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AnthroDishAuthor: Sarah Duignan
AnthroDish explores the intersections between our foods, cultures, and identities. Host Dr. Sarah Duignan sits down one-on-one with people in academia, hospitality, farming and agriculture, and more to learn about their food knowledge and experiences. If you're interested in the unique lives of everyday people who have been shaped by their relationship with food, this show is for you! Language: en-ca Genres: Arts, Food, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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175: Food, Value, and Heritage in Singapore's Hawker Centres with TW Lim
Tuesday, 31 March, 2026
My guest today, TW Lim, is here to explore how nation food constructions have played out in Singapore through the hawker centres the country is known for. TW writes on the relationships between politics, history, and culture and how they have shaped eating habits in Singapore. By day, he writes about technology, but he also writes about food and value, or the "regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something." While known to many other countries as a "food paradise" over the last 50 years, TW unpacks how Singaporean food worth and value is decided upon in a country where is food identity. In his new book, Little Perfections: Eating in Singapore, he looks at the development of hawker centres, home kitchens, and restaurants of Singapore that gets at the culture and business of food in Singapore. In today's conversation, we look at the early government policy of Singapore and its lasting impact on the development and maintenance of hawker centres, grappling with notions of authenticity as economic and cultural values around food and eating shift through time, labour and wages for multi-generational hawker workers, and how Singapore as a food paradise holds up a mirror to the food habits of USA and Asia. Resources: Website: https://humblescrivener.com/ Newsletter: Let Them Eat Cake
