The World’s First Docu-Dramedy Podcast About Singapore’s Food

Press Kit

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WHAT IS EAT BY EAR?

Eat by Ear is the world's first docu-dramedy podcast about food in Singapore. Each episode blends hawker-chefs’ secrets and stories, in their own voices, with a tender narrative stream of culinary consciousness. Resulting in a gastronomical ride that will satiate your mind yet make you instantly ravenous.

The podcast is a scholarly-creative sonic hybrid, spiced with ethnographic research and the narrative aesthetics of audio drama—inspired by culinary shows like The Solitary Gourmet, Midnight Diner, and Stephen Chow’s God of Cookery. A must-listen for foodies, it answers a platter of questions ranging from the practical—such as “What’s the secret to getting the perfect char in Wat Tan Hor?” and “How to master the six steps required to clean a pig's intestines?” —to the philosophical: “How can the meaning of life be found in wok hei?

Eat by Ear is the latest brainchild of award-winning writer-director-producer Woo Yen Yen, whose previous works include Singapore Dreaming, Talkingcock.com, and Dim Sum Warriors. Her works have been featured on Netflix, HBO, and the BBC. This is Yen Yen’s first partnership with international award-winning sound designer Lim Tingli, whose works have screened at Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Sundance. Her credits have included celebrated films such as Tiger Stripes by Amanda Nell Eu, The Songs We Sang by Eva Tang, and Apprentice by Boo Jun Feng.

Yen Yen conceived of this project in Singapore, after being away from her homeland for 25 years, during which yearning for Singaporean food was her constant state of being and a common conversation starter with fellow Singaporeans.

While chatting with a friend about a dish that they both love, her friend started oohing and aahing about the mandatory charring on the rice noodles in a delicious Wat Tan Hor (silken egg rice noodles). This playful performance had both of them in stitches, germinating the seeds of the podcast in her head. From a fun creative idea, Eat by Ear has evolved into a podcast project for the re-sensing of food culture in Singapore. 

This year, as Singapore celebrates SG60, Yen Yen’s goal is for us to take a break from the ever-present National Day songs and listen to the quiet sounds and stories of hawker chefs who work on perfecting their dish day after day. It’s an invitation to discover Singapore food culture more intimately and authentically through a whole new sensory mode—sound.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I love talking to Singaporeans about food. It's when we're most culturally confident—we instinctively know how a good nasi lemak, chicken rice, or laksa should taste, and we're quick to share our kopitiam or hawker centre recommendations.
We celebrate the food, but how much do we know about the hawker-chefs who make it?

When beloved dishes vanish due to retirement or become diluted by cutting corners or franchising, we lament their loss, yet ultimately move on.

My work is a pedagogy of "cultural re-sensing" through sound. It begins with the pleasure of rediscovering something familiar—a visceral recognition in an unexpected context. This brings a sense of possibility, a reconnection to what was forgotten or overlooked, and a critical question: "Why have I forgotten?"
Hope you enjoy this sonic feast as much as I did making it.

Sincerely,

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT EAT BY EAR

“Eat by Ear stimulates the senses with an in-depth, intelligent, and culturally informed look at food and food cultures in Singapore in ways not heard before.”
Dr. Rosslyn Prosser, Programme Leader, MA Creative Writing, LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore.

“Eat by Ear reveals the richness of sounds in Singaporean food culture, ranging from dish names to the cacophony, or maybe it’s the harmony of noises when we eat out.”
Prof. Ooi Can Seng, Cultural and Heritage Tourism, University of Tasmania.

KEY INFORMATION

Eat by Ear Season 1 is a limited series featuring 3 episodes:
Episode 1: ‘WAT TAN HOR. MADE WITH HEART AND CHEF’S TEARS’ featuring Chef Hui Hoy Yong from Hoy Yong Seafood.

Episode 2: ‘A PILOT’S JOURNEY TO THE PERFECT BOWL OF KWAY CHAP’ featuring Chef Jason Koh from Garden Street Kway Chap.

Episode 3: ‘SSSHHH, THE SAMBAL IN THIS NASI LEMAK IS A TOP SECRET’ featuring Chef Halipah from Nurul Delights in Bukit Batok West Avenue 4.

Eat by Eat is available on all major podcast streaming platforms.

ARTISTS AND COLLABORATORS

Woo Yen Yen (Host and Creator)
Beyond her role as the Associate Professor and Programme Leader at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, Yen Yen is an award-winning filmmaker (Singapore Dreaming) and comics creator (Dim Sum Warriors). She dreams of a universe where if you really deeply enjoy the food, your body automatically transforms the calories into good stuff … but only if you deeply enjoy the food. Follow Yen Yen on IG: @wooyenyen

Terence Lau (Co-Producer)
Terence is a technical theatre professional and educator with over two decades of experience in Singapore’s theatre and dance scene. He is currently a lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, teaching the Diploma in Technical Theatre and Production Management program. His teaching and research focus on exploring diverse pedagogical methods, styles, and philosophies, with a strong advocacy for sustainable practices and the subculture within the technical theatre industry. Food is a reprise. Follow Terence on IG: @plasticblackspecs

Lim Tingli (Sound Designer)
Tingli is a supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer. She won the Verna Fields Award at the MPSE Golden Reel Awards in Los Angeles (2014) and received Singapore’s Young Artist Award (2018). She established Singapore’s first Dolby Atmos mixing studio and has worked internationally in countries including the UK, South Korea, Thailand, and Portugal. Her work has been featured at major film festivals and on platforms like HBO and Netflix. A dedicated industry advocate, she is a founding member and elected Vice President of the Singapore Association of Motion Picture Professionals. She lives In Porto, Portugal and she misses Malay food the most as she cannot make it herself. Follow Tingli on IG: @tingly.sounds

Timothy Wee (Designer & Photographer)
Timothy is a photographer, multidisciplinary designer and educator based in Singapore. He is currently a lecturer at the School of Design Communication at LASALLE College of the Arts. He is passionate about arts education, culture, skateboarding, bouldering and making the world a better place. Timothy's favourite local dish is a bowl of mee pok, as it comes in an almost infinite variety of ingredient combinations which is unique to each hawker. Every bowl holds a story waiting to be told through sight, smell and taste. Follow Tim on IG: @timothystuartwee

Steven Cheong (Studio Sound Engineer)
Steven is a full-time freelance sound engineer of many years. He’s worked for live band shows, musicals, classical orchestra concerts, traditional Indian groups and studio recordings. He’s also taught for many years and has recently retired from teaching. He loves all genres of music, from traditional classical music to contemporary music and even alternative ones. The best food he likes will always be the food his mum makes, from traditional TCM soups to all the Teo-Chew and Cantonese cuisines. The sinful dish he will usually go for when he just wants to enjoy a quick and nice meal is either a plate of Cha Kway Teow or Fried Hokkien Mee. For sound projects, contact Steven at Skysea666777@mac.com

YakuzaBaby (Singer, Choral Composer & Voice Artist in Season 1’s “Kway Chap” Episode)
Artist, storyteller, real life vampire–YakuzaBaby is a multidisciplinary artist and third culture kid. She is based in Singapore. She remembers growing up in Flushing, Queens, New York City, where the nearest restaurant was the 24-hr Gahwa Restaurant. Whenever she and her family returned after travelling, their jet-lag meal would be seolleongtang and kalbi from Gahwa. Seolleongtang is still her comfort food to this day. Follow Yakuza Baby on IG: @yakuza_baby

Chua Chia Hui (Production and Research Assistant, Music Arranger for “Ode to Pig” in Season 1’s “Kway Chap” Episode)
Chia Hui grew up in Terengganu, Malaysia, and is now based in Singapore. She is a music educator who teaches a diverse range of students from kindergarteners to senior citizens. She also holds a Master’s degree in Arts Pedagogy and Practice from Lasalle College of the Arts. While assisting with Eat by Ear, she began to appreciate her conversational trilingual background more—she discovered that ordering food at Malay and Mamak stalls in Bahasa Melayu sometimes earns her extra sambal or gravy!  Follow Chia Hui on IG: @chiahui.cch.ch

Joe Ng (Music Composer)
A prolific and versatile composer, Joe’s works span across multiple musical styles and screen genres. Joe has worked on over a hundred projects from feature films, shorts, commercials, to art installations. These include box office horror hit, The Maid (2005), acclaimed art house film: 7 Letters (2015), HBO series Invisible Stories (2020) and Singapore Biennale works for artists like Joo Choon Lin and Ang Soo Koon. When I hit the project mid-point milestone, I go to Koh Brother’s pig organ soup to recharge. Nowadays I cannot eat too much of it. Learn more about Joe at https://www.joengcomposer.com

Arnold San Juan (Field Sound Recordist)
After recording sound for various food documentaries and MasterChef Singapore. The ambience of the indoor and outdoor kitchen, the smell of herbs and spices and the heart of the chef making the magic. I enjoy cooking and always try to find the Ah Ma and Ah Gong recipes because food we buy now seems a little diluted. Just give me the original anytime.

Anisha Ralhan (Copywriter)
Anisha is an independent copywriter and founder of Catchphrase Pte. Ltd., a boutique digital marketing agency in Singapore. She has a master’s degree in Creative Writing from LASALLE College of the Arts, Goldsmith’s, University of London. Her short stories and essays have been published in The Best Asian Short Stories 2022, What We Inherit, Missed Connections: Micro fiction from Asia, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore & more. She thinks of herself as a cat-whisperer, but Mowgli and Pikachu, her two cats, disagree. Her favourite food memory: slurping bowls of Bak Kut Teh on a rainy day and embarrassing herself in public by ordering a spicier bowl of Malatang than what she can handle. Connect with her at anisharalhan.com

Amanda Chan (Web Builder)
Amanda is a front-end web developer who specialises in building responsive, user-friendly interfaces with clean, efficient code. With a keen eye for design and a love for seamless user experiences, she brings both technical skill and creative thinking to every project. Amanda loves to eat laksa and always recommends trying the iconic Katong Laksa at 328 Katong—rich, spicy, and totally unforgettable. For collaboration, you can reach Amanda at amandac-x@hotmail.com.

KF Seetoh (Advisor)
Seetoh is the founder of Singapore's renowned hawker food guide, Makansutra and the hawker culture advisor for Eat by Ear. He's a well-known street food advocate and entrepreneur, recognised for his expertise as a food critic, writer, photographer, consultant, and TV host. Here's a fun fact about Singapore's food culture from Seetoh: before kopitiams started using margarine and butter, they used lard to fry coffee beans! Follow Seetoh on FB: https://www.facebook.com/kfseetoh

Patrick Cox (Advisor)
Patrick is an audio editor and reporter who hosts the podcast Subtitle, which tells stories about languages and the people who speak them. While reporting for the BBC/PRI-produced international news radio show The World, he went on assignment to dozens of countries where he always made a point of trying the local specialities, even ones that were still moving when he placed them in his mouth. Sadly, he’s allergic to jellyfish. Savours the mala sensation and cannot live without marmite. Follow Patrick on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/patricox.bsky.social

Sivakumar Palakrishnan (Voice Artist for Season 1’s “Wat Tan Hor”)
Sivakumar is an award-winning actor, director, and counsellor based in Singapore. He is passionate about helping people through counselling and life coaching, drawing on his rich experience in the arts and spirituality. His mission is to inspire others towards personal growth and emotional well-being. He loves having tea with curry puffs and other kueh kuehs. He loves dim sum and is a big pau and chee cheong fan. He can have them for all three meals. A good toast with butter and orange kaya is very much missed. Once a year, he enjoys his Indian rojak, and only from the store (Temasek Rojak) in Tekka market. Follow Siva on IG: @sivakumarpalakrishnan

Dalifah Shahril (Voice Artist in Season 1’s “Nasi Lemak” Episode)
Dalifah is an actress and arts educator who is effectively bilingual in English and Malay. She is also a voice actor and voiceover talent for various companies and television productions. Dalifah enjoys working with young children and teaches speech and drama. Food love: Indian Rojak! A delightful dish you can eat anytime where you share it in a group and have conversations while enjoying it!
Follow Dalifah on IG: @dalifahshahril

Adib Kosnan (Scriptwriter for Season 1’s “Nasi Lemak” Episode)
Adib has somehow managed to make a living out of writing. He loves spending time with his family and having off days with no plans. The second part of the last sentence rarely happens because of the first part. His food for thought: Losing your favourite hawker stall for whatever reason is one of the saddest things you can go through, so don't take your favourite hawkers for granted. Follow Adib on IG: @adibkosnan

Yazid Jalil (Interviewer & Translator for Season 1’s “Nasi Lemak” Episode)
Yazid is an actor, director, writer and drama educator. He believes in the power of play and imagination to inspire people, one classroom at a time. He has credits in over 60 professional theatrical productions in the last two decades. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 11th Life! Theatre Awards for his role in Charged (Teater Ekamatra, 2011) and has two Best Ensemble Nominations: Pretty Things (The Substation & Patricia Toh, 2012) and It Won’t Be Too Long: The Cemetery (Drama Box & SIFA, 2015). He once paid 20 dollars for mee goreng in Europe because he missed home so much. Follow Yazid on IG @yazid_de_jalil