“Have you eaten?”: This is why food is still the language that ties Singaporeans together

We speak many languages in Singapore, but the one we understand best is food.

Some of us may not say “I love you”, but we’ll queue 45 minutes for someone’s favourite chicken rice. Here, food has always meant more than fuel. We celebrate with it, mourn with it, offer it at altars, deliver it in tiffin carriers. When words fail, food stands in.

At this year’s Chingay parade, dumpling floats drifted past a sea of spectators – edible emblems of identity in motion. Marking Singapore’s 60th National Day, the parade embraced the theme “Joy”, transforming the streets into a Food Wonderland celebrating how meals – from hawker fare to home-cooked dinners – unite families and cultures.

The Singapore Food Festival’s theme, “Have You Eaten Yet?”, reframed a familiar phrase as a shorthand for care.

The connections stretch further. Singapore HeritageFest 2025 turned the spotlight on the customs, crafts and food traditions that continue to shape our shared identity. Food emerged as one of the most intimate forms of storytelling.

Chinese pastry chef and culinary researcher Yeo Min led an ang ku kueh workshop with the Hokkien Huay Kuan, one of Singapore’s oldest clan associations. Participants kneaded dough and memory in equal measure, learning how the simplest rituals – wrapping, folding, sharing – carry the weight of generations.

Meanwhile, Sendok Rakyat – a Malay food collective led by community advocates Aqid Aiman and Anugerah Murni – hosted a nasi ulam workshop at the Peranakan Museum. The session began not with recipes, but with reflection and conversation. From there, herbs were chosen, memories surfaced, and new interpretations emerged. It wasn’t a class so much as a communal act of remembering – one that blurred the lines between tradition and reinvention.

Heritage isn’t disappearing; it’s being reimagined. Hae bee hiam appears in cookies, prawn mee is made pork-free, and Nusantara dishes are plated in Michelin-starred dining rooms, roots intact. As tastes evolve, so do the questions: What do we keep? What do we let go? Can innovation still taste like home?

In a world where algorithms silo us and time feels short, food still does what few things can. Around a table, differences soften, generations exchange stories, and conversations come to life.

Food doesn’t just bring us together – it ties us together.