This year’s Singapore Hawker Masters were revealed on Dec 19 at Far East Square The Pavilion. Organised by The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, the award ceremony was attended by about 100 guests including guest-of-honour Professor Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

The hawker hunt, now in its fifth year, kicked off in late August. More than 600 nominations were received from the public, and more than 2,000 readers cast their votes to determine the finalists for each category.

A panel of eight judges then made their rounds of the finalists in each category to decide on the winners. This year's judges were Prof Tommy Koh; food consultant and restaurateur Violet Oon; chief operating officer and director of restaurant chain River Inn Group Steven Yeong; chairman of real estate agency Dennis Wee Group Dennis Wee; president of Far East Food Concepts Chia Boon Pin; ST food editor Tan Hsueh Yun; ST food critic and executive sub-editor Wong Ah Yoke; and Lianhe Zaobao zbNOW food correspondent Marcus Yeo.

Prof Koh said: "The six winners are all master chefs. The awards have helped to raise their social status, and I hope that we will also succeed in raising their incomes so that these hardworking people will be able to make a decent living."

This year's Singapore Hawker Masters 2014 winners are:

• Lor Mee – Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee (Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road, #02-80)
• Beef Noodle – Zheng Yi Hainanese Beef Noodle (Kin Seng Coffeeshop, 47 Tai Thong Crescent)
• Mee Goreng – Hass Bawa Mee Stall (Block 84, Marine Parade Central)
• Popiah – My Cosy Corner (Coronation Shopping Plaza, 587 Bukit Timah Road, #02-02)
• Fish Soup – Piao Ji Fish Porridge (Amoy Street Food Centre, #02-100)
• Mee Soto – Riyan Hidayat Satay Solo, No. 31 (Serangoon Garden Market and Food Centre, #01-31)

For more information and partnership opportunities with The Straits Times / The Sunday Times, please contact Jean Pang at 6319-1274/ jeanpang@sph.com.sg or Niccolle Lum at 6319-4029 / nlum@sph.com.sg.