East vs West.
In Singapore, it is no secret that the Easties (those living in the East of Singapore) and the Westies (those living in the West of Singapore) are in constant “rivalry” about whose territory has better food.
With the reopening of Jurong West Hawker Centre, the Westies may have more ammunition added to retort any Easties who claim that the “east side is the best side”.
Here’s more about the reopening of the long-awaited Jurong West Hawker Centre which was supposed to be opened in 2021, and why there was a long three-year delay.
Jurong West Hawker Centre Reopens for Business
At the end of last month, Mr Desmond Lee announced on Facebook that Jurong West Hawker centre will officially be opened in October this year.
Mr Lee is the Minister for National Development, and the Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration.
Hawker centres naturally fall under this purview as part of national development.
In his post, Mr Lee announced that he attended the “soft launch” of the hawker centre on 28 September 2023.
He also attached many pictures of the stalls which can be found in the hawker centre.
Some of them were seen sporting long queues with many hungry patrons eagerly waiting for their food.
Based on Mr Lee’s pictures, the hawker centre appeared to have some pretty fancy décor and store signboards, with some sporting bright lights and colours to attract more customers.
The Jurong West Hawker Centre has a host of culinary delights for patrons to explore, including “local favourites like wanton mee, nasi padang, economy rice, prawn noodle, prata, to pizza, minjiang kueh, grilled fish, bubble tea”.
If you want to save a buck and quickly find which hawker stall sells affordable means, you can try utilising the gowhere.gov.sg/budgetmeal website to quickly locate the stalls near you which sell affordable food under $3.
Many people are sure to cheer the opening of the hawker centre. After all, it is a long-awaited opening.
The Jurong West Hawker Centre was supposed to open in 2021 after it closed in 2020.
However, the previous operator, Koufu Group subsidiary Hawker Management, chose not to renew its contract to operate the hawker centre which caused the shutters to remain down for a longer time.
JW 50 Hawker Heritage later took up the operator role and continued the renovations for the hawker centre which led to the refurbished area which just opened.
Will you pay this new hawker centre a visit?
