Page 124 - Our Hawker Stories

Hawker culture is an iconic and original tradition in
Singapore. Family dishes, secret recipes — you name
it, they have it. Hawker culture brings back nostalgic
memories of the 1900s and shows us how people can
preserve a culture, even after decades. Even with low
pay and long work hours, the hawkers continued cooking
delicious food for us.

The dishes we see today are what is left of the 1900s
cuisine. Though most of our food were from the early or
late 1900s, hawker culture has been around in Singapore
since the late 1800s. Then, many immigrants saw street
hawking as a good way to earn a living. Back then, there
was no such thing as a hawker centre. Not until 1971,
that was. From 1971 to 1986, hawker centres were
constructed all over Singapore. At that time, the street
had nothing but the aromas of new hawker foods. “Our hawkers aren’t just cooks — they’re
artists preserving a legacy, turning humble

Now, looking at how far we have come, all we can do recipes from the 1900s into the flavours we
is marvel at how our ancestors could cook up such love today.”
delicacies, even with the minimal technology. Our
hawkers are not just people cooking random dishes, Justin Ho Feng Hao
but masters of their art. Now, if you want a cheap and P5.3
delicious meal, go to your nearest hawker and they will North Spring Primary School
give you that! With hawker centres all around, we do
not need to go far just for food. Remember that every
Singapore hawker centre would not have existed without
our ancestors!

120 Our Hawker Stories