‘Tar pau, please!’ Proud of hawker culture but too hot, sticky to dine in food centres

It’s key for hawker centres to act as community dining spaces, so is it enough to support hawker culture from a ‘tar pau’ distance?

Strolling around a hawker centre is like walking into a 3D menu with the sights of dishes being stir-fried. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
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The other day, stallholders stopped calling out their dishes as they saw me doing yet another lap around the hawker centre.

Strolling around is one of the best parts of hawker culture for me; it’s like walking into a 3D menu with the sights of dishes being stir-fried, their salty-sweetness wafting out of stalls.

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