The Many Flavours of Singapore

Growing up in Singapore in the 1980’s, I was surrounded by mouth-watering food around every corner. Nearby food centres served braised duck, stewed beef noodles, chicken curry, black pepper crab, oyster omelette, satay -- the list goes on and on. Singaporean food is a melting pot of cuisines with influences from the Chinese, Malays, Indians and Europeans who lived or settled in the island nation. It was hard to choose what to eat when we visited our neighbourhood hawker centre a couple times a month. Each dish was carefully crafted by the different master chefs who owned each of the stalls. Even at school, for lunch we would visit the school’s “tuckshop” which was like a mini hawker centre. I was able to hop from the stall where the “Aunty” sold wonton noodle soup in a cute red bowl, to the fruit and dessert stall, and finally to the drinks stall to gather the components of my lunch -- all for less than US$1!

Not only was I spoiled by all this delicious food, but Monday through Saturday our family’s helper cooked for my parents (whom we call Mummy and Papa), my three sisters and my grandfather who lived with us. Our helper was from the Philippines, but she had an amazing arsenal of Singaporean Chinese recipes up her sleeve, thanks to Mummy, from whom she learned them all. On many of those days, Papa was either working, attending business functions or travelling for work. Sundays were special because our whole family got together for a home-cooked meal that Mummy cooked for lunch.

My grandfather, whom we called Ah Kong, came to Singapore in the early 1930s as a young man from Hainan Island, China. He was from a very poor family. With no real qualifications or formal education, he worked as a houseboy in colonial Singapore, helping out with domestic chores for a European family. Ah Kong subsequently worked for some time as a cook after the Second World War, and after my parents married in the 1960s, he taught Mummy his favourite recipe, Hainanese Chicken Rice, including its indispensable accompanying chilli and ginger sauce. Mummy’s family had come from a different part of China and she grew up speaking Teochew to her immigrant parents, so I remember her telling me how she had to learn to speak the notoriously difficult Hainanese dialect in order to communicate with her in-laws. Ah Kong passed on in 1999, but he lives on each time Mummy, my sisters, and I make this dish. No matter where I am in the world, I will always have a bottle of Mummy’s fragrant and potent “chicken rice chilli” in my fridge - a little piece of home wherever I am.

I remember having Teochew Rice Porridge some Sundays with accompanying dishes -- pickled vegetables, fried fish, spicy sambal ladies’ fingers (or okra) and braised pork and tofu. Rice porridge was originally brought to Singapore by Chinese immigrants. It is made by using one part rice to four parts water, making it the ideal dish for people who risked it all for a better life and as a result, were strapped for cash. Each time we ate this dish, we were honouring the sacrifices of these Chinese immigrants and acknowledging that our ancestors struggled to make our lives better. When we ate Teochew Rice Porridge, we were comforted, satisfied, and best of all, full.

I got most excited on the Sundays I saw the little round silver dishes on our table, the ones that only came out when Mummy made Hokkien Mee. Hokkien Mee is a Chinese fried noodle dish with prawns and a sambal chilli sauce. In a pot, she stir-fried the prawns and then bashed the prawn heads to create a flavourful stock. Next in a separate wok, she added garlic, yellow egg noodles, chunks of pork, Chinese chives and the prawns. As she tossed the ingredients in the wok, she slowly added the prawn broth from the pot to flavour and ensure that the dish reached its luscious, silky consistency. This dish, crafted and perfected by Mummy through the years, was one of her signature dishes (she had a few, being such a great cook) and one that she poured her soul into each time.

Once we heard Mummy ringing the bell and the announcement that it was time to eat, we all sat at the table and Mummy proudly presented the dish as all eyes followed her as she set it on the lazy Susan on the table.  Before we started eating, my older sister always started by saying “Mummy, Papa, Ah Kong jiak (“eat” in Hainanese and Teochew). Then my second oldest sister would say, “Mummy, Papa, Ah Kong, Tua Chay (Oldest sister) jiak.” Next, I would name every one older than me until finally my youngest sister had recognised everyone. We could not eat until we invited our elders to eat. Papa always used his chopsticks to serve his father and then himself. Each of us took turns dishing out the food. Mummy was always last, making sure that everyone had been served and had enough food. Once everyone had food, we started to enjoy the food laid before us.

My family, like most Singaporeans, communicated in a jumble of languages -- for us it was mostly English with a Singaporean inflection (a.k.a. “Singlish”), with a few Mandarin, Teochew, Hainanese and Malay words thrown into the mix. The conversations around the dining table usually featured Papa’s stories from his childhood, work, and travels. Papa was born in 1938 just before the Second World War. From 1942 to 1945, Singapore was occupied by the Japanese. He had seven sisters and he told us how they all slept on mattresses on the floor in one room.  He famously had to change schools several times whenever the family had to move due to the insecure nature of Ah Kong’s employment. Each time, he had to restart the year, making him older than the rest of his peers. At 11, he had to transition from learning in Chinese to English at a new school. He had to teach himself English in order to keep up with the workload.

Despite all these challenges, Papa was an excellent student who contributed actively to class debate. After his A-level exams, he attended the University of Malaya (now known as the National University of Singapore). After graduating with honours in Physics in 1964, he became a teacher in order to support his family, teaching Physics and Mathematics in a secondary school. Two years later, he joined the Singapore Administrative Service where he served with distinction, reaching the pinnacle rank of Permanent Secretary. Notable among the various appointments he held were General Manager of the Port of Singapore, President and CEO of Singapore Telecom, as well as Chairman and CEO of Delgro (now known as ComfortDelgro - one of the world’s largest land transport companies). He was also awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Singapore Government in 1992.

These high-powered positions required a lot of travelling and I was awestruck by the exotic places he visited such as Hawaii and the Ivory Coast. He even spent months in Boston as part of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard. I longed to travel just like him; to leave Singapore and to live abroad. Papa was also a skilled musician having played the oboe with a number of orchestras in Singapore. His love for music was evident in the way he learned and sang with gusto the various national anthems of the countries of which he was a subject - Great Britain, Malaysia and finally after gaining its independence in 1965, Singapore. His love for Singapore never faltered, and each time I rebelled against my home country as a teenager, he defended its honour.

In 1996, I left Singapore to pursue my undergraduate studies in England. My wish came true and I was able to travel the world tasting dishes from Beijing to Costa Rica. To me, nothing compares to Singaporean food which is a beautiful mixture of the best of so many cuisines. The rebellion of my youth has been replaced by an overwhelming pride in being Singaporean. I am humbled by the lengths that my ancestors and parents went to survive and thrive in Singapore, and I am thankful for their hard work and sacrifice. And each time that I sit down for lunch with my own family on Sunday, I appreciate how the rich history of my family and my homeland adds to the flavour of our food.

Wen Wong

Wen is a banking professional with 16 years’ experience in banking and financial services in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. She is currently living in London, and visits Singapore whenever she can to see her family and friends.

Twitter: @wensterwenz