The food: Pickled Chinese Vegetables Appetizer
Where to find it: Por Kee Eating House, Singapore
-:-
Singaporeans are food voyeurs. Naturally, I fit right in.
For this meal, my dining party and I huddle around our table and await a Chinese feast starting with pickled veggies. We arm ourselves with iPhones and DSLR cameras poised at the dinner table. In the past I’ve likened food appreciation—or being a “foodie”—to some idiosyncrasy, a junkie who beats off to food p0rn1. Singapore takes foodie culture to delicious and disgusting levels that rival even my own food-worshiping fetish. They’ll create dining Disneylands like their hawker centers where you can chow on everything from bok choy to bratwurst, and, of course, they’ll whip out their cameras the moment food arrives at their table2. It’s almost as if their fanatical food photography stems from something more omnipresent across the Singaporean culture: their government.
Singapore operates like an authoritarian democracy. Its citizens enjoy freedom, but big brother always watches.
Government surveillance cameras loom over every nook and cranny of the island nation. It makes the United States’ NSA look like your innocent, yet annoying, nosy neighbor. Look up in the subway, the mall or even random streets and you’ll see sniper-like cameras peering down upon your every move. While I snap a photo of Singapore’s famous chicken rice, a hawker center “hawk” scans my actions too.
However, just like food photography, Singapore’s government means no harm with its surveillance. It’s like some meta photoshoot. I take innocent pictures of their food, and they take, presumably, harmless pictures of me as I photograph. Sure, the Singaporean government enacts strict laws. It can fine people for selling gum, and it propagandizes a National Courtesy Campaign with public slogans like: “Be Courteous,” “Speak English,” “Speak Mandarin” and “Don’t Spit.” But their surveillance systems try to do more good in keeping people safe than harm. Perhaps that’s why Singapore ranks as one of the safest places in the world.
Maybe fanatical photo-taking is just first-world Asia’s ‘thing’. We all know the notorious Japanese camera-touting tourist. Mix that with Singapore’s official national pastime—eating—and you’ve got a country of photographing foodies.
Yes, we foodies might shove lenses into the billowing steam of your hotpot, but just like Singapore’s big brother government, we mean no harm. Here’s some new Singapore National Courtesy propaganda for ya: “Our camera flashes flare because we care.“
Caught! on Singapore’s CCTV at the MRT subway station.
-:-
1 I have a love-hate relationship with the label ‘foodie.’ I just sounds too ‘cutesy’ to me.
2 I had the privilege of interviewing Erich of the famous Erich’s Wuerstelstand for my food & travel TV show (now in post-production; see below) at his food stall in Singapore’s Chinatown: the last sausage kiosk before the equator.
3 JOB OPPORTUNITY: The above picture comes straight out of another scene from my travel & food web series I’m shooting in Asia. Longa Travels Productions is currently seeking (documentary/trailer) editors for post-production. If you’re interested in learning more, then please send an email to [email protected].