Despite going into Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), there’s one thing we all need to venture out of our homes daily to buy.
Toilet paper?
No, dear auntie. You don’t go to the loo 20 times a day.
The sad thing is that while hawker culture is part of Singapore’s intangible culture, these hard-working heroes have been severely hit by the pandemic.
Not to mention those older hawkers who have trouble transitioning to online services.
But when there’s a will, there’s a way: A group of three sisters have swooped in and wielded the power of social media to attempt to alleviate the hardships of our essential hawkers.
The question they aim to help answer: where to da pao?
Sharing Stories of Elderly Hawkers
According to their Instagram page (@wheretodapao), they will feature a few hawkers every day in order to help them gain “more business during this tough time”.
The page has since garnered over 25,000 followers with 18 posts, also sharing about other hawkers on their Instagram story.
Initially, the owner was only able to travel to one hawker centre a day as they could only do so much as one person. But with many Singaporeans reaching out to offer their contributions, it seems that more posts will be coming up/
There is now a Google form for users to fill in if they wish to share with @wheretodapao their elderly hawker stories, which you can check out here.
All sorts of hawker stalls are featured on their page, with interesting stories and interactions behind every uncle or auntie running the stall. Just take a look at these heartwarming stories!
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
The account has also kindly sectioned the hawker stalls into those located in the North, South, East and Central on their story highlights so that Singaporeans can easily find delicious fare near them.
And hopefully not sweat that much by the time they reach the stall.
Where Else To Dabao
Apart from @wheretodapao, another Instagram account has launched a crowdsourcing campaign to help hawkers that aren’t on delivery platforms. They aim to feature these hawkers on their platform, @wakeupsingapore, to encourage residents to buy from them.
Apart from these, you can also find many “group buy” groups who help purchase food from local hawkers to help them tide over this rough period. There’s even a website that shows you hawkers to dabao from in your area.
Featured Image: Instagram (@wheretodapao)