Tag: Hawker Centres

Hawker Colours: The Book

They refer not to the green of chendol or the red of mee goreng but the riot of colourful melamine plates and bowls in which many hawker dishes in Singapore are served today. Red, green, yellow, purple, pink, and more!

These colours defy conventional aesthetic sensibilities, and yet they have become entrenched in local hawker centres and coffee shops. Hawker Colours retraces their origins and mass adoption, and asks what value they still hold as the trade adapts to the changing needs of the city-state.

The book is now available for sale here. Read a feature about the book by The Straits Times.

Hawker Colours: Melamine Tableware in Singapore

They refer not to the green of chendol or the red of mee goreng, but the riot of colourful plates and bowls that many hawker dishes in Singapore are served in today. Red, green, yellow, purple, pink, and more! These tableware defy conventional aesthetic sensibilities and even colour psychology, but have become entrenched in our local hawker culture. Should tableware colours be considered as part of Singapore’s UNESCO-inscribed hawker culture? Do consumers associate their favourite hawker dishes with particular colours? Learn more and participate in our survey at: www.hawkercolours.com (mobile only).

Stories on the website include:

Welcoming Tomorrow’s Hawker Centres

While I type these words on my laptop at a hawker centre, I can’t help but notice the uncles looking over from the next table. They are not the only ones. Passersby stare curiously, including the cleaner who slows down whenever she pushes her trolley by.

Maybe it’s how my sleek laptop stands out from the gaudy mustard table. Or how I had casually plonked this shiny aluminum slab on a plastic surface stained by kopi and teh. As the only customer using a laptop in the hawker centre, I stand out like a sore thumb. My back certainly feels that way from sitting on the stiff stool.

➜ Read the full column in CUBES #85 (April/May 2017)