At the counter of the roti prata stall, I watch as a hawker smashes, folds, and turns stretchy dough into flatbread. Working quickly, he flips the roti prata, golden brown and flaky soft, onto a plate and hands it to me with hot curry for dipping. Another hawker “pulls” me a cup of teh tarik, pouring a stream of milky black tea between two vessels until frothy, which I sip as I walk by lines for stalls selling prawn noodles, mutton biryani, and curry puffs.
This is Tekka Market & Food Centre in Singapore, one of the country’s most well-known hawker centers, or food markets that are “vibrant communal spaces where Singaporeans from all walks of life gather to dine and bond,” says Yeo Kirk Siang of the country’s. There are over 110 centers across the island—and they’re vital to its identity.
In the 1800s, Singapore, a port city and trading center, drew immigrants from around Asia. Some, mostly laborers, turned to street hawking. They roved the island to sell dishes from their homelands, finding a way to provide for their families and to feed an increasingly international community. In the 1960s the government began to regulate hawking, moving these entrepreneurs to food stalls in designated areas, often near housing developments, and hawker culture flourished.
So the government took action by creating programs to encourage newer generations to continue the craft via mentorship and grants and to help veteran hawkers with succession planning and purchasing automated equipment like steamers and meat mincers. And on a global level, Singapore underwent the multiyear process to nominate its hawker culture for inscription on theYes, the U.N. is known for naming places such as Machu Picchu in Peru or the Acropolis in Greece to its World Heritage List.
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