Took a break from writing children's fiction and wrote this title, Singapore Hawker Food, under the popular Timmy & Tammy series, which my former editor Ruth Wan-Lau created. Hwee Goh conceptualised and penned the non-fiction titles under Timmy & Tammy Discover, and I am very glad to have been given this opportunity to continue their good work.
The book features some of Singapore's most popular hawker food, but I also really wanted to address this topic from a heritage point of view. Our hawker food culture is such an important part of Singapore's food scene and it is the institution of hawker centres that has allowed our version of local street food to continue. The book begins and ends with a historical nuggets, and highlights that we all have a part to play in preserving Singapore's hawker food heritage. The median age of hawkers today is 59 (according to the Hawker Centre 3.0 Committee) and if we don't make this trade more attractive for younger hawkers, it could spell trouble.
I am sure I will be asked about why I included some dishes and not others. Trust me, this was a tough one, and I would have included many other dishes or delicacies! But the format of the book didn't allow for more pages, and in the end, we had to make a call about hawker favourites vis a viz what children enjoyed. The title is for pre-schoolers and lower primary school kids.
Look out for the book at leading bookstores soon! You can also purchase it at the publisher's website, Armour Publishing.