Guest Appearance on Singapore Talking: How do we preserve our Hawker Heritage?
In this episode of Singapore Talking, we discuss the topic of how we are going to preserve our Singapore Hawker Culture in the midst of modernization. Of all the points which we discussed, I think the most interesting and practical point is that we should include Singapore heritage food recipes into our school curriculum. Why are we teaching our kids how to make muffins in home economics class and not Ang Ku Kueh? Why are they taught to make a French Omelette instead of Oyster Omelette in our culinary schools? We really do need to include Singapore Hawker Cuisine as a module when we train our next generation of chefs!
Here is Part II, Part III, Part IV.
Thanks to Sen for the upload.
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7 comments:
Come to think of it, I would have paid much more attention in home econs class if we were taught how to make ang ku kueh and laksa rather than butter cake and spaghetti.
Food for thought.
Home Economics teacher here. MOE will cry foul and HPB will rattle chains should that happen.
Ang Ku Kueh is probably still ok, but oyster omelette would be out of the question.
Like the way You delivered your points in the Programme.
It will be very sad when our local traditional fares are no more available.
patriot
The problem is double mindedness. What is so healthy about Muffins and cookies? They are full of butter and sugar.
My mother is a retired home economics teacher. No offence to the Anon who *is* a home econs teacher, my mother has shared with me that many of the new generation home economics teachers simply don't have the competence to teach students effectively.
Do you know that sewing is now out of the official home economics syllabus? Only a limited number of schools continue to include it in their classes. I don't know what the official rational is, but my mother attributed it to the fact that many of the younger teachers have very shallow knowledge themselves in sewing/needlecraft. My mother's former school has disposed of their entire sewing room and my mother was sad to note that teachers didn't even get a chance to buy over the used equipment.
The "cooking" portion of the syllabus has also been "downgraded" in deference to teaching students how to eat more healthfully outside (choosing types of food to eat, how to read food labels of PROCESSED foods). The kids these days are spending more and more time on classwork projects than in the kitchen.
I believe it's entirely feasible to teach local cuisine (oyster omelette is rightly pushing it a bit much). Laksa, mee siam, kueh bangkit, etc are relatively simple and can fit into the typical lesson time frame. Unfortunately, I don't have much hope that this will happen. The home economics syllabus is simply not a priority for MOE.
PS: ieat, I don't know about other schools, but when my mother was teaching, she did make sure that muffin/cookie recipes were reasonably healthful. If she felt that the recipe can do with less butter/sugar, she would instruct students to do so.
I've eaten DECADES of low-fat low-sugar rock buns / cupcakes that my mother used to bring home. I remember pleading with my mom not to bring them back, but by the end of the week, she would run out of colleagues to give away to and so unfailingly, the cupcakes will end up on our family breakfast table.
@Glitch
Agree with you about that Home Economics lessons nowadays are not what they used to be and it is a lot more project work and such.
Then again, I beg to differ about the younger Home Economics teachers being shallow in needlework skills. The reverse is actually true for many of the younger ones. Apart from this, all you've said is correct and a sad fact indeed for many schools out there.
There are teachers out there who also have a shared belief of cultural revival and have introduced some uniquely local fare into their cooking practicals for their lower secondary levels. Some examples I have heard of are Kueh bangkit, Kueh dadar, Pisang or corn hoon kueh and even kueh salat and pulut inti (using blue pea flower for the blue colour staining)
Thanks Anon, for sharing that there are teachers who are still passionate about the needlecraft and sharing local cuisine with the students. It's very heartening to hear so. Perhaps there is hope yet.
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