Hawker Colours: Melamine Tableware in Singapore
They refer not to the green of chendol or the red of mee goreng but the riot of colourful melamine plates and bowls in which many hawker dishes in Singapore are served today. Red, green, yellow, purple, pink, and more!
These colours defy conventional aesthetic sensibilities, and yet they have become entrenched in local hawker centres and coffee shops. Hawker Colours retraces their origins and mass adoption, and asks what value they still hold as the trade adapts to the changing needs of the city-state.
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Published by In Plain Words
By Hans Tan Studio, Justin Zhuang and Sheere Ng
Designed by Currency
Printed by Allegro Printers
210 x 170 x 12 mm
175pp, 440g
Soft cover (Black and Cocoa)
Published in 2023 (Blue, Pink, Orange, Apple Green, Purple covers)
Reprinted in 2026 (Black and Cocoa covers)
ISBN 978-981-18-8248-7
