Maxwell Food Centre takes centre stage at Hawker Spotlight 2017
Singapore, 16 July 2017 – For the second year running, Singapore’s town gas and natural gas utilities provider, City Gas, collaborated with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to host the Hawker Spotlight for the Singapore Food Festival (SFF). Previously held at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, the moving hawker showcase took place at the iconic Maxwell Food Centre this year; right in the heart of Chinatown.
The showcase served as a platform for the local media to connect with second and thirdgeneration hawkers, the unsung heroes who form the backbone of our cherished hawker heritage. Through first-hand interactions, media enjoyed a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in the local hawker food scene with these heritage hawkers.
Led by local celebrity and food connoisseur, Moses Lim, the media entourage was given an intimate insight to Maxwell Food Centre, and was introduced to six heritage hawker stalls such as China Street Fritters, well-known for its traditional handmade Hokkien ngoh hiang, and Hock Soon Roasted Duck Rice, a stall name that speaks for itself.
Hawker Spotlight 2017 also included a new kid on the block, 3rd Culture Brewing Co., a hawker stall which specialises in pairing local food with craft beer. To complete the entire experience, the media also had the opportunity to try their hands at making and frying their own hum jin pang, a fried dough snack with either sweet or savoury filling. The interactive session was helmed by hawker stall owner, Ms Li, who has been making the traditional snack from scratch since 40 years ago. (Refer to Annex A more information on all seven featured hawker stalls from Maxwell Food Centre.)
“City Gas believes in paying tribute to heritage hawkers as they play a central role in shaping Singapore’s food landscape. We are pleased to partner STB and Canon, and together, we hope to raise the profile of pioneer hawkers and encourage the younger generation to step forward to keep our hawker tradition alive,” said Mr Kenny Tan, Chief Executive Officer, City Gas.
Ms Ranita Sundramoorthy, Director, Attractions, Dining & Retail, STB added: “We are thrilled to work in partnership with City Gas and Canon for Hawker Spotlight, an event where we showcase our hawkers and share their multi-generational passion for food with locals and visitors. Hawkers are an integral and unmistakable part of Singapore’s multi-faceted food landscape, so it is fitting to shine the spotlight on them at the Singapore Food Festival, the only event here dedicated to showcasing local cuisine and culinary talent.”
Apart from media partners, members of the public were also given the opportunity to
participate in the same tour. At the end of the tour, media partners tucked into a delicious spread of hawker fare and drinks from the featured hawker stalls.
An extension to Hawker Spotlight 2017, City Gas and STB also came onboard as supporting partners to “One Dish, One Chef, Generation of Stories” photography exhibition by Canon. Held at Singapore Visitor Centre, Orchard Gateway @ Emerald from 14 July to 11 August 2017, the exhibition features 15 heritage hawkers, jointly identified by City Gas and STB.
SFF 2017 runs from 14 July to 30 July 2017. For more information on SFF 2017, please visit: http://www.singaporefoodfestival.com.