Hawker culture has been officially added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural heritage of Humanity, at the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC), which was held online.

This is Singapore's first inscription on the intangible cultural heritage list, which currently has over 460 entries.

Well-deserved recognition for hawkers

Singapore first submitted hawker culture to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in March 2019.

The recommendation was adopted by a 24-member committee, and was witnessed by representatives of 117 State Parties and accredited non-governmental organisations to the 2003 Conventions for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In response to the results, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that hawker culture holds a special place in the hearts of Singaporeans from all walks of life, and has instilled a greater sense of pride for our hawker culture.

In a separate Facebook post, he also said that the award is especially meaningful for Singapore's hawkers, and is a "well-deserved" recognition of their craft.

To celebrate Singapore's successful inscription of hawker culture in Singapore, a three-week SGHawkerFest will be launched on Dec. 26, 2020, lasting till Jan. 11, 2021.

The activities include online treasure hunts, quizzes and virtual badges for completed quizzes, which can be exchanged for dining vouchers redeemable from a list of 29 participating hawker centres located islandwide.

More details of the SG HawkerFest will be released at its launch.

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Top image via Visit Singapore.