Singapore’s ‘ice cream uncles’ are melting away thanks to old age and red tape: ‘it’s just the way it is’

Squatting on the ground in front of a bicycle parked along an empty alley in Singapore, an elderly man carefully hammers a block of dry ice into smaller pieces.

“It stings, but I’m quite used to it,” the man, who prefers to be known only by his last name, Liang, said in Mandarin. Most hawkers collect their ice cream and dry ice from wholesale distributors around the country.

It’s a windy, overcast Friday morning and Liang, who is in his 70s, is getting ready for work.

Soon, he’ll load his cooler with ice cream from the wholesale distributor next door before selling the treat to passers-by in the sweltering equator heat for about S$1.50 (US$1.10), with only the shade of his bike’s umbrella to keep him cool.

Liang is one of Singapore’s remaining traditional ice cream sellers and part of a bygone era.

Up until the 1960s, Singapore was teeming with street hawkers, selling everything from shaved ice desserts to pork rib soup. Now, only about 150 of them are working on the streets today, largely due to strict regulations in the city state.

Unlike America’s ice cream trucks, these hawkers in Singapore run their business on bikes – some of which aren’t even motorised.

The vehicles come attached with a cooler to store blocks of ice cream in an abundance of flavours, from the traditional (chocolate, vanilla) to the less common (corn or even the polarising fruit, durian).

Orders can be served in a cup, between two thin wafer biscuits, or, perhaps most recognisably, wrapped in a slice of rainbow-coloured bread.

For many Singaporeans, these traditional ice creams are an affordable, nostalgic treat. Buying one from one of Singapore’s “ice cream uncles” is almost a right of passage.

But it’s not easy being a traditional ice cream seller in Singapore, where street hawking is strictly regulated by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

“In 1994, street hawkers were licensed in a one-time exercise to control their numbers and no more licences were issued after that,” the SFA said in a statement. “However, in the early 2000s, the Street Hawking Scheme was reopened as a means to temporarily help those who are needy tide over their financial difficulties.”

These licences are valid for one year but are non-transferable, the SFA added.

(Singaporeans think of the traditional ice creams as an integral part of the country’s heritage. Photo: Business Insider)

“The older generation hawkers were previously issued with island-wide licences, which enabled them to ply their trade anywhere in Singapore, such as in tourist belts like Orchard Road,” Kenneth Goh, the third-generation owner of Chip Guan Heng, an ice cream distributor, said over email.

However, the newer hawkers tend to be issued with localised licences specific to the region where they live, Goh added. In 2019, Channel News Asia reported that there were only 13 street hawkers left who were permitted to sell ice cream on any “public land,” per the SFA.

“The Street Hawking Scheme is intended to provide temporary assistance for the unemployed and is not a permanent solution for anyone trying to make a living,” the SFA said.

The SFA also did not share the cost of these licences, although an old article published by local paper Today in 2014 reported that the licences under the renewed Street Hawking Scheme cost S$120 a year.

“I’ll try to buy ice cream and support them when I can,” Darren Tan, a 26-year-old local, said. “It’ll be sad if there are no more ice cream seller uncles in the future. There are not many places in Singapore where you can find such affordable and nostalgic ice cream.”

Ref: Singapore’s ‘ice cream uncles’ are melting away thanks to old age and red tape: ‘it’s just the way it is’ (scmp)

Photo Credit: businessinsider