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ARTISANAL EATS<br />
Artisanally<br />
Words Sirin P Wongpanit<br />
Photos Permboon Wongpanit<br />
Yours<br />
Singapore tops the list of<br />
‘great small countries’ with<br />
outstanding examples of<br />
modernity, technologies<br />
and brains. Amidst all things<br />
modern however, Singaporeans<br />
now find meaning in the<br />
craft of edibles.<br />
You can say that the brain has a<br />
great ability to discern the good<br />
from the bad. But it is the stomach<br />
that “holds” your heart. The art<br />
of making good and delicious food does<br />
not have to be at all fancy, it is genuine<br />
sustenance and its old recipes that have<br />
not only made them survive, but also<br />
thrive amidst modern Singapore. Younger<br />
generations here, despite their aspirational<br />
education and high-paying professions, are<br />
seeking out the tradition of crafted foods.<br />
We now see the swift rise of artisanal eats in<br />
Singapore becoming as prominent as their<br />
economic prowess.<br />
Reading about the Lion City<br />
leads you to two main points.<br />
First, this island nation has a<br />
reputation stacking high with its<br />
long list of being the regoin’s,<br />
if not the world’s, centre stage<br />
in so many aspects. Finance trade,<br />
technology, and medical technology,<br />
they lead as a smart city or leader<br />
– even as a maritime port or in<br />
oil-refining. Earlier this year,<br />
CNBC confirmed that Singapore,<br />
for the fifth year in a roll, maintains<br />
its long-standing position as being<br />
the world’s most expensive city to<br />
live in, making it official that this<br />
place is even pricier to have<br />
a life in than New York, London<br />
and Paris.<br />
But then, if you talk to any<br />
Singaporean, or any food-obsessed<br />
native, you will notice one thing.<br />
The younger generations now<br />
favour hawker food, whose stands<br />
serve as the place where a multitude<br />
of tasty and satisfying bites can<br />
be savoured at good value. This<br />
creation of authentic food follows<br />
or sometimes develop from<br />
ancestral recipes.<br />
“We call them hawkerpreneurs,”<br />
says Peh Ching Her, the fourth<br />
generation owner of the 93-yearold<br />
Pek Sin Choon, the shop<br />
for original Nanyang Tea in<br />
Singapore’s Chinatown, in<br />
referring to the rise of young<br />
owners of old-school hawker food<br />
46<br />
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