Local CNY 2024 movie King of Hawkers to star Hugo Ng, Liu Lingling, Dawn Yeoh

Those who visit Sims Vista Market and Food Centre for the next three weeks may have the chance to catch some familiar faces, such as veteran actor Hugo Ng and local actress Dawn Yeoh selling chilli crab and bak chor mee.

While you may wonder if they have taken on a new sideline, they are actually filming the new movie King of Hawkers, scheduled to be released during the Chinese New Year period next year.

At the press conference and lensing ceremony today (Sept 29), which was held at the hawker centre near Aljunied MRT station, local director Kelvin Sng said that Singapore’s hawker culture is something that is very close to heart for locals.

“No matter what race you are or which social-economic status you belong to, everyone would have eaten at a hawker centre before,” he said.

Kelvin added that this is his fourth movie and he and his team spent about a year and a half to write the script.

He shared: “Although this movie will be released during the Chinese New Year period, it is not just a festive comedy movie. It is a heartwarming story that includes touching moments.”

King of Hawkers centres around Zhang Nala (Dawn), who returns to Singapore from Hong Kong to restart her life at her family-run bak chor mee stall after divorcing her rich playboy husband (Collin Chee).

Operating next to Nala’s stall are others selling local cuisines, such as Ah Lau’s Cantonese Cuisine, run by Liu Derong (Hugo) and Bestest Indian Food, which is operated by Raja (Das DD). When a multinational company organises a competition in an attempt to buy over Nala and other hawkers’ recipes and businesses, they work together to retain their legacy.

The movie also stars veteran singer-actresses Mimi Choo and Liu Lingling as well as Gini Chang, Asher Su and Filipino actor Kimson Tan.

In response to AsiaOne’s queries, a spokesperson for Kelvin Sng’s Production said that they have booked 12 stalls at Sims Vista Market and Food Centre to film for three weeks, and rental amounted to a six-digit figure.

They added that the venue was chosen because it has an “authentic hawker atmosphere”.

“We aim to portray true hawker culture, therefore places such as Newton and Lau Pa Sat which are geared towards tourists did not feel appropriate,” they shared.