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Singapore Food Museum?

Pretty interesting idea. What do you think? (Story shared by @don_alano. Thanks!)

Set up S’pore Food Museum

Tue, Mar 02, 2010
The Straits Times
By Melissa Pang

SINGAPORE should consider setting up a food museum, as part of national effort to preserve its rich cultural heritage.
This call came from Tanjong Pagar GRC Baey Yam Keng during the debate on the 2010 Budget Statement in Parliament on Tuesday.
Making a push for such a museum, Mr Baey said that food is an ‘important part of our rich cultural heritage – one which has been and will always been an attraction to locals and foreigners alike’, adding that ‘the history of our food variety will highlight our links to the world’.
Elaborating, he said the Food Museum could delve into aspects of local cuisine, such as ‘why Hong Kong noodles did not originate from Hong Kong’, and ‘why our Hainanese chicken rice is different from that found in Hainan Island’.
He also suggested looking into how the different F&B establishments here, such as coffee shops, hawker centres and celebrity chef restaurants, are ‘a reflection of the social life in Singapore’.
In his address that focused on the importance of the Singapore identity, Mr Baey said ‘now is the time for us to focus on consolidating aspects of our national culture, recording, preserving and further developing it’.
‘We will all play a part in shaping the outcome for our future generations.’

While there isn’t a Singapore Food Museum yet, there is already a restaurant in Singapore that bears a museum concept.

The Singapore Heritage Restaurant at the Chinatown Heritage Centre

That would be the Singapore Heritage Restaurant. It is coupled by a quaint museum next door, the Chinatown Heritage Centre. The museum depicts the lives of people in Chinatown, such as Samsui women and coolie workers, in the yesteryear.

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Sparklette
195 tweets

Sparklette Digest! Singapore Food Museum? http://sparklette.net/food/foodbytes/sin...
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Tweeted March 3, 2010 at 5:34 am
- alkanphel
  3 tweets
  
  RT @sparklette: Sparklette Digest! Singapore Food Museum? http://sparklette.net/food/foodbytes/sin...
  Reply
  Tweeted March 3, 2010 at 5:37 am
Edmund Ng
72 comments

Yeah, the Food Museum sounds like a good idea! Most people don’t know the origin of our favourite dishes, or what the ‘dialect’ name means in English.
The Singapore Heritage Restaurant serves pretty good fusion food, abit pricey though since it caters mostly for tourists..
Reply
Posted March 4, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Crystal
20 comments

A food museum? That would be interesting. Finally, something positive from the Budget talk.
Reply
Posted March 5, 2010 at 3:39 am
crystal
10 comments

I like the idea of Singapore Food Museum.
Singapore Vegetarian Cuisine might be one of thing to consider, there is one of the oldest vegetarian restaurant situation at 20 Tanjong Pager Road for 80 years, so traditional that the menu has barely change. Singapore’s Vegetarian Heritage?
Reply
Posted March 8, 2010 at 4:53 pm
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  Restaurants with a history as long as 80 years are rare in Singapore! Do you know the name of that vegetarian restaurant in Tanjong Pagar?
  Reply
  Posted March 9, 2010 at 12:51 am
crystal
10 comments

The Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant is Loke Woh Yuen Vegetarian Restaurant @ 20 Tanjong Pagar Road, S088443. Tel: 6221 2912
Another oldest Vegetarian Indian Restaurant is Ananda Bhavan in Little India, currently run by the 3rd generation – http://www.anandabhavan.com/
58 Serangoon Road
Tel: 6297 9522
Reply
Posted March 9, 2010 at 10:40 am
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  Thanks for the info! We have a review of Ananda Bhavan. Will definitely check out Loke Woh Yuen and keep a lookout for other vegetarian restaurants.
  Reply
  Posted March 9, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Melissa
133 comments

They can have a food museum that explores the history behind each cuisine. For example, Indian food can be linked to the early settlers that came from India? It will teach people a little about our nation’s history at the same time.
Reply
Posted March 16, 2010 at 8:21 pm
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  Hey, that sounds like a really interesting concept! At the National Museum of Singapore, there is a gallery dedicated to a few kinds of food (satay, etc) including a section where you can smell different kinds of spices. It’s in the Living Galleries of the museum, if I remember correctly. A full-fledged museum dedicated to food history alone would be fun!
  Reply
  Posted March 17, 2010 at 12:24 am
  - Melissa
    133 comments
    
    Never knew there’s such a thing inside the National Museum. I always thought it’s a boring place where you simply look at exhibits :x
    Reply
    Posted March 19, 2010 at 12:33 am
    - Veron
      3439 comments
      
      Oh you’ll be pleasantly surprised :) There are a few galleries with permanent exhibits, including those that showcase the everyday clothing that people wore in the yesteryear. That alone is very interesting and sometimes amusing :P Of course there are also the aforementioned food exhibits where you can smell the spices. A few other permanent galleries remain but I won’t spoil the the surprise for you :)
      Reply
      Posted March 19, 2010 at 12:51 am
    - Veron
      3439 comments
      
      By the way, admission to some of these galleries is free from 6pm – 8pm daily.
      Reply
      Posted March 19, 2010 at 12:53 am
crystal
10 comments

Yup, this Food Gallery at NMS is an interesting and a good place for the younger generations to know about the past … : )
I like the Tok Tok Mee (Noodle) Boy’s love story …
There even have recipes there (anyone tried those?) … if there is event of rediscovering the food of the past via (cooking & makan session), I think that would be more fun.
The food of the past like Rickshaw Noodles is so difficult to find right now and I guess it is gradually fading for existence …
Reply
Posted March 22, 2010 at 11:34 am
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  Wow, looks like I completely missed that Tok Tok Mee Boy’s story! Would you mind sharing with us please?
  Reply
  Posted March 22, 2010 at 12:38 pm
crystal
10 comments

Tok Tok Mee Boy’s story!
It actually trying to show the past – how people living in those shop houses in Chinatown order their food from food vendors at the street using a pulley system (where the customer would place the money on the basket and lower it down, and the vendor will then place the food on the basket to be pull up …).
Someone build a beautiful love story for this, making it interesting (how dating in the past was like).
If I recalled correctly, the noodle vendor has a young helper (teenage boy) and the regular customer is a teenage girl (like Tok Tok Mee). She would order via the pulley system and the boy would give extra for her order. One day, the boy placed a movie ticket underneath the bowl of noodle, trying to invite her to a movie.
Reply
Posted March 23, 2010 at 9:09 am
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  Awww… that story really warms my heart! Sounds very 1950s :) I don’t know I haven’t read it the few times I visited the gallery. In any case, thanks for sharing!
  Reply
  Posted March 24, 2010 at 3:49 pm