Food Heritage

Look back at the beginnings of our hawker scene, wet markets and food centres and how Singapore quite literally became a melting pot of culture and cuisine.

 


Useful Links

If you need to know more about food in Singapore to help with your creative process, check out some of these resources from the National Library and the National Archives:

Food Heritage,” LearnX, accessed 20 May 2025.

Oral History Interview on the Origins of 'Roti John', Recorded in 2002, National Archives of Singapore, published 10 Jul 2015.

Bonny Tan, Nasi Lemak, Singapore Infopedia, published Aug 2023.

Janice Loo, Ice Kachang and Ice Ball, Singapore Infopedia, published Jan 2022.

Lim Tin Seng, Hawkers: From Public Nuisance to National Icons, BiblioAsia 9, no. 3 (Oct-Dec 2013).

Low Sze Wee, We Are What We Eat: The Evolution of Chinese Food in Singapore, BiblioAsia 18, no. 1 (Apr-Jun 2022).

Malarvele Ilangovan, Spicy Nation: From India to Singapore, BiblioAsia 9, no. 3 (Oct-Dec 2013).

Marsita Omar, Satay Club," Singapore Infopedia, published Oct 2020.

S.U.R.E., Looking at the Big Picture: Street Hawkers, published Aug 2017.

Sylvia Tan, Forgotten Foods and Mealtime Memories, BiblioAsia 12, no. 2 (Jul-Sep 2016).

Toffa Abdul Wahed, Cikgu Asfiah Abdullah: A Cultural Luminary, BiblioAsia 20, no. 2 (Jul-Sep 2024).

Zoe Yeo, No Longer 'Dirty, Unhygienic, Crowded and Messy': The Story of Singapore's Changing Wet Markets, BiblioAsia 18, no. 1 (Apr-Jun 2022).

 

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