Help wanted

Silicon Wok is small. Uncle James is its first team member, and he would like company. These are the jobs we need done now. Each one is small to start with, and each says how long it takes.

Dialect interviewer

Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay or Tamil.

• What you'd do: join a conversation with a hawker in their own language, and help us write down what they said, faithfully.
• Time: about 3 hours, once, for each conversation.
• What you need: you speak the language well, and you can write plain English.
• What you get back: credit by name, if you wish. You read the write-up before anyone else.

Test cook

• What you'd do: cook one recorded dish from its record alone, then tell us where the record failed you – a missing step, a vague amount, a taste you could not reach.
• Time: about 3 hours, once, when the first records are ready.
• What you need: a kitchen, and the patience to follow instructions to the letter.
• What you get back: credit by name, if you wish. You read the corrected record first.

Source checker

• What you'd do: pick one volume of the Hawker Library, then check ten of its citations. Does the source exist, and does it say what we say it says?
• Time: about 2 hours, once.
• What you need: care with detail. No expertise in hawkers is needed.
• What you get back: credit by name, if you wish. Every error you find is fixed and logged in the change logs.

Researcher or student

• What you'd do: help design the proposed entry-and-succession study. That means reading what is already known, drafting questions, and planning how to ask them fairly.
• Time: about 2 hours a week for 6 weeks.
• What you need: some training in research methods, the social sciences or public policy. Students are welcome.
• What you get back: credit by name, if you wish. You see the study design before it is published.

Designer or developer

• What you'd do: fix a page, tidy a chart, or improve how the site reads on a phone. Every change is reviewed before it goes live.
• Time: about 3 hours for a first task. More only if you want it.
• What you need: web design or front-end skills. Comfort with Git helps.
• What you get back: credit by name, if you wish, in the change log.

Playtester for Full House

• What you'd do: play a lunch service in Full House, our hawker-centre game, on your phone. Then tell us which choice gave you pause.
• Time: about 30 minutes, once, when a place opens.
• What you need: a phone. On the Join page, tick "Email me about playtesting Full House".
• What you get back: an early look at the game, and credit by name, if you wish.

If you are a hawker, or from a hawker family

We would like to hear from you. A conversation takes about an hour, at a time and place that suits you. You can talk in the language you prefer. Nothing is published without your agreement, and you read the write-up first.

How it works

1. Write to [email protected], or join Silicon Wok and tick "I'd like to volunteer".
2. A person replies within 48 hours.
3. Your first task is small.
4. You can stop at any time. No reason needed.

Helping does not mean you endorse the Plan. You are welcome to disagree with it.

Safeguards

We ask for consent before any conversation, recording or photograph. No recipe is published without the cook's agreement. We never ask for identity documents or financial documents. Anyone can withdraw what they gave us, at any time, by writing to [email protected].