“Street food has always been one of the few areas that Malaysians can confidently say they do better than their richer, cleaner and more efficient neighbour,” said Foong Li Mei author of The Food That Makes Us, when Singapore first announced its Unesco ambitions last year.
The heat has been turned up in the cross-border culinary clash between Singapore and Malaysia.
Singapore has officially nominated its hawker culture to be designated as intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill, that are considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage.
But the move by Singapore to nominate its hawker culture has sparked anger in Malaysia where it is claimed that street food is generally far superior.
“Street food has always been one of the few areas that Malaysians can confidently say they do better than their richer, cleaner and more efficient neighbour,” said Foong Li Mei author of The Food That Makes Us, when Singapore first announced its Unesco ambitions last year.
“This could be why Singapore’s petition for Unesco recognition of its hawker culture offends some Malaysians; it sounds as if Singapore is saying that their hawker food is the original, and best,” Foong was quoted as saying.
Announcing Singapore's nomination had been officially submitted this week, senior National Heritage Board official Yeo Kirk Siang insisted the bid was not meant to show the city's street food was "better" than that of other countries.
"It's not about countries trying to prove that their cultural practices are better, unique, or that it originated from the country," he told a media conference.
"It's not about whether beer originated in Belgium or Belgian beer is better than others. It's about the meaning it has for the people and the country," Yeo added.
"What the nomination is about is whether the cultural practice is valued by the community within that country... and whether they are committed to safeguarding these practices within their countries."
The outcome of Singapore's bid is due at the end of 2020.