A large part of Singapore's culture is our hawker food scene. In fact, we can even go so far as to say that the hawker culture is Singapore's pride and joy. We love our hawker food, finding new hawker food, bringing foreign friends to try hawker food, taking photos of hawker food, and just about living and breathing hawker food.
So it should come as no surprise that our local hawker culture has finally been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the world's most-prized cultural heritages, alongside Indonesia’s angklung musical tradition and South Korea’s kimjang, and joining more than 463 other cultures already on the list.
The news was announced by the international body's intergovernmental committee on Wednesday (Dec 16), marking Singapore's first attempt at making this UNESCO list.
In response to the news, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that hawker culture holds a special place in the hearts of Singaporeans from all walks of life, and has instilled a greater sense of pride for our hawker culture.
"If you walk into any hawker centre, you'll find different stalls with different food, different sellers serving a myriad of different people from different races, from all walks of life, all seated, side by side, shoulder to shoulder," Mr Tong said.
"And I think that's what it means for us. It means recognition of that culture, our nation's identity, and of course, a shared sense of our heritage and social fabric as well."
In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thanked the people who have "worked very hard" to get Singapore's hawker culture inscribed on the list.
"The biggest thanks must go to the generations of hawkers for nourishing a nation’s stomach and spirits. This recognition would not have come without their sweat, toil and dedication to their profession," Mr Lee said.
He also urged Singaporeans to celebrate by ordering their favourite hawker dish.
To celebrate Singapore's successful inscription of hawker culture in Singapore, a three-week SGHawkerFest will be launched on Dec 26 2020, held until Jan 11 2021.
The activities include online treasure hunts, quizzes and virtual badges for completed quizzes, which can be exchanged for dining vouchers redeemable from a list of 29 participating hawker centres located islandwide.
More details of the SG HawkerFest will be released at its launch.