GEORGE TOWN: Penang today admitted that it has a long way to go in getting Unesco to recognise its hawker culture the same way Singapore did this week.
Yesterday, Singapore’s hawker culture was inducted into Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, joining the likes of French cuisine, Thai massage and yoga.
Penang Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said the state has fought hard to get a “serial nomination”, where both Malaysia and Singapore could be jointly nominated for the honour.
He said, however, Singapore was way ahead in their nomination, and Penang could not do so on their own.
Yeoh said the tourism, arts and culture ministry had responded last year by saying it was “too premature” to nominate Malaysian hawker culture as further in-depth studies were needed.
“The ministry had said it would require a lot of research, inventory, conservation and documentation, which would take a long time. We can’t make it on time, so a serial nomination with Singapore was not possible,” he told reporters in Komtar here today.
Yeoh said in the meantime, Penang would go for low-hanging fruits, which was to nominate the state’s hawker culture as a national heritage. He said it was one of the requirements in getting Unesco recognition.
He said a working group led by Machang Bubuk assemblyman Lee Khai Loon and George Town World Heritage Inc will pursue Penang’s Unesco hawker culture recognition ambition which might take about five years to complete.
Yeoh said it would also cost the state at least RM5 million to bring the proposal to Unesco, via the National Heritage Department at the federal level.
Singapore first submitted its nomination documents to Unesco in March 2019, a year after it said it would be pushing for its hawker food culture recognition.
On Wednesday, the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Paris announced Singapore’s entry into the heritage list, CNA reported.