There is this scene from Crazy Rich Asians, the rom-com blockbuster, where the cute-as-candy lead pair Nick and Rachel and their friends eat their hearts out at Singapore’s popular Newton Food Centre, an outdoor market that’s a street food paradise. That scene highlighted how despite belonging to Singapore’s elite, Nick, rather than taking his partner — an Americanised South Asian — to a pricey fine-dine, introduced her to the city-nation’s thriving hawker culture instead, as soon after they landed in his hometown.

In December 2020, Singapore’s street hawker culture bagged the UNESCO ‘Intangible heritage’ tag. The hawker centres are known for highlighting Singapore’s multiculturalism, selling cheap, delicious Chinese, Malay, Indian-origin food, among other influences. This columnist recalls her wanderings from nearly a decade ago, where she went nuts trying to control her urge to sample every call from these affable hawkers who can be located across well-planned food centres that dot the city-nation. Now, unless you are a ‘crazy, rich Asian’, which I am not, shopping in places like Singapore and Hong Kong can be quite a challenge; worse, if you head there assuming it’s another Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Smart bargains are frowned upon in its culture, and I soon figured that food should be my focus.