All language subtitles for Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown S10E01 Singapore (1080p x265 10bit Joy)

Spotless...

efficient...

safe...

protected...

controlled.

♪

A utopian city-state

run like a multinational
company.

Welcome to Singapore,
Incorporated.

♪

♪ I took a walk through this ♪

♪ Beautiful world

♪ Felt the cool rain
on my shoulder ♪

♪ Found something good in this ♪

♪ Beautiful world

♪ I felt the rain
getting colder ♪

♪ La, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la, la

♪

Singapore.

One could be forgiven
for thinking

it's a giant, ultramodern
shopping mall.

♪

An interconnected, fully wired,

air-conditioned nanny state

where everything is beautiful

and nothing hurts.

And those things
are kind of true,

especially if you read
the papers

or the carefully-monitored
Internet.

♪

You look around
the litterless streets

where everything seems
to work just fine,

and you think... or you could
be forgiven for thinking...

"Gee, maybe a one-party system
is just what we need."

♪

You look at all the social
problems and ethnic strife,

street crime, drugs,

that Singapore has
managed to avoid,

and you could think,

"Is this the life we want?"

It ain't my system.

It's not the world I want.

But damn, it...

has its appeal.

♪

Hi.

This is Singapore.

Jam-packed in between

the carefully feng-shui'd
architecture,

the skyscrapers
and office blocks,

are rich, deep, very old,

and deliciously funky remnants
of the old world.

Chinese, Indian, Malay...

And a culture that still
cherishes the joys

of a simple good thing.

A lot of national foods
you can get in Singapore.

What's your favorite?

My favorite is, in Malay,

we call it mie goreng.

That's your favorite Malay dish.

What's your favorite
Chinese dish?

- Chinese, [indistinct]
- [indistinct]

- Sometimes chicken rice.
- Chicken, of course.

Yes.

How about favorite Indian dish?

Definitely nutty biryani.
You know that?

- The biryani.
- Yeah, biryani, right.

You got it.

- [indistinct] Road, right?
- Yes, yes.

That's the best laksa
is on [indistinct] Road.

Funny, I recognize every place
here by food.

- Tony, how are you?
- Good, good.

My brother.

So what blows you
back to Singapore?

You know why I come here.
I come here to eat.

I live here to eat, too.

♪

I come here mostly to eat

because that's what
they do here.

And they arguably do it better

with more diverse, affordable
food options

per square foot

than just about
anywhere on Earth.

♪

My godfather and mentor
for Singaporean street food

has always been,
and remains, KF Seetoh,

the guru behind
the Makansutra food guides

and an advocate for the kind
of democratic,

affordable, casual chaos

of the hawker world.

- So this is the dry lamb.
- Thank you.

- Thank you. Enjoy.
- Thank you.

Okay, so wet and dry?
Wet and dry.

The heat gets you
a bitter broth.

545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles
for prawn mi

seemed a good place to start.

You are here because Ruifang,
this girl who served us,

she is one of the new heroes,

the new generation heroes...
Right.

That's out to protect
and preserve our food culture.

You know I've been talking about

continuity for the longest time.

I mean, I know you want to see
traditional recipes

and preparations preserved.

I'm here to preserve
what's traditional.

What's progressive...
Progressive heritage food

has a space, but if
you're too creative

with your stuff...
You start putting truffle oil

and this kind of stuff...

Well, that's wrong always.

Here's my thing... creativity
is not a flavor, Tony.

Most hawker stalls
are family-run operations.

And Whampoa is no exception.

What's unusual is that
Li Ruifang

left her white-collar job
to work alongside her parents,

bucking a trend that has
left the hawker centers

with an aging workforce,

unable to replenish
generations of expertise

with new blood.

If you look around, Tony,
you look at all the hawkers,

more than 70%, 80% of them
are 50 and above.

So the tipping point will come
where everybody just give up.

They're stalled, because their
children have gone

to university.

They have told them, yeah, go...
Go be a doctor, lawyer.

Go be something else
other than a hawker.

But the Singaporean government
wants to build more stalls...

More, better, modern.

20 more hawker centers,
actually.

20 more hawker centers.

Which I say, where the hell
are the hawkers coming from?

- Well, that's a good question.
- Yeah, yeah.

Where are they gonna come from?

There's a lot of insinuations
of an answer but no true answer.

I mean, the answer's
not from Singapore, right?

They're gonna have to come in
from China.

For the 15,000 or 20,000
food stalls

I guess we have in Singapore,

if it's public-run like this,

you can't hire foreigners.

It's meant for Singaporeans.

But isn't the beginning
of all of this...

Was people from China, India...?

That's why I keep saying

our food came from...

- Somewhere.
- The rest of the world.

Yeah, we had nothing.

And in that tradition, I say,

we must continue.

Ah, "For Rent:
Cooked Food Stall."

We should do a... do a pop-up.

Get my apron.

♪

Stamford Raffles
arrived in Singapore in 1819

with the British
East India Company,

establishing it first
as a trading post

for the British empire.

♪

Soon thereafter, Singapore grew,

quickly becoming an economic hub

and regional capital
for the British empire's

new colony on
the Malay Peninsula.

After World War II,

Singapore clamored
for independence,

first becoming a part
of the Malaysian Federation

then a fully independent state
in 1965.

Helmed by its first
prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew,

tiny Singapore famously went
from a third-world outpost

to a first-world nation
in a single generation.

♪

- In Singapore...
- Yep.

Rules of negligence in
Singapore is very strict.

We have to follow them.

Like, I'm... I drive taxi.
Right.

I can't break any law.

So the camera catches you?

Yeah, everything's in camera.

It's very important everywhere.

We have to follow the laws
of negligence.

That's the reason Singapore
is very good.

♪

Singaporeans
are very hard-working persons.

As human beings, what we need...

Food to eat, clothes to wear,

place to sleep.

You can get in Singapore.

So, in other words,

we have to continue work.

You working, you get something.
Once lazy, we're out.

By some measures,
Singapore is a welfare state,

taking care of the less
fortunate.

But at its heart,
it's a cold-blooded meritocracy.

You follow the rules
(and there are many),

work hard, and you will
have a good life.

That's the message.

♪

We are starting to define
the definition of success.

I mean, before, we are very
clear with the five C's:

car, condominium, a credit card,

uh, cash, and career.

Wow, that sounds awful, dude.

- Yeah, dude.
- I mean...

I grew up in that idea.
I grew up in...

- That's not good.
- Yeah, exactly.

It sounds kind of depressing.

I know, but that's...
That's the past, I think.

The Muslim quarter, just
following afternoon prayers.

I'm here with Najip Ali,

the Singaporean-Malay
entertainer and producer.

Ah, okay.

- Oh, looking good.
- This is it.

- So this is...
- Lontong.

- Lontong. And this...
- This is mee siam.

Wow.
We're having lontong:

rice cake, coconut gravy,
vegetables and a hardboiled egg.

And mee siam: fried rice noodles

with chili paste, prawns,
bean sprouts,

and a spicy,
sweet-and-sour gravy,

fried bean curd, and an egg.

- Mmm.
- Delicious.

I mean, we like to make fun
of Singapore in the West...

Call it Disneyland with
the death penalty.

And we're... we're skeptical,
of course, of one-party rule.

We're skeptical of constraints
on freedom of the press

or with the things you...
Can't do.

- Can't do.
- Yeah, you can't, yeah.

Do you think that young,
creative Singaporeans

feel those constraints
and suffer from them?

I think some of them
who travel knows better.

Most of them are overeducated
and under-exposed,

meaning they are... they have
very little experience

in what they know.

And I think that's
what we are lacking.

They are looking
for things to do.

And the problem with this
is always that we're living

in a small country,
and we have nowhere to go

and where to experience
these things.

If you're in New York and you
don't like the city life,

you say, "Shit, I'm..."
You say, "I'm not gonna..."

You can say "shit" on the show.

I'm gonna say this.

I think we have two more
on this hour.

That was one.

"I'm going to get
out of the city."

So you go to Minnesota,
you go to Texas.

- Right.
- You take time to think about.

And even in Malaysia, when you
are in Kuala Lumpur,

and you go to, like... you go to
Terengganu, you go to Kuantan.

We have nowhere to go.

Not only is Singapore
a small city-state

a little more than half
the size of LA,

but there's also a pressure
of a kind

from a Big Brother government
who's always watching,

however benevolently
one might think.

Every day as an entertainer,

as a producer and director,
we are reminded what not to do.

Don't insult other races.
Don't insult other religion.

There are some parameters that
we always need to stick by.

- Right.
- I think, as a creative person,

I think we are always
trying to work out.

And I think that's
challenging for us,

and again, most of the things
that I do on television

is funded by the government.

So, you know, so what...

You're biting the hand
that feeds you.

But our job is basically,
as entertainer,

just to purely entertain.

And we know there a line
that we can't cross.

Religion, our ancestors,
our parents.

You know, things like that.
So it's...

You can't make fun
of your parents?!

In comedy?

Uh, if your own parent,
it's okay.

How about your, I mean,
family member...

Yeah, but I get high marks
when they... you know,

they can give you a twist
to a story of a mother-in-law.

Right. Oh, mother-in-law's
okay.

Yeah, mother-in-law's okay.

Why does a mother-in-law
always get the joke?

I don't know.

♪

So, on the basic level,
Singapore works in so many ways:

security, your family,
education.

- Housing?
- Housing.

So in a way, you're kind of
numbed into thinking that

you know, everything's
wonderful.

♪

And then you start to wonder
after a while,

"Is there another way of life?"

You know, I think that's the big
kind of Singapore dilemma,

in a way.
So is there angst?

- Yeah.
- Is there angst?

- It's angst.
- But I think there's no...

There's no outlet for it.

So everybody's, you know,
like going online,

and everybody likes to be
anonymous about it.

Even online, they have
paid the price for it.

People have been let go
of their jobs,

and that... that's the price
that we have to pay.

The price may seem pretty high
by American standards:

no political dissent,
no right to assembly,

a restricted press,

and limited freedom of speech.

Sadir Varaket, Melanie Chan,
and Tanya Andoor...

All Singaporeans, all navigating
the rules and regs,

both spoken and unspoken,

that go along with prosperity,
security, safety.

Lor 29 in Geylang.

For fried oyster omelets
and fried prawns

with chili paste.

Bak chor mee:

fish ball noodle soup

and beef satay.

I think one of the issues
is that

we're kind of a victim of our
own success in many ways.

We've grown so fast,
and I guess expectations

among the liberals
and progressives

have just so far ahead,
including myself,

that sometimes, you know, we...

We need a reality check
about what society...

What pace society can move at.

So I think that's
a tension, is that

economic growth has
happened so quickly.

- Yeah.
- And sometimes social mores,

social customs, might take
a bit more time.

You know, a place where
everything works this well...

And a system so seemingly
different than...

Than we are taught to venerate.

Uh, that's genuinely confusing.

So what's the best thing
about Singapore,

and what's the worst thing
about Singapore?

I think best things
are tolerance

and efficiency.

But you know, if you just
look around us right now, right,

you know, there's like...

There's like a mosque
over there.

There's a Buddhist temple
over there.

There're like a bunch
of brothels over there.

Prostitutes walking the street,
legally.

They're regulated
by the government.

And everybody has
kind of accepted this...

This quid-pro-quo situation.

Um, and it somehow works.

Okay, you were shaking
your head, though,

on something he was saying.

No, I... I agree, but to be
feeling so secure

and the security of it all,

I think that's priceless,
you know?

It's like, I'll do
what I have to do

to be able to afford
to live well here.

I'll work hard, I'll tolerate,

and, you know, and even then,

it's not that bad.

When it comes to me
voicing certain things

which maybe the government
doesn't agree with,

I feel I have outlets that
don't have to be public.

Right?
Okay.

And I'm okay with that.

You... you talk about
feeling safe.

Yeah, security.

Uh, do you feel respected?

Definitely.

I do.

Do you feel that there's
parity for women

and you are paid and treated
as well as men?

- Yes.
- Yes, I think so.

- Yes.
- You know why?

I think that's because of maids.

- What are maids?
- Maids, as in helpers.

- Maids.
- Helpers.

I think you'll find
I actually...

If you look at Singapore, a lot
of women in the workforce.

And the reason why that is so
is because

everybody's got a maid

looking after their
child at home.

So maids are kind of like
the opiate of the masses.

But an opiate gives you

slothful and laying home...
Exactly!

Exactly.
But if you have a maid,

you're saying it frees you up
to join the workforce.

It frees you up,
but it also means that I...

My husband now, he doesn't know
how to serve himself water.

- Yeah.
- He goes, he goes...

"Eh, water."
Like that.

- Laundry?
- Sorry?

- You do laundry?
- No.

- Laun-what?
- Really?

No.

Does anyone here know
how to do laundry?

- We know how to do it.
- We kind of, in theory...

We haven't done it.

The guys do, 'cause we did
two years of military service.

- Right.
- But the girls are pampered.

Oh, mean!

When's the last time
you did laundry?

When's the last time you did...

My maid was [indistinct].

- Four days ago.
- Four days ago?

Really? What, you sent it
to the butler?

No, no.
I enjoy doing laundry.

- Yeah.
- I live by myself in New York.

I live by myself in New York.
Yes?

And I have to tell you,
maybe it's a sickness,

maybe it's a weird thing,

I enjoy throwing my clothes
into the washer

and removing them to the dryer.

It's a process that makes you
feel very satisfied with myself.

- Therapeutic, yeah, yeah.
- No, no.

I feel very self-reliant.

You know, listening
to you people,

I got to tell you, I want
to, like, go out and join

the Communist Party.

It's like, bourgeois, man.

You're... you're living
off the labor of, uh,

a repressed underclass.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- I'm gonna start my own cell.

- No, listen.
- I'm just [...] with you.

♪

For a state where
an ounce of weed

can put you in the jug
for up to ten years

and the same weight of dope
can mean death,

where chewing gum
is indeed illegal,

a surprising number of vices
are allowed here.

Drinking age is 18.

Prostitution is legal,

with sex workers getting
regular medical checkups.

There are casinos
and strip clubs.

The government seems
to understand

that along with a certain
amount of repression,

safety valves are required.

Get drunk, get laid,
and you are less likely

to be difficult.

Perhaps that's the thinking.

Or maybe it's just business.

♪

To many, Singapore is the land
of opportunity.

People from all over the world

come here to get a good job,

to find a better life.

As an overseas Chinese,

we have been discriminated

in Laos, Thailand,

Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia,

in America, Australia...

All over the world.

Suddenly you got this, uh...

This guy called Lee Kuan Yew.

There's nowhere else
in the Chinese world

have real leader as big
as Lee Kuan Yew.

Much of Singapore's success
is often credited

to its first prime minster,
Lee Kuan Yew,

a Singaporean of Chinese descent

considered the founding father
of modern Singapore.

Reigning pretty much unopposed

for 30 years, he's responsible

for much of the social
engineering

that holds Singapore together,

as well as the favorable
economic policies

that have allowed it to thrive.

Michael Ma arrived in Singapore

to take advantage of its
business climate,

becoming an early pioneer

of Singapore's now-famous
nightlife.

Back then,
in the very beginning,

was it a favorable business
climate in the sense that,

did they look upon your
early efforts, uh,

generously or kindly,

or were they... "I'm not so
sure about this guy"?

- No, no.
- How was it?

Was it favorable
from the beginning?

No, no, no, Singapore...
No no, Singapore's fantastic.

In fact...
What time did bars close?

2:00. That's where
the opportunity I saw.

You know, you cannot
run this economy

hopping on one leg.

Like, you got the right law,

the right safety, the right...
Everything's right.

But the social part
was not right.

- Right.
- 2:00, you're...

You're managing a teenager.

2:00, guys. Go to bed.

So when... when did it change,
and why?

I started my bars

and restaurant in '99.

Yeah?
Yup.

And the prime minister
of Singapore at that time went,

"What is Singapore doing?"

2005, '10, '20, '30, '50.

This is before all this.
Right.

I suggest partying all night
type of thing.

♪

Cheers.

Welcome Singapore.

Come enjoy with us.

I'm not very smart,

so the only way that got me
through university

is just throw a lot of parties.

You know, I was good
at throwing parties,

but now, I get paid to do it,
which is even better.

♪

One-fifth of the world's
shipping containers

moves through the port
of Singapore.

It is the busiest
transshipment point

on the planet.

♪

Singapore has fully embraced
globalization.

And that's proved, in their
case, very rewarding.

♪

Singapore's an outsized
economic port

primarily because
it's so attractive

to foreign entrepreneurs,

primarily in the form
of multinational corporations.

So right from the start,
the economic strategy

was always to attract
foreign capital.

Donald Low is an economist
who's spent

over ten years researching
and writing

about Singapore's unique
financial policies.

You know, this... this place is

almost contrary to the founders'
original expectations.

This place works,
and this multiethnic,

meritocratic ideal,
this pragmatic,

this understand that free trade
is good for everyone...

This place is, after 50 years,

it's deeply imprinted
in Singaporeans.

It's remarkable how open
and welcoming of diversity

Singapore still is.

We're now living in times
where globalism

and globalization are bad words.

- Yeah, I know.
- We're seeing a rise of...

- Populism.
- Of populism, of nationalism.

Which is why, you know,

I'm worried about... concerned
about Singapore's future.

This is a place that has been
a main beneficiary

of globalization.

And as the world turns
against globalization,

as the world becomes
more inward-looking,

as countries in Europe
and U.S. becomes more concerned

about protecting their
own borders,

literally in the case
of the U.S...

- Right.
- There is a high probability

that Singapore will not
thrive in such a world.

♪

A lot of social engineering

has been superimposed
to hold that together.

And I think what a lot of
Westerners who come to Singapore

come here skeptical

or often reluctantly
pulled into...

the inescapable conclusion
that it seems to work.

It seems to work.
But of course,

the post-independence Singapore
government has been

often accused of being
extremely keen

and extremely confident
in social engineering.

Of course, the most powerful
instrument of social engineering

is public housing.

- Right.
- We force Singaporeans,

vast majority of Singaporeans,
more than 80% of them,

to live in these more or less
uniform housing estates.

But that form of social
engineering

also has certain benefits.

Unlike most of the wealthy
developed world,

there's universal healthcare
a little to no homelessness

in Singapore.

The country's public housing
policy provides an astonishing

80% of Singapore's
5.6 million people

with affordable homes,
with 90% of the population

owning their own home.

Singaporeans would be
hard-pressed to name

a neighborhood that they would
describe as a slum.

They'd be hard-pressed
to name a neighborhood

where they say, "Oh,
the people here are rel..."

"live in relatively
deprived conditions

with poor schooling
and poor amenities."

Most of Singapore feels...

I mean, even though
economic inequality is high,

income inequality's high,

you don't see it in
the public housing estates.

- Right.
- So it's a picture

of general equality.

♪

By ensuring its citizens
are safe,

housed, healthy,
and for the most part

economically successful,

the Singaporean government
has been effective

at keeping the masses
placated enough,

willing to accept curbs
on their freedoms

and civil liberties.

Do you think that
the Singaporean success story

is a rebuke to American
Western values

in some respect?
No, no.

I mean, is free
speech overrated?

I don't think we've succeeded

because of the absence
of free speech.

And to a large extent...
No, but look, it's a factor.

The values of free trade,

the values of a liberal
global order...

These are "Western" ideas.

I mean, Singapore
did not invent them.

Asia did not...

It shouldn't work.

It hasn't... it hasn't really
worked like this anywhere else,

and yet it... it works.

Well, I think my...
My objection,

or my... my discomfort with
the lack of democratic freedom

is that I can we allow
a lot more of that

without hurting Singapore's
prosperity and stability

one ounce.

- Right.
- What would we lose

if we had a freer press?

What would we lose

if we had more democratic
opposition, representation?

It would make for not
just a more lively debate.

It would make for
a better debate.

We may well arrive
at a conclusion that

the current dispensation,
the current order,

represents good, the good...
The best possible society

for Singapore, but let's
have that debate.

I mean, it's
a horrifying thought.

What if... what if...
It's possible.

It's possible that...
That the human mind,

that the average citizen cannot
deal with that much diversity,

that we need these curbs and
restrictions on our freedoms.

What if free speech is, like...
Is bad?

It's like a drug, right?

It's too much of a good thing.

♪

Of the many ethnicities
coexisting in Singapore,

one of the oldest
is the Peranakan culture:

Straits-born Chinese

who immigrated through
the Malay Peninsula

in the 16th century.

♪

We have a heritage

that exists in Singapore

that comprises five
different ethnic groups.

If you're Chinese,
if you're Malay,

if you're Indian...

You have your regular Asians

and your Peranakan.

And this makes the cuisine here

very, very special.

Cheers, Tony.
Cheers.

Chef Damian D'Silva
has made it his mission

to preserve and protect
the knowledge, techniques,

and flavors of Singaporean
heritage foods.

Guan Hoe Soon is the oldest
Peranakan restaurant

in Singapore,
predating independence.

So this is a dish that you
properly find in Laos.

It's sour.

Um, it's sweet because
of the pineapple.

Right? And it's
savory as well.

♪

Ikam asam nana:
sour fish curry with pineapple.

So really, we're talking about
a sort of a...

You know, I hate
the word "fusion,"

but it is natural fusion.
It is.

It's indigenous fusion.

It's a fusion that started

500 years ago.

So now, it's evolved
so much, Tony,

that it's become
a heritage on its own,

a cuisine on its own.

You know? There's nothing,
I think, that...

That is like this anywhere
in the world.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Duck, okay, yeah, that's duck.
Braised duck, it looks like.

Itek sio: duck braised with
tamarind and coriander.

And the famous lady fingers,

or sambar [indistinct]:
okra sautéed with sambal.

Who's cooking now?
Has that changed?

It has changed.

You know, everybody
wants to go up

the ladder very, very quickly,

and they want to do it in a way

where they don't want to put
too much effort in it.

Right? Where is the prestige
in a Peranakan restaurant?

You work in a kitchen 12, 14,
15 hours a day, you know.

And most of them... most of them
don't want to do that.

So what happens is that

they want to work in
a French restaurant.

They want to work in
an Italian restaurant.

Why? Because they
get more money.

- Okay.
- Okay?

I think it's a tactical mistake,

because I just flew halfway
around the world...

- Yeah.
- To Singapore.

And I sure as shit am not eating
French food when I'm here.

No, you're right.

- And I... and you know what?
- You shouldn't.

I'm not gonna eat Japanese food.

You shouldn't.

So when you talk about
Peranakan cuisine,

right, and are there people
that cook it today?

I can tell you,
out of 100 Peranakans,

maybe one.

- Whoa.
- Maybe one.

So you're saying
that basically...

You're talking
about the dinosaurs.

Yeah.

This no longer exists, Tony.

It's gone.

♪

One of the things I admire
about Singaporean food culture

is that people are very
passionate about food.

They value a fancy
French or Italian meal

as much as they enjoy
a really good chicken rice.

Right.

They're just not willing
to pay for it.

Exactly. You know, that's the
public that we have to educate.

And it doesn't make sense, Tony,

because we're a first-world
country.

You know? How can...
How can food be so cheap?

How long more is this gonna last

that we pay $3 for chicken rice?

It's insane.

I have the solution.

It's an ugly solution,
it's a terrible solution,

but it... it will probably
be the only salvation.

It's the hipster solution.
Yeah.

It's hipsters will save the day.

No, you're right.

It takes people to stand up
and say, "Look",

"I don't care whether his is $4.

"Mine is $12.

It's $12, and it's worth it."

But to go and work
the restaurant,

16 hours a day,

seven days a week...

That needs someone
who's not passionate

but a little bit mad.

You're telling me.

A little bit mad.

Cheers to that.

♪

- Okay...
- Whoa.

We'll just let you know
what we are doing.

Um, this round dish, right,

is my dad's recipe.

Hakka recipe.

So it is frittatas
with black vinegar.

Yes, and this is my
mom's recipe,

Hainan mixed vegetable.

Meet Liew Choy,
Koh Liang, daughter Geraldine,

and sons Paul and Wayne,

the family behind long-running,
much-loved eating house,

Keng Eng Kee Seafood

in the Alexandra Village
neighborhood.

And, uh, your parents met
in the restaurant business?

Yes, we only knew about
this story when we get older

and me just starting to view
them as, "Oh",

that's how they know
each other."

We are typical Chinese.

They never talk about
how they met, no.

In the beginning,

when they're working
at your mother's

parents' restaurant,

and then in the beginning
of their eating house,

how many hours a day
did they work,

and how many days a week,

how many days' vacation?

12 hours a day,

and then he gets one day off
every two weeks.

That's hard.

Sauce goes good with the rice.

Thank you, mmm.

It's fantastic.

Wow, that's good.

♪

Choi has been making this dish
for decades:

pigs' feet cooked slowly
in black vinegar,

ginger, fried chilies,

and asam.

♪

Chap chye is
a Hainanese family favorite:

cabbage and glass noodles
stir-fried with bean curd,

black mushrooms, pig skin,

and shrimp.

♪

Now, I've been speaking
to a lot of people

who talk about how Singapore
loves its hawker culture.

It loves its food.

But the general story is,

the first generation
starts a hawker stall.

They get successful, they send
the kids to school,

they tell them, "Do not...
I did not work hard"

so you could go in
the restaurant business."

My dad and mom
say the same thing.

Don't come into the business.

Get a nine-to-five job.

Stay in an air-conditioned room.

Many of the people
I speak to are very sad

that these original recipes
and preparations

are disappearing.

You know, other than
this wonderful family,

who... who do your parents think

will keep these
traditions alive?

My mom was saying, like,
now that the government

encourage a lot of young people
to preserve our traditions

and all, so I think it should...

Even hope that ten years
down the road,

maybe more people like us
or younger generation

are going to take
over the business.

And right now, Wayne's
eldest daughter is 14.

Yeah, we are making sure she
help out in the shop

on weekends, so to learn
and understand

it's not easy to...
To earn, like...

What, would you like
your child to stay

in the restaurant business?

Yeah, so if they're really
interested in this industry,

why not?
I would just, yeah.

- You'd say yeah.
- Yeah.

- Yes.
- This is so good, by the way.

This is delicious food.

Mm-hmm.

Now, Singapore
is a rich country.

Lot of rich people live here.

Why can't you charge
as much money

for this traditional food

as the French charge
for French food?

What do you think?
Why won't Singaporeans pay?

Actually, just a couple
of months ago,

we go through some of our
old photos,

and there's one photo that is
like almost 20 years ago

that's priceless.

They're selling their fried rice
at $3, okay?

Right now, we are selling $4.

So...
20 years later.

One dollar more.

Why?

Singaporeans love food.

I think there's like a bond
between us and the customers.

So he doesn't want
to increase the price.

- You know your customers.
- Yeah.

Right, you have
a lot of regulars.

Yeah. A lot of them is like,

they seen us growing up,
the three of us.

And we see their kids
growing up.

So I think that's a different
kind of bond between us

and the customers.

I just hope this
doesn't disappear,

because it's of course always
gonna be the good stuff.

It's important.
Can I have a little more?

Can we get a little more?

Delicious food.

Singapore is a multinational
society.

We got Chinese, Malay, Indian,
other Asians in Singapore.

- It seems to work.
- It works, it works, yes!

♪

One last trip straight back

to where it all started for me.

♪

A simple, good thing.

In this case, one of my
favorite things.

♪

Ah, here it is, the mighty
char kway teow.

Ordinarily, this is a breakfast.

I eat it every time
I'm in Singapore.

It's just about the unhealthiest
breakfast you could have.

I mean, it's literally,
like, lard...

crispy lard bits.

Healthy cockles.

Shrimp paste, and a whole
lot of noodles.

And it's, like,
legendarily fattening.

Originally created for...
To feed laborers.

So...

it isn't pretty.

Not the healthiest of breakfast.
Delicious.

Mmm.

You're looking to fit into
that silver lamé Speedo,

this would not be, uh...

option one.

Oh, man.

Problem is, you eat this

surrounded by all these
sort of wonders of Asia

in the food court here,

and after this,
you're kinda done.

I don't know how anybody
works after this, frankly.

Once in a while, you hit
a little piece

of crispy pork fat.

Well, my work is done
here today.

Right?

♪

- In Singapore...
- Yup?

Everything is perfect here.

This is one of the safest
countries in the world.

We are gifted to be
in Singapore.

It shows a good example
to the world.

♪