Changi Airport's hawker stalls: Not so famous after all

[Scion]

heng i dun go all the way there to try these overpriced, and now "not so famous after all", hawker food

 

rather go to the original ones

 

also remind me of the famous claypot laksa at depot road last time.... many used "depot road" as their names, misleading the customers

 

 

 

Changi Airport's hawker stalls: Not so famous after all

 

The week-old food street at Changi Airport, which was touted as offering 13 popular hawker stalls from different corners of the island, is not what it has been made out to be.

The Straits Times has found that of the 13 stalls at the 10,800 sq-ft Singapore Food Street in Terminal 3's transit area, seven bear no direct links to the original famous stalls. Some are new start-ups while others are named after streets or areas well-known for particular dishes but have no connection to the original brands.

For instance, Jalan Tua Kong Minced Pork Noodles at the airport food street is not an offshoot of the famed 132 Meepok in Marine Terrace, which was located in Jalan Tua Kong in the 1990s. It is also not related to Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok Kway Teow Mee in Bedok Road. Instead, it is run by Mr Tan Dee Hond, 33, who told The Straits Times that he had worked at the Lau Lim stall for about two years in the mid-90s.

The owners of two popular char kway teow stalls at Old Airport Road, Dong Ji and Lao Fu Zi, said they did not open the Old Airport Road Fried Kway Teow & Carrot Cake stall at Terminal 3.

Nor is Mr Elvis Tan, 54, who owns East Coast BBQ Seafood at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, behind the airport's new East Coast Lagoon BBQ Seafood stall.

 

As for the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck, there is no such stall in Tiong Bahru hawker centre. The owner of the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck Mr Wen Yee Thim, 40, said he named the stall after his older brother, and included Tiong Bahru in the name because he learnt his roast meat preparation skills at a stall in Tiong Bahru in the mid 1990s.

When asked if naming the stalls after a street or an area that is famed for a particular dish was a misrepresentation, Select Group's executive director Jack Tan, 45, said: "If you use the name of the stall, then you're in trouble, but if you don't use the name and just use the street, it's free for all."

He added: "I think there was a miscommunication because there really are some famous hawkers there but maybe not 100 per cent. We just want to associate the street name with our product and our concept of it being a food street."

He added: "We can't use specific names because they may be trademarked or registered, that's why we use street names." The airport hawker stall called Changi Village Nasi Lemak is run by someone who once worked at one of Changi Village hawker centre's two famous nasi lemak stalls, Mizzy's Corner and International Muslim Food Nasi Lemak.

When asked which stall in Changi Village she had worked for, Mr Tan said: "I don't know which stall, because she didn't mention which stall, but I think it is one of the quite famous ones. I trusted her by doing the food tasting."

Only three of the stalls in the food street - Odeon Beef Noodles, Sin Ming Road Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh, and Kampong Cafe - are directly linked to the original stalls.

Changi Airport Group's spokesman Robin Goh said that while some of the stalls may have direct association with the original brands, and others have indirect links in varying degrees, for instance through former chefs or employees, "the operator's naming of the remaining stalls after certain locations may have given the wrong impression that they are directly connected to popular stalls at these locations".

He said that the airport would be working with Select to rename stalls that do not have direct association with the original hawker brands.

Engineer Kelvin Sng, 25, who dined at the food street last week, was taken aback when a staff at the food stall he was ordering from told him that its name was "borrowed" and that it was "not original". But he said the roast meat rice he had was "good and satisfying".

It is a common practice for hawkers to capitalise on the name of a well-known, location-specific type of food such as Katong laksa and Jalan Kayu roti prata. Mr Boo Geok Beng, 63, owner of Kampong Carrot Cake in Tiong Bahru, said: "It is common for people to use the Tiong Bahru name because of the popularity of the hawker centre."

But the prevalence of the practice does not make it right, said Mr K.F. Seetoh, 50, street food advocate and founder of street food guide Makansutra.

He said: "The new stall will be living off someone else's reputation, someone else's good will. You cannot register a street name and there is no law against it, but it is not right."

[email protected]

 

 

 

The week-old food street at Changi Airport, which was touted as offering 13 popular hawker stalls from different corners of the island, is not what it has been made out to be.

The Straits Times has found that of the 13 stalls at the 10,800 sq-ft Singapore Food Street in Terminal 3's transit area, seven bear no direct links to the original famous stalls. Some are new start-ups while others are named after streets or areas well-known for particular dishes but have no connection to the original brands.

For instance, Jalan Tua Kong Minced Pork Noodles at the airport food street is not an offshoot of the famed 132 Meepok in Marine Terrace, which was located in Jalan Tua Kong in the 1990s. It is also not related to Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok Kway Teow Mee in Bedok Road. Instead, it is run by Mr Tan Dee Hond, 33, who told The Straits Times that he had worked at the Lau Lim stall for about two years in the mid-90s.

The owners of two popular char kway teow stalls at Old Airport Road, Dong Ji and Lao Fu Zi, said they did not open the Old Airport Road Fried Kway Teow & Carrot Cake stall at Terminal 3.

Nor is Mr Elvis Tan, 54, who owns East Coast BBQ Seafood at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, behind the airport's new East Coast Lagoon BBQ Seafood stall.

As for the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck, there is no such stall in Tiong Bahru hawker centre. The owner of the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck Mr Wen Yee Thim, 40, said he named the stall after his older brother, and included Tiong Bahru in the name because he learnt his roast meat preparation skills at a stall in Tiong Bahru in the mid 1990s.

When asked if naming the stalls after a street or an area that is famed for a particular dish was a misrepresentation, Select Group's executive director Jack Tan, 45, said: "If you use the name of the stall, then you're in trouble, but if you don't use the name and just use the street, it's free for all."

He added: "I think there was a miscommunication because there really are some famous hawkers there but maybe not 100 per cent. We just want to associate the street name with our product and our concept of it being a food street."

He added: "We can't use specific names because they may be trademarked or registered, that's why we use street names." The airport hawker stall called Changi Village Nasi Lemak is run by someone who once worked at one of Changi Village hawker centre's two famous nasi lemak stalls, Mizzy's Corner and International Muslim Food Nasi Lemak.

When asked which stall in Changi Village she had worked for, Mr Tan said: "I don't know which stall, because she didn't mention which stall, but I think it is one of the quite famous ones. I trusted her by doing the food tasting."

Only three of the stalls in the food street - Odeon Beef Noodles, Sin Ming Road Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh, and Kampong Cafe - are directly linked to the original stalls.

Changi Airport Group's spokesman Robin Goh said that while some of the stalls may have direct association with the original brands, and others have indirect links in varying degrees, for instance through former chefs or employees, "the operator's naming of the remaining stalls after certain locations may have given the wrong impression that they are directly connected to popular stalls at these locations".

He said that the airport would be working with Select to rename stalls that do not have direct association with the original hawker brands.

Engineer Kelvin Sng, 25, who dined at the food street last week, was taken aback when a staff at the food stall he was ordering from told him that its name was "borrowed" and that it was "not original". But he said the roast meat rice he had was "good and satisfying".

It is a common practice for hawkers to capitalise on the name of a well-known, location-specific type of food such as Katong laksa and Jalan Kayu roti prata. Mr Boo Geok Beng, 63, owner of Kampong Carrot Cake in Tiong Bahru, said: "It is common for people to use the Tiong Bahru name because of the popularity of the hawker centre."

But the prevalence of the practice does not make it right, said Mr K.F. Seetoh, 50, street food advocate and founder of street food guide Makansutra.

He said: "The new stall will be living off someone else's reputation, someone else's good will. You cannot register a street name and there is no law against it, but it is not right."

[email protected]

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/stalls-changi-airport-food-street-not-so-famous-after-al#sthash.LCmGFFJC.dpuf

 

The week-old food street at Changi Airport, which was touted as offering 13 popular hawker stalls from different corners of the island, is not what it has been made out to be.

The Straits Times has found that of the 13 stalls at the 10,800 sq-ft Singapore Food Street in Terminal 3's transit area, seven bear no direct links to the original famous stalls. Some are new start-ups while others are named after streets or areas well-known for particular dishes but have no connection to the original brands.

For instance, Jalan Tua Kong Minced Pork Noodles at the airport food street is not an offshoot of the famed 132 Meepok in Marine Terrace, which was located in Jalan Tua Kong in the 1990s. It is also not related to Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok Kway Teow Mee in Bedok Road. Instead, it is run by Mr Tan Dee Hond, 33, who told The Straits Times that he had worked at the Lau Lim stall for about two years in the mid-90s.

The owners of two popular char kway teow stalls at Old Airport Road, Dong Ji and Lao Fu Zi, said they did not open the Old Airport Road Fried Kway Teow & Carrot Cake stall at Terminal 3.

Nor is Mr Elvis Tan, 54, who owns East Coast BBQ Seafood at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, behind the airport's new East Coast Lagoon BBQ Seafood stall.

As for the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck, there is no such stall in Tiong Bahru hawker centre. The owner of the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck Mr Wen Yee Thim, 40, said he named the stall after his older brother, and included Tiong Bahru in the name because he learnt his roast meat preparation skills at a stall in Tiong Bahru in the mid 1990s.

When asked if naming the stalls after a street or an area that is famed for a particular dish was a misrepresentation, Select Group's executive director Jack Tan, 45, said: "If you use the name of the stall, then you're in trouble, but if you don't use the name and just use the street, it's free for all."

He added: "I think there was a miscommunication because there really are some famous hawkers there but maybe not 100 per cent. We just want to associate the street name with our product and our concept of it being a food street."

He added: "We can't use specific names because they may be trademarked or registered, that's why we use street names." The airport hawker stall called Changi Village Nasi Lemak is run by someone who once worked at one of Changi Village hawker centre's two famous nasi lemak stalls, Mizzy's Corner and International Muslim Food Nasi Lemak.

When asked which stall in Changi Village she had worked for, Mr Tan said: "I don't know which stall, because she didn't mention which stall, but I think it is one of the quite famous ones. I trusted her by doing the food tasting."

Only three of the stalls in the food street - Odeon Beef Noodles, Sin Ming Road Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh, and Kampong Cafe - are directly linked to the original stalls.

Changi Airport Group's spokesman Robin Goh said that while some of the stalls may have direct association with the original brands, and others have indirect links in varying degrees, for instance through former chefs or employees, "the operator's naming of the remaining stalls after certain locations may have given the wrong impression that they are directly connected to popular stalls at these locations".

He said that the airport would be working with Select to rename stalls that do not have direct association with the original hawker brands.

Engineer Kelvin Sng, 25, who dined at the food street last week, was taken aback when a staff at the food stall he was ordering from told him that its name was "borrowed" and that it was "not original". But he said the roast meat rice he had was "good and satisfying".

It is a common practice for hawkers to capitalise on the name of a well-known, location-specific type of food such as Katong laksa and Jalan Kayu roti prata. Mr Boo Geok Beng, 63, owner of Kampong Carrot Cake in Tiong Bahru, said: "It is common for people to use the Tiong Bahru name because of the popularity of the hawker centre."

But the prevalence of the practice does not make it right, said Mr K.F. Seetoh, 50, street food advocate and founder of street food guide Makansutra.

He said: "The new stall will be living off someone else's reputation, someone else's good will. You cannot register a street name and there is no law against it, but it is not right."

[email protected]

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/stalls-changi-airport-food-street-not-so-famous-after-al#sthash.LCmGFFJC.dpuf

The week-old food street at Changi Airport, which was touted as offering 13 popular hawker stalls from different corners of the island, is not what it has been made out to be.

The Straits Times has found that of the 13 stalls at the 10,800 sq-ft Singapore Food Street in Terminal 3's transit area, seven bear no direct links to the original famous stalls. Some are new start-ups while others are named after streets or areas well-known for particular dishes but have no connection to the original brands.

For instance, Jalan Tua Kong Minced Pork Noodles at the airport food street is not an offshoot of the famed 132 Meepok in Marine Terrace, which was located in Jalan Tua Kong in the 1990s. It is also not related to Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok Kway Teow Mee in Bedok Road. Instead, it is run by Mr Tan Dee Hond, 33, who told The Straits Times that he had worked at the Lau Lim stall for about two years in the mid-90s.

The owners of two popular char kway teow stalls at Old Airport Road, Dong Ji and Lao Fu Zi, said they did not open the Old Airport Road Fried Kway Teow & Carrot Cake stall at Terminal 3.

Nor is Mr Elvis Tan, 54, who owns East Coast BBQ Seafood at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, behind the airport's new East Coast Lagoon BBQ Seafood stall.

As for the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck, there is no such stall in Tiong Bahru hawker centre. The owner of the airport's Tiong Bahru Meng Kee Roast Duck Mr Wen Yee Thim, 40, said he named the stall after his older brother, and included Tiong Bahru in the name because he learnt his roast meat preparation skills at a stall in Tiong Bahru in the mid 1990s.

When asked if naming the stalls after a street or an area that is famed for a particular dish was a misrepresentation, Select Group's executive director Jack Tan, 45, said: "If you use the name of the stall, then you're in trouble, but if you don't use the name and just use the street, it's free for all."

He added: "I think there was a miscommunication because there really are some famous hawkers there but maybe not 100 per cent. We just want to associate the street name with our product and our concept of it being a food street."

He added: "We can't use specific names because they may be trademarked or registered, that's why we use street names." The airport hawker stall called Changi Village Nasi Lemak is run by someone who once worked at one of Changi Village hawker centre's two famous nasi lemak stalls, Mizzy's Corner and International Muslim Food Nasi Lemak.

When asked which stall in Changi Village she had worked for, Mr Tan said: "I don't know which stall, because she didn't mention which stall, but I think it is one of the quite famous ones. I trusted her by doing the food tasting."

Only three of the stalls in the food street - Odeon Beef Noodles, Sin Ming Road Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh, and Kampong Cafe - are directly linked to the original stalls.

Changi Airport Group's spokesman Robin Goh said that while some of the stalls may have direct association with the original brands, and others have indirect links in varying degrees, for instance through former chefs or employees, "the operator's naming of the remaining stalls after certain locations may have given the wrong impression that they are directly connected to popular stalls at these locations".

He said that the airport would be working with Select to rename stalls that do not have direct association with the original hawker brands.

Engineer Kelvin Sng, 25, who dined at the food street last week, was taken aback when a staff at the food stall he was ordering from told him that its name was "borrowed" and that it was "not original". But he said the roast meat rice he had was "good and satisfying".

It is a common practice for hawkers to capitalise on the name of a well-known, location-specific type of food such as Katong laksa and Jalan Kayu roti prata. Mr Boo Geok Beng, 63, owner of Kampong Carrot Cake in Tiong Bahru, said: "It is common for people to use the Tiong Bahru name because of the popularity of the hawker centre."

But the prevalence of the practice does not make it right, said Mr K.F. Seetoh, 50, street food advocate and founder of street food guide Makansutra.

He said: "The new stall will be living off someone else's reputation, someone else's good will. You cannot register a street name and there is no law against it, but it is not right."

[email protected]

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/stalls-changi-airport-food-street-not-so-famous-after-al#sthash.LCmGFFJC.dpuf

Changi Airport's hawker stalls: Not so famous after all

Published on Aug 1, 2014

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/stalls-changi-airport-food-street-not-so-famous-after-al#sthash.LCmGFFJC.dpuf

Changi Airport's hawker stalls: Not so famous after all

Published on Aug 1, 2014

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/stalls-changi-airport-food-street-not-so-famous-after-al#sthash.LCmGFFJC.dpuf

Changi Airport's hawker stalls: Not so famous after all - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/stalls-changi-airport-food-street-not-so-famous-after-al#sthash.LCmGFFJC.dpuf

[Ktglfc]

Actually who will go there for these hawker food?!

Go airport and take plane and eat plane food is much better.

If really want the real hawker food, we can always go to the real original ones...

Anyway, think this will appeal to the foreigners and tourists lah..

[Icedbs]

Actually who will go there for these hawker food?!

Go airport and take plane and eat plane food is much better.

If really want the real hawker food, we can always go to the real original ones...

Anyway, think this will appeal to the foreigners and tourists lah..

 

I dun know who will go there for food, but I did see many parents bring their kids there for the playground and slides.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2014 by Icedbs

[Darthrevan]

Actually who will go there for these hawker food?!

Go airport and take plane and eat plane food is much better.

If really want the real hawker food, we can always go to the real original ones...

Anyway, think this will appeal to the foreigners and tourists lah..

 

sinkies mostly do not know where/what to eat daily..most do not plan their meals..so by congregating some "famous" stalls..the operator can dupe some gullible patrons(who likes air-conditioned places) to dine at the food street..most if not all foreigners likely do not know of famous hawker foods..that makes it even easy to deceive them

 

going to eat different famous hawker foods from different locations is a chore that not many people have the time nor transport tools to do so..so this food street concept do appeal to most sinkies

[Kb27]

I just ate "jl tua kong mee pok" at 414 yishun ring rd.

I wonder if it's the same.

[Sabian]

heng i dun go all the way there to try these overpriced, and now "not so famous after all", hawker food

 

rather go to the original ones

 

also remind me of the famous claypot laksa at depot road last time.... many used "depot road" as their names, misleading the customers[/url]

In transit area. You can suka suka go in and have lunch and then go home?

[Scion]

In transit area. You can suka suka go in and have lunch and then go home?

 

oh, not for locals?

 

but to mislead the tourists also not very right

[Watwheels]

Using other stall's street name to bluff ppl is not the right thing to do. How can the airport allow this to happen? This is like pirated or chiong hawker food.

[Achtung]

confirm pariah!

 

 

I just ate "jl tua kong mee pok" at 414 yishun ring rd.

I wonder if it's the same.

 

[Thaiyotakamli]

Actually who will go there for these hawker food?!

Go airport and take plane and eat plane food is much better.

If really want the real hawker food, we can always go to the real original ones...

Anyway, think this will appeal to the foreigners and tourists lah..

 

They should open in T1 whereby got more budget airlines and these airlines don't serve food

 

 

 

Anyway that foodcourt really misrepresent singapore famous food

Using other stall's street name to bluff ppl is not the right thing to do. How can the airport allow this to happen? This is like pirated or chiong hawker food.

They think its china

[Raychay]

How can World Class airport do this kind of low class thingy?

[Voodooman]

Jack Tan/ Select and Changi Airport should reflect on their actions. It is just dishonest and a misrep (although it is entirely legal). If the food sucks, he is really trading our famous hawker heritage for tourist money.

[Scion]

realised my quote of the article went haywire... repeated several times

 

can the mod help to rectify this? gum xia

[Albeniz]

Despicable and unscrupulous in a certain way.

[Solar]

This kind of false advertising can potentially get sued deep deep.. But in SG.. perhaps they can easily get away with it.

[Albeniz]

The intention to misrepresent is too obvious.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Albeniz

[Wt_know]

hawker food in airport? cannot make it la

just like i have ramen and kimchi pot in osaka and seoul airport ... cook by local not FT

the taste is so much different when i had them outside airport ... taste ok not awesome

i have high respect on japan and korea food because 99% prepared and cooked by local not FT

 

food in airport is not at it upmost quality la ...

it is merely for tourist to hit and go ... taste ok considered exceed expectation liao because airport food mostly cannot make it ...

the real food is at the real place ... not in airport

Edited August 3, 2014 by Wt_know

[Xefera]

not sure if these so called pass-offs will be offended if someone post pictures of them and their stalls online. not to shame them but since they are willing to live off someone else's popularity, isn't that what they are seeking for?