• Since the founding years of Singapore, many hawkers of different races would sell their food on the streets. In 1931, the British colonial government decided to issue licenses to the hawkers. However, only 1,000 hawker licenses were issued that year, as the objective was to reduce the number of hawkers on the streets.
• In 1950, the British colonial government realised that their hawker license quota bore little effect on the number of hawkers. Hence, the Hawkers Inquiry Commission was formed and recommended that licenses be issued to all hawkers.
• Between 1968 to 1969, the government carried out an island-wide registration of hawkers. 30 to 40 public hygiene inspectors were sent to all corners of the island daily to register the hawkers, and to record their names, business locations and types of foods sold.
• The Hawkers Department’s Special Squad special task force was formed in 1974. Then-Permanent Secretary (Environment) set a 18-month deadline to remove all illegal hawkers.
• Between 1971 and 1986, the government built markets and food centres, equipped with basic facilities. 54 hawker centres were built between 1974 to 1979.
• Most food centres are situated in a sheltered area without air-conditioning, selling a wide variety of cooked food and drinks at affordable prices. In the past, hawkers or their assistants would bring the customers’ orders to their tables but today, it is mainly self-service.
• Currently, Singapore has more than 100 market-cum-hawker centres built by the government, with a total of about 6,000 hawker stalls (according to the 2014 Census). Since 2004, the food centres are managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

美食广场 (Hong Kong), 街边型夜市 (Taiwan)

• The English term for “hawker” refers to people who move around hawking their wares or food. In Singapore, the hawker is not itinerant but has a fixed stall located within a food centre.