Youths & Our Hawker Centres

Are youths under appreciating our hawker centres? It seems that there is a bigger underlying issue. Over the past few years, there has been ongoing debate about the sustainability of hawker centres which led to Singaporeans constantly talking about how our hawker culture is dying. People continue to point fingers at one another. Some are blaming the social enterprise management model while others are pointing the blame to youths. But really, are they the ones to blame?

ST PHOTO by Kua Chee Siong

"Foods in hawker centres have become too affordable for what it’s worth and that is what Singaporeans refuse to admit and see."

Singapore encourages education to its people and as each year goes by, our society gets more developed hence, the number of educated people are rising. Why would youths want to waste their education away by working at hawker stalls where they could possibly be underpaid? Foods in hawker centres have become too affordable for what it’s worth and that is what Singaporeans refuse to admit and see. Yes, we can continue to be complacent and talk about the hawkers’ rights, but the truth of the matter is that rents can no longer be low. So what are the efforts being made to counter these issues?

Youths are not the only contributing factor to the slow death of hawker centres. In fact, too many Singaporeans are complaining about how food in hawker centres are much more expensive than it used to be. However, there is still efforts being made to preserve hawker centres. The most recent efforts is Singapore will nominate its hawker culture to be inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This list which started in 2008 will ensure the protection of such heritage.

ST PHOTO by Jasmine Choong

Hawker’s have existed in Singapore since the 1800s. It is a part of our history and it is what makes us unique. If we cannot sustain it, the least we could do is preserve it. In recent news, youths have gathered to boost support for the UNESCO bid showing that youths are becoming more aware and appreciative of their hawker centres. Apart from that, young hawkers are also on the rise amidst the sustainability debate. There has been a steady stream of youths stepping into the hawker scene due to efforts such as the NTUC Foodfare’s “hawker-prenership” programme and National Environment Agency's (NEA) Incubation Stall Programme that are encouraging youths to take part in the hawker scene.

PHOTO by Youth.SG

These young hawkers were open about the difficulties of running a hawker stall, but they used the internet and social media to their advantage to reach out to people. It seems that more and more initiatives are being done to slowly sustain hawker centres. It is still a long process when it comes to sustaining and pleasing Singaporeans, but slow baby steps is still better than doing nothing.