New apprenticeship and internship programme aims to attract young Singaporeans to hawker trade

A new apprenticeship and internship programme aims to encourage more young Singaporeans to enter the hawker trade. Set to begin in April 2027, the initiative will give students from the Institute of Technical Education and Temasek Polytechnic hands-on experience in preparing food and running hawker stalls. But as ageing hawkers struggle to find successors, some youths are finding their own ways to preserve Singapore’s hawker culture, from taking over family businesses to sharing hawker stories on social media. CNA speaks to Cornelius Tan, founding member of the Hawkers of Food Centres.