ko-thinks🤔: if there is no food, there is no singapore

This is my annual post on this blog... I'm back for now :) I had thought of this topic while I was out on a run, and no it is not national day and I am not that patriotic to post a I ❤️SG post. So if your ready, let's think about it! 

If one were to unpack Singapore's identity as a whole, they would usually mention something about how it is a melting pot of culture, kiasu-ism, oh and how Singapore is becoming the new China (quite sad to be honest). The defining sentiment is largely our culture, and my reason for it might differ from the rest. 

THE START OF SINGAPORE'S POT 🍲

Having a melting pot of culture is critical to Singapore's success as a country. Singapore is so small, and we are technically all immigrants if you think about it. In order for Singapore to be a up and running state, the government had no choice but to force some kind of harmony through housing, education, and whatever else the government has done. But let's be honest, this is just fostering acceptance rather than actual harmony. So how did Singaporeans develop harmony amongst the different races? 

ADDING INGREDIENTS TO THE POT 🥕

In my opinion, the most organic way of developing harmonious relations between the different races is through food. Food to me is the reason for everything, we literally need food to survive. If we were to deep dive a little, one of the main components of culture is food. The different kinds of ingredients and cooking methods differ as a result of geological constraints, conflicts... that's the main two for now. So when migrants start bringing food from their own cultures into Singapore, stark differences in the flavour, cooking techniques, etc. will also be present. Exposure to dishes outside of our own culture segregates the population into two categories (this is my generalisation): Those that are curious, and those that are repulsed. Thankfully for the most part majority of Singaporeans are curious about the different kinds of dishes. Naturally as more Singaporeans start to partake in dishes outside their own culture, we get to learn more about the history behind how these dishes were made. This, at least for me, gives me a better appreciation of the different races that are in Singapore. Et voilà! The soup is done! 

Of course this is definitely not the only reason that Singapore is able to achieve the level of integration that it has right now. But I need to remember that I am running a food blog and not a "Why Every Country should be like Singapore" kind of blog. 

SHOULD WE CONTINUE ADDING MORE INGREDIENTS TO THE POT🧂?

This is very simple. So long we are not adding the same ingredients all the time, we should continue to add more. The pot is bound to receive a greater influx of ingredients given that there are technological advancements, globalisation, and whatever that comes along as well. But recently, there has been a very large influx of shops that has roots going back to China. Is it expected? Sure. But is it too much? Yes. You know, one day i was walking past my old workplace and there used to be a Starbucks store there. But after a week or two, it was now a Luckin store. And it is not just Luckin. I feel that everytime I walk into a mall in Singapore, there are more stores selling Chinese food instead of other cuisines like Filipino food (oh my days it was so good) or local Singaporean food. To me it seems like the general food scene in Singapore is starting to feel like China, and the initial diversity of cuisine that Singapore once had is now overshadowed by the rise of Chinese stores.

Now this is not a hate post about China and Chinese stores. I feel that it is not just Chinese food that is overpowering the flavour of the stew. There has also been more Japanese and Korean food stores popping up as well. So is Singapore = China + Japan + Korea? Obviously this is not the case, but it is starting to be, I guess as a result of increased preferences to cultures from these three countries. It is honestly such a pity that Singapore's culture as a whole is starting to get influenced by the soft power of these three countries, to the point I do feel that Singapore's stew is not as diverse as it used to be. And the solution is to balance everything out. 

MY TWO CENTS 🪙🪙

At the end of the day, Singapore is just a very unique country with a very unique problem. And I feel that the solution to this problem is just too successful to the point that another problem arises. I truly love the fact that food is the basis of everything, and I love the fact that Singapore is home to so many shops with authentic dishes from different countries. But too much of one thing is never a good thing. 

Remember this is all just my two cents, and please do not take anything I say to heart. All I am here to do is just talk about my opinions from my own observations, be it accurate or not. But I hope that you enjoyed by annual post of the year, and I hope that you enjoy it too! I would love to hear your opinions about whatever I talked about, so leave your opinions in the comments! that is all from me for now, bye bye 👋