Recent article in the Straits Times captured my attention. The title reads "Hawker culture reducing people ability to cook". The first thought that came into my mind before even delving into the content of the article is: "How true!".
But it gets more interesting when I read the entire article. Written by Dr Lee Siew Peng, the success of hawker culture in Singapore is so great that it has affected the design of a typical home design of Singaporean. The kitchen layout has substantially shrunk due to the fact that people hardly ever cook at home. Most will eat out in local hawker centres most of the week.
This really makes sense! When the kitchen is not used so regularly, it is only logical to carved out more space and give it to other rooms in the house. The case is completely the opposite where I live. In Australia, kitchen is one of the highlight of the entire house. A lot of attention and design are put into creating an attractive kitchen that can convince purchasers to buy. The kitchen is often very spacious with an island bench in the centre. It is after all the hearth of the home. The cause for this opposite phenomenon is not hard to comprehend.
Eating out in Melbourne is a luxury which I only do once a week if I'm lucky. It is because eating out is very costly in Australian major cities compared to Singapore or Malaysia. Most people cook at home and it is no surprise why so many people gradually become good in cooking after migrating to Australia!
Hawker culture is a unique experience in Asian societies. People venture out far away from where they live just to have a good bite outdoor. This unique culture has to be preserved and if the kitchen shrinks as a result of its success; so be it!
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