Made a trip to Penang over the last weekend. As usual, it was focused on eating the different Penang hawker fare. I was reminded again of how the hawker culture Penang and Singapore started off quite similarly decades ago and how they had evolved differently through the years.
For Penang, many are still hawking their fares along the roadsides and cooking using wood/ charcoal. Patrons would sit by the roadside and the whole feel is very festive. Interestingly, I do not see many hawkers selling malay food and so such streetside culture is somewhat rather Chinese-centric. (I am sure there are non-Chinese hawkers, but in the few places I visit, they are largely Chinese). Nonetheless, the hawker scene has become somewhat a tourist attraction and many tourists, including those from Singapore, and even China. Much of the old world charm had been retained.
For Singapore, such streetside hawkers are no longer in existence. They have been centralised and licensed and now sell their food in well ventilated hawker centers that are fitted with taps, toilets etc. Almost all hawker centers has Muslim and Non-Muslim sections that sell all sorts of food - Chinese, Indian, Malay, Western, etc. Such multi-ethnic combination is a result of policies to bring communities together and to promote community interactions. Things are very orderly and over the years, hawker centers have become a very effective community space that attracts and bring communities together.
Same years ago, different now. Such, I believe are the outcomes of different systems.
