Hawkepreneurship
The hottest new Diploma in Singapore
Yes, you heard it right. There is now a brand new Diploma offered by Temasek Polytechnic on Hawkerpreneurship. The first of its kind in Singapore and perhaps even the world.
This 12-month course aims to provide recent graduates from polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) a head-start in the hawker profession through classroom and on-the-job training which will prepare them for a career as a hawkerpreneur and also in the larger food and beverage industry.
Temasek Polytechnic
For the uninitiated, “hawkers” in Singapore are defined as food stall sellers, mostly found at hawker centres peppered throughout the island nation. Needless to say, it has always been a role occupied by the lesser educated population in the country. While they serve a very important role in the country, being a hawker is still not an ambition parents would tell their children to aim for. A profession as a doctor, banker, engineer is still arguably the top of that list.
It does appear that change is in the air.
Next, I am cautiously optimistic as I read in the same breath, in the statement above, hawkerpreneur as a career.
This in my opinion is the beginning of a society recognising that “hawking” is a well respected role that the young of Singapore can consider as a career option. It is a good start.
However, I am of the opinion that one must not turn everything into a “paper chase”. Hawking or selling food requires real experience and the best form of learning is through “shadowing” , in the form of apprenticeship. Have you ever wonder why certain skills especially cooking can be easily learned on YouTube? That is because you are learning by “shadowing” and through trial and error.
On the other hand, I do see a practical value in organising “hawkerpreneur” into a structured learning such as a diploma. The reasons are;
This is how our millennials and generation z learn; in a structured manner. We must meet them where they are.
“Hawking” is a very “secretive” affair, where successful hawkers guard the recipe of their food like an eagle over its young. It is almost impossible for anyone to apprentice with them even if they are willing. This course will open doors, possibly to iron vault doors.
I bid anyone who signs up for the course all the very best but I do caution that being a hawker is back breaking work. Their tenacity and grit often requires them to work from the wee hours in the morning to late into the night with very little breaks. What kept them going is their passion to see a happy face in their customers and to bring better lives to their family members.
It must be a labour of love.
Having said that, all form of works that we do stem from that, isn’t it?
Perhaps is time to add a “… preuner” to the role that you are in now : mompreneur, dadpreneur, edupreneur, bropreneur, and so the list goes on.
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