Workers’ Party MP Leon Perera is in the US this week and stopped by the newly-opened Urban Hawker in New York, the passion project of food guru KF Seetoh to bring Singapore’s famed hawker fare to America.
The Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament expressed enthusiasm in a Wednesday (Oct 19) Facebook post, writing that he was “so incredibly proud.”
“What the legendary Kf Seetoh and the amazing Singapore hawkers have created here is a fitting tribute to our UNESCO World Heritage hawker industry,” he added.
Mr Perera shared photos of two of the hawkers at the eatery: Mr Lukman, a resident of Kaki Bukit in Aljunied GRC who runs a Malay food stall Padi D’NYC and Mr Alan Choong, who runs Prawnaholic Collections.
Mr Lukman “asked how his MP, Faisal Manap (WP’s vice chair)m was doing,” the MP wrote.
Incidentally, Padi’s lontong has been featured in nyeater.com, where it was praised as “one of the better deals at Urban Hawker.”
The MP “forgave” himself “for pigging out” and had Padi D’NYC’s mee rebus and a plate of wok-friend Hokkien prawn noodles from Prawnaholic.
His verdict? “The food was delicious and quite authentic, in spite of the inevitable challenges they face sourcing ingredients.”
Mr Perera, like many others, also noted that “the place seems to be doing brisk business. When I was there, there were many people of all nationalities queueing up in classic Singapore fashion, a testament to the quality of the food.”
He noted that although prices at Urban Hawker are higher than in Singapore, the demand was still strong, even “crazy busy” during the first two weeks after it opened.
He said that this “is a reminder that we are incredibly fortunate to be able to enjoy this quality of food in Singapore at such low prices…and that as a society we need to listen to and do more for our hawkers to keep this heritage industry thriving.”
Mr Perera ended his post by writing that he had moved an Adjournment Motion in Parliament with policy suggestions on how we can better support hawkers last year, adding that he “hopes to continue to speak on this important subject.” /TISG