Hawker centre dining is truly an integral part of Singapore’s culture. As a natural extension of this culture, hawker centres have become time-tested institutions that serve as important places for community bonding in the heartlands.
Putting our Hawker Culture on the World Map
On 16 December 2020, the 'Hawker Culture in Singapore: Community Dining and Culinary Practices in a Multicultural Urban Context' was inscribed on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It was Singapore’s first successful UNESCO nomination after a series of public engagement efforts with Singaporeans, where Hawker Culture was consistently mentioned as close to Singaporeans’ hearts and best represents our multicultural identity.
The two-year journey to nominate Singapore’s Hawker Culture for inscription was jointly driven by NEA, the National Heritage Board, and the Federation of Merchants’ Associations, Singapore. The nomination file was submitted to UNESCO on 27 March 2019. At the point of submission, there were more than 850,000 pledges of support and over 31,000 messages that have been registered across various platforms, including the official nomination website
1. There were also over 200 letters of support for the nomination of Hawker Culture received from hawkers’ associations, schools, community groups, NGOs and private organisations. Community participation was a key evaluation criterion used by the UNESCO in their assessment of our nomination efforts, and the strong support shown by Singaporeans was heartening.
Celebrating the First Singapore Hawker Awards
The inaugural run of the Singapore Hawker Awards received more than 110 unique nominations across three award categories – Promising New Hawker, Hawker Heritage and Enterprising Hawker. The Awards were introduced to celebrate the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of our hawkers, and to recognise exemplary hawker brands and individuals who have helped to shape the local hawker scene in their pursuit of excellence. Winners were evaluated by an independent panel of judges, comprising hawker food advocates and representatives from the public and private sectors with extensive knowledge and expertise in the food and beverage industry.
Keeping Our Hawker Trade Alive
As part of NEA’s efforts to sustain the hawker trade, NEA announced the Hawkers Succession Scheme (HSS) on 24 November 2020. It aims to help veteran hawkers, who are intending to retire but are unable to find suitable successors among their family members or relatives, to pass down their skills, recipes and hawker stalls to aspiring successors. It also provides an assisted pathway for aspiring successors to operate a hawker business with an established clientele and hawker food recipes that have been refined over the years. An independent advisory panel comprising members of the hawker community will be appointed to help identify potential veteran hawkers and assess the successors’ readiness.
Introducing the Clean Tables Campaign
NEA conducted two rounds of the Survey on Public Hygiene at Public Dining Places to gather public sentiments on public hygiene at hawker centres, coffeeshops and food courts. The first round was conducted from November to December 2020, which found that about 90 per cent of the respondents felt that patrons should be required to clear their tables after eating at public dining places. Although around 76 per cent indicated that they returned their trays, the average tray and crockery return rate then at most hawker centres was only around 30 per cent.
To maintain public cleanliness and inculcate good hygiene habits, NEA launched the Clean Tables Campaign in February 2021 to intensify public education efforts and garner public support to keep the tables clean at public dining places, such as hawker centres, coffeeshops and food courts. It was implemented following consultation with stakeholders such as the Environmental Management Association of Singapore (EMAS), cleaning companies and cleaners. We created a revised table cleaning workflow to focus on the cleaning and sanitisation of tables, and managing the tray and crockery return point in an efficient manner. The revised workflow would also allow for quicker turnover of tables, making it easier for diners to find seats during peak meal periods.
Following the campaign launch, we conducted another survey in March 2021, which yielded similar results even though the average tray return rate had risen slightly to around 35 per cent.
Going Forward |
 NEA’s mission is to develop and manage hawker centres as vibrant communal spaces, offering affordable food options in a clean environment, together with a sustainable hawker trade. Our short- and medium-term focus is to take steps to keep COVID-19 at bay to ensure business continuity at our hawker centres, by implementing safe distancing and taking the appropriate health and hygiene measures. NEA is also focused on completing the development of new hawker centres, rejuvenating existing centres, enhancing the vibrancy and productivity of hawker centres, and ensuring the sustainability of the hawker trade. With the successful inscription of Hawker Culture on the UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, these efforts will go towards promoting and sustaining a vibrant Hawker Culture in the long term. |
Growing the Hawker Centre Presence
With more than 100 hawker centres in Singapore, diners are spoilt for choice. These include seven new hawker centres at Bukit Panjang, Ci Yuan, Kampung Admiralty, Jurong West
2, Our Tampines Hub, Pasir Ris Central and Yishun Park. Other new hawker centres that have been announced are located at Sembawang, Bidadari, Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang North, Sengkang (Anchorvale, Fernvale and Buangkok), Punggol (Punggol Town Hub and Punggol Digital District) and Choa Chu Kang (Yew Tee and Town Centre).
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New Hawker Centres – Under Construction
- Fernvale Hawker Centre & Market, Sengkang (estimated to complete in 2021)
- BCA Universal Design Mark Gold Plus (Design)
- BCA Green Mark Platinum
- Senja Hawker Centre, Bukit Panjang North (estimated to complete in 2021)
- Universal Design Mark Gold (Design)
- BCA Green Mark Platinum
- Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, Sembawang (estimated to complete in 2022)
- Punggol Town Hub, (estimated to complete in 2022)
- BCA Green Mark Platinum
- BCA Universal Design (Platinum)
- Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre, Bidadari (estimated to complete in 2022)
- Anchorvale Village Hawker Centre, Sengkang (estimated to complete in 2023)
- Buangkok Hawker Centre, Sengkang (estimated to complete in 2023)
- Bukit Batok West (estimated to complete in 2024)
- Punggol Digital District (estimated to complete in 2024)
New Replacement Centres – Under Construction
- Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, Dawson C3 (estimated to complete in 2021)
- Replaces Commonwealth Drive Food Centre
- Green Mark certified
- Market Street Hawker Centre (estimated to complete in 4Q 2021)
- BCA Green Mark Platinum
- BCA Universal Design Mark GoldPlus (Design)
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