Singapore’s hawker culture has been submitted for inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

And it appears not everyone is happy about it.

Specifically, Malaysia.

Cannot lose out to Singapore

On May 2, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) lawmaker Lee Khai Loon from Penang, argued that the state had to be more aggressive and apply for UNESCO recognition of its local hawker culture, The Malay Mail reported.

Lee explained this was so that Singapore will not get recognition before Penang.

To deliver his statement, Lee reportedly interrupted the closing speech of Penang Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture and Arts Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, during the state's legislative assembly, The Malay Mail highlighted.

Lee said: "I hope our exco will monitor and follow up on this because I don’t want us to be too late till Singapore gets the recognition before us."

Deadline for submission has already passed

However, it appears Penang will only be able make its submission in 2020, at the earliest.

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2020 cycle has already passed on March 31, 2019, according to UNESCO's website.

Penang to propose joint submission of hawker culture with Singapore

Separately, Yeoh said Penang had since sent a letter to Malaysia's National Heritage Department to propose a joint nomination with Singapore under the title, "Hawker Culture in Singapore and Malaysia".

Yeoh added that Penang's hawker culture was more unique than that of Singapore's, as the state still had hawkers by the roadside, as well as in food courts.

This drew Lee's question as to why Penang was not named in the title instead, since it was the hawker culture of Penang in particular that the nomination was referring to.

Lee explained: "Why shouldn’t the nomination use ‘Hawker Culture in Singapore and Penang’ because putting Malaysia is too vague and does not specify Penang or pinpoint Penang’s unique feature as a food heaven?"

In response, Yeoh said the nominations submitted to UNESCO were done on a national level, which explains the use of "Malaysia", rather than just specifically "Penang".

Moreover, the submission to UNESCO is done by the Malaysian federal government, which means Penang will still need the National Heritage Department to consider the proposed nomination before submitting it.

UNESCO submission not about claiming ownership of hawker culture

Penang's reaction suggests that food is one of the national issues between Singapore and Malaysia that leads to emotions running high.

This is despite Singapore's National Heritage Board (NHB) clarifying at a press conference on March 28, that a UNESCO submission is not about claiming ownership of a particular culture, CNA reported.

According to NHB's director for heritage assessment and research, Yeo Kirk Siang, the nomination is about recognising how important the culture is to the community and country.

It is also a demonstration of the country's commitment to safeguarding such an intangible heritage.

Referring to the inscription of beer culture of Belgium, despite the fact that it is also prevalent in Germany, Yeo said: "It's not about whether beer originated in Belgium or Belgian beer is better than others. It's about the meaning it has for the people and the country."

Here's what you need to know about Singapore's own submission to UNESCO:

Top image by Yun Huang Yong via Flickr