Proposals · Part V · The Taste Council
The Taste Council (veteran blind panel)
Five retired hawker masters taste heritage stalls blind about three times a year and ask one question: is this worthy of the name?
- OPT-IN ONLY · COMMITMENTS, NOT ASPIRATIONS
Panelists are paid $300 a session, serve staggered two-year terms and give a holistic four-point verdict (Proudly yes, Yes, Not yet, No) with narrative notes conveyed privately by a mentor. 'Not yet' triggers help such as a Master Fellow clinic; two consecutive 'No' verdicts pause certification and the Heritage Excellence rent rebate until a re-taste. Its constitution rules out cameras, mandatory data feeds, public scoreboards, decertification tribunals and twenty-dimension scorecards. A re-baseline clause moves the benchmark when a supply change is permanent or a refinement wins the panel over.
Who pays
SELF-FINANCING
What it costs
$300 SGD · per panelist per session
Panelists are paid $300/session
| Year | Line | Amount | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yr 1 | Taste Council & opt-in feedback platform, with tastings at Geylang Serai | $70,000 | the Budget Book, B.3 |
| Yr 2 | Taste Council & feedback, with tastings at Geylang Serai and Tekka · repository operations | $120,000 | the Budget Book, B.4 |
| Yr 3 | Taste Council, with tastings at Geylang Serai and Tekka · repository | $145,000 | the Budget Book, B.5 |
Who gains
- Diners
- Nobody is filming the wok: five retired masters eat the dish blind and answer whether it is still the real thing (§5.2).
- Hawkers
- Certification is celebratory and renewable; 'Not yet' triggers help, not prosecution (§5.1, §5.2).
Where the library discusses it
§5.2 · §5.1 · §3.2 · the Budget Book, B.3 · the Budget Book, B.4 · the Budget Book, B.5
Note: The chip sits on §5.1 ('Five Things We Will Never Do'). The Yr 2 and Yr 3 lines also include the Taste Council tastings at the pilot centres and repository operations; the field-equipment refresh moved to documentation in the programme budget.
Related proposals
Sources
- Singapore (prepared by NHB; approved by the Singapore National Commission for UNESCO). Periodic report on the implementation of the 2003 Convention, cycle 2020–2024 (signed 11 Dec 2024) (2024-12-11)
- Teo, P., Guan, E. and Dashow, J.. Not for Sale: Singapore's Remaining Heritage Street Food Vendors (2013)