Come 31 May, Singapore will play host to the inaugural World Street Food Congress (WSFC). This 10-day event begins on 31 May and aims to celebrate the richness and vibrancy of street food cultures from around the world in one placeC the F1 Pit Building and Paddock.
The event, organised by Makansutra and supported by Singapore Tourism Board, will be three-fold: it will kick off with the best street foodC the stalls will be set up in SingaporeC by up to 40 hawkers from around the world; two days of conferences on 3 and 4 June; and an awards show to recognise up to 16 top street food industry players from around the world.
| "This is the most meaningful thing we can do for society using Singapore's favourite sinC makan" |
Tickets for the two-day dialogue programme range from $630 (early bird rate) to $750 per person. Students aged 23 or under qualify for student rate at $180 per person.
About WSFC, Makansutra's founder and CEO, KF Seetoh, says, ¡®¡®It really is about what a plate of satay can do for jobs, education, society and business." He hopes that this event, for which he has a five-year plan, will increase opportunities for those in the business of street food, as well as raise Singapore's profile.
He adds, however, that, "We are not bringing Singapore to the world, I am just enabling. The WSFC is the most meaningful thing we can do for society using Singapore's favourite sin Cmakan (eating)."
 |
| KF Seetoh, oh the left, hosting a cooking demonstration | Photo: Makansutra |
For WSFC, he has partnered with the likes of Daniel Wang (ex-Director General of Public Health in Singapore) C the man responsible for creating hawker centres in Singapore, and Poh Seng Choon (executive director of Dignity Kitchen, a food court management school that trains the disabled and the disadvantaged to be food stall operators) for discussions and manpower. At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy will also be deploying some of their students to the chefs at this event.
Chef Johnny Chan, a China-based television programme host and winemaker whose program is viewed by approximately 12 million viewers every week, has also pledged his support: "I believe WSFC will bring Singapore to the world. I come to Singapore to learn everytime (sic) C WSFC's not about food anymore, it's about life." Chan will likely be at the dialogue sessions, too.
Seetoh also hopes to bring celebrated global food personalities like Anthony Bourdain, Jean-GeorgeVongerichten (cookbook author and chef of New York's Jean Georges restaurant) and the editor-in-chief of USA-based Saveur magazine, James Oseland, to the event. For the second segment of the WSFC, Seetoh will place them on the same platform as celebrated hawkers. He hopes for an exchange of ideas and opportunities.
A few of these international personalities will likely be shortlisted by Seetoh to be part of a World Street Food Council, a "think tank that will function as thought leaders and vanguards of the industry at the WSFC." The full list of the Council will be announced at a later date.
