Our Hawker Culture, Our Singapore - Food for Life Revolution

The best form of love is meeting the needs of others. 

During my ride with a GRAB driver today, we happened to chat about hawkers and food and it forms an integral part of our Singaporean culture. In fact, it is even considered and proposed as a UNESCO heritage. 

Yet, on the other side less seen, are some of the elderly people who roam these hawkers and ask fellow Singaporeans to buy them a meal. They do not ask for money, but they ask for a basic necessity of life - food. A meal, just to keep them free from hunger.  

I remember how it felt when I heard this, my heart was shattered and tears welled up in my eyes. These people are mostly involved in the development of Singapore into what it is today - a developed country. Yet, they are amongst those that fall through the cracks as the society progressed, leaving them to fend for themselves. 

This GRAB driver frequents Jurong West Ave 1 hawker and shares that she encounters them on almost every visit. She revealed that though she is the sole breadwinner for her elderly parents who are hit by chronic illnesses, she still makes it a point to reach out and buy a meal for these elderly who are only seeking basic food.

How much does it cost for a meal in a hawker in Singapore? 3-5 dollars can allow us to get a decent meal. What's more is that some mixed rice stalls providing 2 vegetable dishes and 1 meat only charge 2.5 dollars. 

With that, I hope to introduce Food For Life - a revolution that only with the help of every Singaporean, we can hope to achieve.  $20 dollars may not mean much to you, but it will bring about 5 precious moments of thanksgiving to our pioneer generation. I truly hope that what we do today, can help to nurture the future leaders of tomorrow, but at the same time take care of those who have shaped our society when it was developing. 

You can join in and shape our community! Simply print out the image below, write your name and explain the rationale to a willing hawker. Ideally, it will be a hawker who shares the same vision, one who actively reaches out to others. 

Please help to spread the word. I will look to create a separate sub-page where hopefully we can also share the progress as we reach out to those in need. A little sharing goes a long way!