprises a collection of 360-degree imagery of Singapore’s hawker centers using Google Maps’ Street View that allows visitors to explore each hawker center to capture more accurate information about individual hawker stalls, such as name, stall number, and photographs. In addition, each hawker stall will receive a separate pin on Google Maps, showing its exact location within the hawker center, thereby allowing both local and visiting fans of Singapore’s hawker food to find their favorite stalls more easily. According to Mr. Lim Gek Meng, Vice-President of FMAS and Chairman of the Chinatown Complex Hawkers’ Association: “Finding your way through a hawker center can be confusing, especially at bigger centers such as Chinatown Market. This project is beneficial to the hawker community as it will help customers locate hawker stalls with ease. Hawkers will also be able to personalize their online presence to reach out to more customers, at no cost and with little effort.” As these hawker centers are located all over Singapore, from downtown to residential estates, a team of Google operators will travel to every hawker center and use the new Street View Trekker to capture the required imagery. Mounted on a wearable backpack, the new trekker comprises a state-of-the-art 360-degree camera system that captures and produces high-resolution panoramic images every two seconds. Google’s team of operators will collect indoor imagery of all 114 hawker centers in Singapore, including Chinatown Complex, Geylang Serai Market, Tekka Market, Maxwell Food Centre, and Golden Mile Food Centre. The collection of imagery will be carried out in phases, and it is expected to be completed and launched on Google Maps by early 2020. Photo : An operator carrying a Google Street View Trekker ⓒ Google, Singapore
ALVIN TAN 2019 -
DI00000395
COMMUNITY DINING ROOMS: HAWKER CULTURE IN SINGAPORE
Hawker culture in Singapore comprises hawker centers, hawkers, and hawker food. It is a living heritage shared by those who prepare hawker food and those who dine and mingle over hawker food in “community dining rooms” called hawker centers. It encompasses people from all walks of life, a wide range of affordable multicultural food, and common shared spaces. While similar food practices can be found in neighboring countries and internationally, they each have their respective historical contexts, cultural influences, and sociocultural functions.
Cai Yinghong Manager, Intangible Cultural Heritage Team, National Heritage Board, Singapore Felicia Toh Assistant Manager, Intangible Cultural Heritage Team, National Heritage Board, Singapore 2019