Home / Architecture and Landscape

Chomp-Chomp Hawkers

History
In the 1960s, the stalls at Chomp Chomp were originally located at where bus-stop and carpark now stands, opposite the present hawker centre. Then in 1972, the stalls were moved to its present location and adopted the name "Chomp Chomp". As the hawkers gained fame for their varied and tasty dishes, the name became an appropriate onomatopoeia, reflecting the sound of frenzied eating. Some stalls have adopted its name like the Zhong Zhong Duck Rice stall.

The open-air food centre underwent renovations which saw a roof set in place by 1 April 1998. Plans for this had been discussed since September 1996 in conjunction with discussions of the ownership of stalls. Although simple in design, Chomp Chomp remains a key landmark in Serangoon Gardens because of its tasty food. It was revamped and reopened in November 2002 after nine months of renovations. The new food centre saw an expansion of space and new hawkers joining the established stall-holders. These included 14 relocated stalls from the Taman Serasi Hawker Centre which had been near Botanical Gardens.

Variant Names
Chinese names: In Teochew, tiong tiong which is equivalent to the Mandarin zhong zhong meaning "loyalty" and "righteousness"



Author
Bonny Tan



References 
Catchy food-centre name not linked to food: Under one roof please, say Chomp Chomp stall- owners (1996, September 21). The Straits Times.

Chomp chomp takes shape (1998, January 9). The Straits Times.

Lim, H. H.. (2002, November 20). Revamped food centre draws lunchtime crowd. The Straits Times.

Under one roof please, say Chomp Chomp stall-owners (1996, September 21).The Straits Times.


Further Readings
Serangoon Gardens: 35th anniversary 1959-1994. (1994). Singapore: Serangoon Gardens Commemorative Magazine Editorial Committee.
(Call no.: SING 959.57 SER)

Teo, P. L. (2002, November 24). Clash of yummy kings. The Straits Times, Life!

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Commercial Buildings
Ethnic Communities>>Food
Food service--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings

Librarian Recommendations
>> Anderson Bridge


All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2004.