SINGAPORE, Aug 20, 2018 (News Wires) — The Republic's hawker culture could soon be recognised alongside South Korea's kimchi-making, Indonesia's Batik, China's use of the abacus and India's yoga practice as part of the world's intangible heritage. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced yesterday that Singapore would be nominating its hawker culture for Unesco's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a first for the country. During his Mandarin speech at the National Day Rally held at the Institute of Technical Education College Central in Ang Mo Kio, Mr Lee said Singapore now wants its second Unesco inscription after the Singapore Botanic Gardens was recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2015. Hawker centres are important in keeping the cost of living low with its affordable options, and are "community dining rooms" for Singaporeans of all races to eat together, said Mr Lee. "The Unesco inscription will help to safeguard and promote this unique culture for future generations. It will also let the world know about our local food and multicultural heritage," he added. An intangible cultural heritage includes practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities recognise as part of their cultural heritage. Under this Unesco definition, languages and religions are excluded. There are currently 399 elements on the representative list, with the Dutch craft of the miller operating windmills and watermills, and Kyrgyzstan's traditional horse game, kok boru, among those added last year. The decision to nominate Singapore's hawker culture was made after a series of public engagement efforts, said the National Heritage Board (NHB), National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Federation of Merchants' Associations (FMAS), Singapore in a joint press release. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu first announced that Singapore was looking at the possible listing of an intangible cultural heritage element in March this year. As the nomination aims to raise awareness of Singapore's intangible cultural heritage, spokespersons for NHB and NEA said: "An important tangible outcome of this nomination would be the increased pride Singaporeans will feel should we be successful in putting our hawker culture on the international stage, and fly the Singapore flag high." This would also add to the tourism appeal of Singapore, and may become the next must-have experience for tourists when they visit Singapore, added a NHB spokesperson. Supporting the nomination, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor said: "Our hawkers, past and present, have worked hard to create this unique Singaporean culture." In a poll of more than 3,000 Singaporeans conducted from January to February this year, 27 per cent felt that "food heritage" was the most important form of intangible cultural heritage. This was followed by social practices and festivals (18 per cent), traditional performing arts (18 per cent) and traditional trades and crafts (17 per cent). Hawker culture later emerged as a "firm favourite" among more than 140 participants of focus group discussions held from April to July. Other suggestions included the Peranakan, Eurasian cultures and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) experiences. The Republic's first hawker centres were built in the 1970s to resettle street hawkers and improve hygiene levels by providing access to amenities such as clean water and proper waste disposal. A 2016 NEA survey found that three in four respondents visit a hawker centre as least once a week. The participants from the discussions felt it best represents Singapore's multicultural heritage, given how dishes from all ethnic groups can be found under one roof. Recognition and appreciation of the hawker culture here will hopefully ensure that hawkers' knowledge, culinary techniques and values are passed on to the next generation, said the participants. There are about 6,000 cooked food stalls across more than 100 hawker centres today. While there are similar hawker centres in neighbouring countries, a NHB spokesperson said the nomination effort was not to establish the origins or ownership of the various hawker dishes, or determine the similarities or differences between countries. That is not the intent of the Unesco Representative List. "Although similar hawker food and food centres can be found in neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, their modes of operation and function vary from the hawker culture experience in Singapore," said the spokesperson. The nomination will also focus on the hawker culture in the Singapore context, she added. Singapore aims to submit its nomination documents to Unesco in March next year, and the results are expected to be announced at the end of 2020. A nomination committee, overseen by the NHB, NEA and FMAS, will be formed to provide expertise and advice on the nomination details. The committee will include people from the public, private sectors and from academia. When assessing the nomination, the panel of experts appointed by the international organisation will look at current and future safeguarding measures, if there was the widest-possible participation of the community, among other criteria. As a strong community support for the nomination is necessary for it to be successful, the agencies are encouraging Singaporeans to pledge their support via www.oursgheritage.sg. From October, there will also be other outreach efforts, such as a travelling exhibition, to garner Singaporeans' support offline. Calling on Singaporeans to support the move, Minister Grace Fu said: "Let us all come together so we can showcase our pride in our hawker culture to the world!" Hawker Loh Teck Seng, 62, said a successful nomination can raise hawkers' reputation. Mr Loh has been selling soya bean milk at Tiong Bahru Market since 1985, when he took over from his father. "We will feel more honoured working as hawkers. Tourists might start visiting us and our business will improve too," he said in Mandarin. FMAS vice-president Lim Gek Meng said some hawkers might initially question why they should support the nomination process. "But if the message is communicated properly, they will be willing to show their support. Some moved into hawker centres after their earlier days of street hawking, so now that there's a platform that recognises their culture, I think it's a form of recognition for them too," he said. Mr Daniel Chia, founding president of non-profit organisation Slow Food (Singapore) said there could be detractors who argue that there are already elements of gentrification when "hipster foods" — such as craft beers and Japanese rice bowls — are sold in the centres, among other things. While hawker centres top many lists of places to eat in Singapore, its culture is also becoming less relevant to the youths as hawker centres are not their choice of venue when eating out, he noted. Mr Chia added: "I hope to see more young people taking up the hawker business as a vocation and helping to preserve Singapore's culinary heritage. However, in order for this to happen, this business of being a hawker has to be economically sustainable before it can be attractive, as it is very hard work."
