photo: Mamak shop at HDB void deck
“Come shop here,” said the elderly owner of the mamak shop tucked in the void deck of an apartment block. “We have microwavable food, frozen nuggets and meats. There’s no need to walk 15 minutes to the supermarket and there are no long queues here.” He pointed to a neat row of freezers lined up just outside his little shop that is filled with a selection of ready to eat frozen produce.
Mamak shops were traditionally owned and operated by Indians. Mamak means ‘uncle’ or ‘elder’ in Tamil. Mamak shops is a feature of Singapore’s heartland residential living and can be traced back to the 1960s when the Singapore government created the Housing Development Block (HDB) to build high-rise apartments for its growing population. The Mamak shop is a small convenience store usually no larger than 10 square meters that is located under a high-rise HDB apartment block. Shop owners usually speak a multitude of languages, knows the residents of the neighborhood, and commands a loyal patronage from the community it serves.
In recent years, mamak shops have struggled against modernization and rising competition, especially from large supermarket and convenience store chains that offers air-conditioned comfort, larger diversity of products, and home-delivery services. Many have closed as the elderly owners retired and the younger moved on to greener pastures.
However, it appears that local mamak shops are fighting back. Brighter lights are installed to make the shop look bigger and more appealing. Freezers are installed along the open spaces of the void deck to extend the size of the shop. Instant and frozen food are carefully chosen to appeal to the modern time scarce generation – who can choose to purchase a frozen ready to eat microwavable meal and a packet drink on their way home upstairs.
photo: Neat rows of freezers outside mamak shop