Photos: Singapore’s hawker culture faces extinction as vendors age

By HT Correspondent

Updated On Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay have effused over typically Singaporean dishes like chicken rice; some hawker stalls serve up the cheapest Michelin star meals at $2; and last year's Hollywood hit film Crazy Rich Asians showed its stars tucking into heaped plates at a famous Singapore night market. But the enthusiasm cannot mask one underlying problem - Singapore's hawkers are getting older and their better-educated sons and daughters are increasingly shunning cramped, sweaty kitchens for office jobs.

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Leong Yuet Meng cannot walk more than 10 metres without assistance. Yet, the frail 90-year-old still runs a wanton noodle stall in downtown Singapore, selling at least 200 bowls on any given day. Leong rises around 4 a.m. to do some accounting and prayers before her son drives her to the local market to buy ingredients for the day ahead. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng cannot walk more than 10 metres without assistance. Yet, the frail 90-year-old still runs a wanton noodle stall in downtown Singapore, selling at least 200 bowls on any given day. Leong rises around 4 a.m. to do some accounting and prayers before her son drives her to the local market to buy ingredients for the day ahead. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng finds time to catch up with the news. From 8 to 5 she is hunched over a pot of simmering noodles, slicing char siu or serving bowls of bargain-price hot food. “I try to do this as long as I can, but I am old,” said Leong, one of many older food vendors or ‘hawkers’ in Singapore. “I am afraid that all the experience that I have accumulated over the years will be lost. None of my children can take over.” (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng finds time to catch up with the news. From 8 to 5 she is hunched over a pot of simmering noodles, slicing char siu or serving bowls of bargain-price hot food. “I try to do this as long as I can, but I am old,” said Leong, one of many older food vendors or ‘hawkers’ in Singapore. “I am afraid that all the experience that I have accumulated over the years will be lost. None of my children can take over.” (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng and her son Michael Tang, 66, arrive to open their shop for business. From 8 to 5 she is hunched over a pot of simmering noodles, slicing char siu or serving bowls of bargain-price hot food. “I try to do this as long as I can, but I am old,” said Leong, one of many older food vendors or ‘hawkers’ in Singapore. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng and her son Michael Tang, 66, arrive to open their shop for business. From 8 to 5 she is hunched over a pot of simmering noodles, slicing char siu or serving bowls of bargain-price hot food. “I try to do this as long as I can, but I am old,” said Leong, one of many older food vendors or ‘hawkers’ in Singapore. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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A black and white photo of Leong Yuet Meng in her youth is pictured among her family photos at her home. “I am afraid that all the experience that I have accumulated over the years will be lost. None of my children can take over.” The city has about 110 open-air food courts set up to house former street vendors the 1970s - and their over 6,000 stalls are mostly packed. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

A black and white photo of Leong Yuet Meng in her youth is pictured among her family photos at her home. “I am afraid that all the experience that I have accumulated over the years will be lost. None of my children can take over.” The city has about 110 open-air food courts set up to house former street vendors the 1970s - and their over 6,000 stalls are mostly packed. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng prepares char siew at her shop. The government has said it will submit a bid this month to add its hawker culture to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. “We’re putting the finishing touches,” Yeo Kirk Siang, a director at Singapore’s National Heritage Board, told Reuters. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng prepares char siew at her shop. The government has said it will submit a bid this month to add its hawker culture to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. “We’re putting the finishing touches,” Yeo Kirk Siang, a director at Singapore’s National Heritage Board, told Reuters. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng does her daily shopping for ingredients. Celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay have effused over typically Singaporean dishes like chicken rice; some hawker stalls serve up the cheapest Michelin star meals at $2; and last year’s Hollywood hit film Crazy Rich Asians showed its stars tucking into heaped plates at a famous Singapore night market. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng does her daily shopping for ingredients. Celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay have effused over typically Singaporean dishes like chicken rice; some hawker stalls serve up the cheapest Michelin star meals at $2; and last year’s Hollywood hit film Crazy Rich Asians showed its stars tucking into heaped plates at a famous Singapore night market. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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But the enthusiasm cannot mask one underlying problem - Singapore’s hawkers are getting older and their better-educated sons and daughters are increasingly shunning cramped, sweaty kitchens for office jobs. The average age of hawkers is 59, well above the national workforce average of 43. “UNESCO is not a silver bullet, it is just one of the things we need to do... to keep hawker culture alive,” said Yeo. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

But the enthusiasm cannot mask one underlying problem - Singapore’s hawkers are getting older and their better-educated sons and daughters are increasingly shunning cramped, sweaty kitchens for office jobs. The average age of hawkers is 59, well above the national workforce average of 43. “UNESCO is not a silver bullet, it is just one of the things we need to do... to keep hawker culture alive,” said Yeo. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng prepares wonton. To encourage street hawkers to resettle into the centres in the 1970s, the government heavily subsidised rents. While around 40% of older hawkers still enjoy low rents, new hawker stalls are sold in an open bidding process, making rentals much more expensive. One hawker, 38 year-old Lance Ngo, said that finding hawkers in their 20s “is more difficult than finding gold”. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng prepares wonton. To encourage street hawkers to resettle into the centres in the 1970s, the government heavily subsidised rents. While around 40% of older hawkers still enjoy low rents, new hawker stalls are sold in an open bidding process, making rentals much more expensive. One hawker, 38 year-old Lance Ngo, said that finding hawkers in their 20s “is more difficult than finding gold”. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng discusses with a friend about what lottery numbers to buy. The government has introduced schemesto get veteran hawkers to pass on their skills to the next generation, teach business skills and subsidise stalls. This has attracted some young hawkers looking for an escape route from dead-end office jobs. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng discusses with a friend about what lottery numbers to buy. The government has introduced schemesto get veteran hawkers to pass on their skills to the next generation, teach business skills and subsidise stalls. This has attracted some young hawkers looking for an escape route from dead-end office jobs. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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But others say more needs to be done to make the business more lucrative longer term. “Before applying for that (UNESCO), I think they have to settle the problems in front of them first. Twenty years down the road when all the older generation pass away, who is going to take over?,” said Alan Choong, a 24-year-old owner of Sino-Japanese fusion food stall Prawnaholic. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

But others say more needs to be done to make the business more lucrative longer term. “Before applying for that (UNESCO), I think they have to settle the problems in front of them first. Twenty years down the road when all the older generation pass away, who is going to take over?,” said Alan Choong, a 24-year-old owner of Sino-Japanese fusion food stall Prawnaholic. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng presents a bowl of wonton noodle soup at her shop. “Before applying for that (UNESCO), I think they have to settle the problems in front of them first. Twenty years down the road when all the older generation pass away, who is going to take over?,” said Alan Choong, a 24-year-old owner of Sino-Japanese fusion food stall Prawnaholic. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng presents a bowl of wonton noodle soup at her shop. “Before applying for that (UNESCO), I think they have to settle the problems in front of them first. Twenty years down the road when all the older generation pass away, who is going to take over?,” said Alan Choong, a 24-year-old owner of Sino-Japanese fusion food stall Prawnaholic. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng enjoys her weekly game of Mahjong at home. Lee Sah Bah, a hawker in his late 60s who sells Chwee Kueh rice cakes at less than S$2 a portion, says he also faces the prospect of his legacy dying out. His two daughters - one a lecturer at a university in Melbourne and the other an accountant in Singapore - won’t take over his business. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng enjoys her weekly game of Mahjong at home. Lee Sah Bah, a hawker in his late 60s who sells Chwee Kueh rice cakes at less than S$2 a portion, says he also faces the prospect of his legacy dying out. His two daughters - one a lecturer at a university in Melbourne and the other an accountant in Singapore - won’t take over his business. (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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Leong Yuet Meng of Nam Seng Noodle House is greeted by longtime patrons and family friends outside her shop. “I don’t think hawker centres will exist in the next 50 years,” Lee said. “It’s too much hard work, we have to put in 16 hours a day sometimes. It’s hot. Kids nowadays wouldn’t want to work here.” (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 07, 2019 12:12 pm IST

Leong Yuet Meng of Nam Seng Noodle House is greeted by longtime patrons and family friends outside her shop. “I don’t think hawker centres will exist in the next 50 years,” Lee said. “It’s too much hard work, we have to put in 16 hours a day sometimes. It’s hot. Kids nowadays wouldn’t want to work here.” (Edgar Su / REUTERS)

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