10.

There is culture in Singapore. It’s just mostly located in the hawker centres.

There are dozens of hawker centres across Singapore – hundreds of food stalls all under one roof. It was only when I read the latest New Yorker’s story (all) about Singapore’s street food, that I realized what a novelty these hawker centres are.

In Thailand and other places I’ve been, there are lots of street vendors. This can lead to questionable sanitation and clogged streets. The Singaporean government, in their seemingly endless common sense, decided to take the street vendors (who used to be spread out just like other places in SE asia), and clump them all together. This way they don’t disrupt the streets and everyone and everything stays cleaner. It’s even to the point of each individual stand is rated on sanitation. And they are required to post it for all to see. It’s a good system – most are rated “A” and those rated “B” won’t be visited and will, as a result, have to clean up their act (no pun intended.. or maybe it was).

I’m just now appreciating the unique setup of those hawker centres. While I was there, I certainly appreciated their food. I could have had a different dish for everyday I was there, just from Lau Pau Sat, the hawker centre next door to Ogilvy. Unfortunately I found favorites and repeated myself too often. One of those favorites was Yong Tow Foo, a sort of buffet of tofu, vegetables and fish balls that you then add broth and either noodles or rice to. Singapore is such a melting pot, foods and dishes have transformed and influenced eachother so much that alot of it you can only find in Singapore.

The New Yorker article talks about conieusseurs of hawker stands, those foodies who have scoured the country for the best of whatever dish. (That’s right, hawker food is of such high quality, you can apply the term “foodie” to those who enjoy it.) And reading about all the dishes I somehow managed to never have, I find myself wanting to go back. For all that culture that is uniquely Singapore – and tastes so good.