Singapore brings hawker food to the international market by opening the first-ever hawker center in Manhattan, New York. Mr. KF Seetoh, a Singaporean entrepreneur and the curator of Urban Hawker, said that he aims to get Singapore’s international recognition by telling and selling its food culture overseas.
After careful planning and deliberation, Urban Hawker finally launched in midtown Manhattan on 28 September 2022; bringing 17 chosen vendors to fill the food hall, where 11 of them had come directly from Singapore to introduce authentic and diverse Singaporean dishes.
A hotpot of diverse cultures
Following hawker tradition, the 14,000 sq. ft. hall is lined up with 17 food stalls that sell various foods such as nasi lemak, chili crab, and the infamous Hainanese chicken rice. And because Singapore is a hotpot of diverse cultures, customers would surely enjoy the Indian, Malaysian, Chinese, Singaporean, and Filipino cuisines.
This initiative by Mr. Seetos is a great way to introduce Singapore to the world and let people have a taste of Singapore without being in Singapore. Some stall franchises include Wok & Staple, Jakarta Munch, Smokin’ Joe, Hainan Jones, Lady Wong, Prawnaholic Collections, Mr. Fried Rice, and Mamak’s Corner, among others. “We have a mix of everything,” Mr. Seetoh said about the diversity of cuisines in Singapore.
Shocking prices
New Yorkers queued on the opening day to experience Singaporean street food, and so far, this initiative has been warmly welcomed by the city. However, although Singaporeans living in New York were very happy to finally have a taste of home away from home, others were shocked at the prices, such as a bowl of prawn mee from Prawnaholic Collections, which is equivalent to S$26, whereas the same bowl is only about S$7 in Singapore. Prawnaholic Collections pointed out, explaining that manpower plays a huge factor behind the price tag, especially since the minimum wage in New York starts at about S$20.
At this point, Singaporeans have mixed feelings regarding the initiative, especially with the price differences. But the unbothered Mr. Seetoh never hesitated to shut the skeptics up by saying, “Best if you stay in Singapore and keep demanding hawkers must serve you cheap food.”
He does have a point though. Then again, who doesn’t want cheap yet quality food?