Why are we willing to pay S$20 for a bowl of ramen but not bak chor mee?

• Main Author: CHAN, Margaret
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Food; Singapore; hawker centres; food standards; cost of living; hawker food; food culture; Asian Studies; Food Studies; Sociology of Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3343; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4600/viewcontent/Commentary_2017June_CNA_MChan.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Earlier this month, Singapore’s Hill Street Tai Wah Bak Chor Mee emerged first in the annual Top 50 World Street Food Masters list, making it the second time the hawker has been lauded internationally; it was one of two hawkers here to be awarded a Michelin Star earlier. Out of the top 50 in the World Street Food Masters list, 14 were Singapore hawkers. It says something about the high standards of our hawker fare in Singapore. Yet, Singaporeans are a spoilt lot when it comes to food, and the people we take most for granted are hawkers.