What is it about Singapore?

What do you like about Singapore?

Relax. This isn't going to be one of those patriotic, flag wearing (which ironically is illegal in Singapore), chest thumping posts; neither is it one of those cynical, flag burning (definitely illegal), MP stabbing posts.

I just want to know what is it about Singapore you like.

For me, it's the smell of Singapore - the aroma of the rich coconut milk in Laksa, the spicy fragrance of sambal, the sanitised whiff of clean floorways and corridors, the elegant hint of expensive perfume and cologne on the crowd in Orchard Road. For me, the smell of Singapore encompasses what Singapore is - a nation of immigrants, all from different lands, all with different aims, all bearing different needs. Yet, all coming together to build this nation which gave me an education, a clean environment to grow up in, and ironically, a sanitised view of the world.

I am most proud of Singapore when I see new Chinese immigrants selling noodles in a coffee shop. In my industry, a lot of chefs are not local. Their choice of location is based on need, convenience and growth. In a way, I see these hawkers no differently. So why is it we embrace these chefs and not these hawkers?

It is well known that the hawker industry is a dying one, with some new kids experimenting with newer products in the same environment. Hawker food as we know would have evolved due to this in the next 20 years or so. You have chicken rice stalls opening restaurants, laksa stalls franchised (goodbye quality - yes I am cynical of these), hokkien mee stalls expanding to sell zi char. But those mom and pop hawker stalls we all know will be gone.

Where hawker food, the fabric of our nation's identity, used to be a great product - lousy stalls simply didn't survive - now has grown so bland and cookie-cut. Let me give you my opinion:

In the 90s, the greatest coffee shop brand was "kopitiam". There was no pretentions - food courts were the modern evil with lots of people regarding it was the death of all good hawker food - myself included. It raised our meal prices by 50 to 70%, which was maybe 50 cents to a whole dollar. But a coffeeshop foodcourt still looked like a coffeeshop - except all the stalls looked the same. Any kid born in the 90s would not really know how stalls used to look like before "generication" took over. Now, every kopitiam used to have the same stalls. They would own the drinks stall, and in the bigger ones, their ice would drop down a tube into the ice bin. There would be Fei Siong fishball noodles. Every kopitiam would differ slightly, but generally is the same.

That means it was similar to McDees.

In the new Millenium, the company that solely is responsible for the cost of bread (to consumers) increasing 100%, Breadtalk, started the Food Republic franchise. Wildly successful, we now have the same kopitiam formula in a more hip and thematic setting. It is now acceptable to pay $7 (this is crazy) for a meagre plate of chicken rice (only the plate is big) and to be honest, the food isn't honestly that great. And every Food Republic (and Opera) has Sergeant Chicken Rice. What, you say "but it's ok because well, it's Orchard and it's Food Republic". It's the same theory as paying $1.40 for a piece of "boutique" bread which honestly was very tasty... Then the neighbourhood bakeries followed. Where bread used to be a cheap and tasty breakfast (I used to buy the chocolate rice cream buns for freaking 40 cents), it now is cheaper for me to buy economic beehoon for breakfast. With luncheon meat and egg, may I add. And they don't even call it food courts anymore!! It's now a much more refined "Food Hall".

Yes yes, I know. Economic growth and inflation.

Yes yes, I know. Wages and all.

But with all these, I miss the old queensway market with its truly rustic charm and decades old recipes.

With all these, which I do appreciate, tell me..

Where can I find that great plate of Mee Rebus?

What I really want to see are these highly paid, highly regarded chefs embrace our Singaporean food. I want them not "remaking" laksa, but understanding and really knowing the culture of our food. The history, the processes, the social and political implications of that plate of local food.

And yes, Chilli Crab is OUR national dish. Not yours, Malaysia. So there. Bleah. 

I Love Food.

I love food.

Who am I kidding? I am obsessed with food. I am crazy about it. I would marry it and fornicate with it if I could! (Now now, get that dirty thought out of your mind. That was a figure of speech!)

I moved from reading food porn such as the aptly named foodpornographer to kitchen porn such as the pioneer woman cooks. I pore over equipment catalogues, go nuts at supermarkets and once in a blue moon, go bankrupt at wet markets. I am amazed at the complexity of food - how it manages to invoke familiar feelings and unexpected excitment; how it can bring tears to someone's eyes (a food writer once told me that he wept over the rabbit dish in Oswaldo); how it can cause distain just as quickly. One sure thing that I've realised is that most great dishes are created after a multitude of failed dishes - something my partner will agree since he is the one having to eat most of them!

I almost never dump food - no matter how bad they are. I believe food is to be respected, and armed with the right skills and technique, almost every "bad" dish can be saved. A dry roast can be carved and served with a simple green salad. Undercooked pasta can be combined into broth to make a hearty soup. A can of tomatoes can save a dish, almost any dish. Lemons, cream (though I say this reluctantly), butter and eggs can uplift and even transform dishes.

That's of course, what we call, in the broadest of terms "Western" food. Now, Asian food is totally another ball game. Raised on the mtv and hollywood culture of sitcoms, dramas and food television, much Asian cooking we experience through entertainment is usually "yankeed". I learnt how to do bibimbap (a koren rice dish) from a American Born Korean hosted on Bobby Fay's show on Food Network. Yet the food we eat everyday in this country is usually Asian. I think we tend to understate great Asian dishes!

My family usually eats Chinese food. (note I said food, not cuisine - a simple word has such a big difference!) my mum has never grown to like Malay or Indian dishes, an amazing fact since she grew up in Malaysia and formed her family in Singapore! The most "Indian" food I grew up eating was Roti Prata and Kumbing Sop (by Indian Muslims, not the Malay style). When I grew into adulthood, I accientally discovered cooking - the first dish I seriously made was pasta with a jar of ready made cream sauce.

So many factors influence what we perceive of food and the culture behind it. I, for one, tend to make a lot of pasta because, well, it's easy. You can throw almost anything into it. I am encouraged by my friends to discover pot roasts, baked chicken, and now my friend makes chinese soup! The day I dare to serve homecooked chinese food to my partner's mum is the day I say my cooking is good... Which might not happen in my lifetime!

Before this grows into a thesis, I just want to say... What have you eaten today, and do you know what it stands for?!