Spirited debate shows S'poreans' passion for hawker culture: NHB, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
Singapore

Spirited debate shows S'poreans' passion for hawker culture: NHB

This article is more than 12 months old

Solutions arising from the ongoing public discussions on issues faced by new hawker centres managed by socially conscious enterprises could be included in Singapore's nomination dossier to Unesco.

These centres have come under the spotlight after food critic and Makansutra founder K.F. Seetoh claimed in late August that they were being run like "a hardcore commercial foodcourt management system".

This has come as Singapore is attempting to put together nomination papers to inscribe hawker culture as part of Unesco's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of a new roving exhibition aimed at garnering support for the bid, the National Heritage Board's (NHB's) assistant chief executive of policy and community Alvin Tan said it is "timely for everyone to come together to address feedback and issues".

Mr Tan noted that a Unesco inscription is a promise to do more to safeguard longstanding practices.

For instance, apart from demonstrating strong community support, countries must outline sufficient past efforts and future plans to safeguard, preserve and promote it in their nomination papers.

Mr Tan added that these passionate conversations reflect how hawker culture "holds a special place in our hearts".

"That is why so many of us are invested in ensuring that hawker culture survives through the generations," he said.

Currently, seven out of 114 hawker centres are managed by social enterprises.

NHB added that food experts such as Mr Seetoh were invited to several focus group discussions held between April and July to discuss the intangible cultural heritage item to nominate.

It noted that Mr Seetoh, along with many others, advocated nominating Singapore's hawker culture, and that it was the unanimously proposed choice at every focus group discussion.

The roving showcase, called Our SG Hawker Culture, which is jointly presented by the three organisations behind the bid - NHB, the National Environment Agency and the Federation of Merchants' Associations, Singapore - opened at Tiong Bahru Market yesterday. It will travel to 13 locations over the next three months.

It provides background on Singapore's hawker culture and the Unesco nomination process and allows the public to pledge their support on the spot. More than 34,000 people have indicated their support online at www.oursgheritage.sg

The nomination documents to Unesco will be submitted in March, and the results will be announced in late 2020.

Yesterday, the Singapore Business Federation, which has 26,000 member companies, issued a media statement in support of the bid.

COMMUNITY ISSUES