SOFTWARE project manager Koh Seng Tiang traded in his computer keyboard and a cushy office job for an apron and endless hours in a steamy kitchen.
Mr Koh, 36, made the drastic change to relieve his elderly parents of their gruelling hawker lifestyle.
He now spends 13 hours a day cooking at their mutton soup stall in the Old Airport Road hawker centre.
'It's not easy being a hawker; we work long hours, have no social life and are always dirty,' he said. 'But I have no regrets.'
Mr Koh is one of the more than 30 hawkers featured in the National Environment Agency's (NEA) new commemorative book: Singapore Hawker Centres - People, Places, Food.
The book, which chronicles the development of hawker centres, was launched yesterday by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.
Dr Yaacob told about 200 guests at Newton hawker centre: 'Hawker centres have become places of bonding where families come together. At some point in his life, every Singaporean would've spent some time in a centre.'
The 176-page book was written by National University of Singapore geography professor Lily Kong.
Said Dr Kong: 'This book is long overdue. Hawker centres are so much a part of our landscape now that we've taken them for granted.'
The book takes readers back to post-war Singapore when hawkers lined the streets with their carts. But when pollution became a problem, the Government built centres with proper amenities. There are now 113 centres housing more than 6,000 cooked food stalls.
Mr Chong Yik Hwee, boss of Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo, is another hawker featured in the book.
His father started the business as a street hawker in 1954. When he died in 1965, Mr Chong and his mum opened their first store at the People's Park hawker centre.
Those early years sweating over a stove for up to 20 hours a day allowed Mr Chong to expand. He now owns a factory, 12 stores and two franchises.
He said: 'Eating is my hobby but the food business is my passion.'
