Singapore’s beloved street hawker culture, now a UNESCO ‘Intangible Heritage’

One of Singapore’s most popular attractions, its vibrant street hawker culture, was designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.

Context

• One of Singapore’s most popular attractions, its vibrant street hawker culture, was designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.

Street hawking in Singapore

• Singapore’s street hawkers are an indelible part of the city-state’s local life. It is one of most popular late-night street food destinations in the city.
• The hawker centres are representative of Singapore’s multiculturalism, with stalls selling cheap, delicious food of Chinese, Malay, Indian origins, among others.
• The Covid-19 pandemic, which has left much of the global food and hospitality industry in tatters, also hit Singapore’s street vendors hard.

What are some of the other cultures enlisted from across the world?

• It includes practices such as yoga from India, reggae music from Jamaica, Finland’s sauna culture and Turkey’s endangered whistled language.

What is UNESCO intangible cultural heritage?

TheUNESCO intangible cultural heritageincludes

• Traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions
• Performing arts
• Social practices, rituals, festive events
• Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe
• Knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts

Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage