Dear friends,
Over the weekend, the SDA spoke to hawkers at the Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre.
This is a Social Enterprise Hawker Centre (SEHC) managed by NTUC.
There were 3 goals in mind for the SEHC concept – provide diners with affordable hawker food, enable hawkers earn a decent living, and make the hawker trade more appealing to young aspirants.
In practice, however, SEHCs have become a problem in themselves for hawkers and all Common Singaporeans who eat there.
Hawkers have to work more for arguably less earning potential due to high rents, unfair extra fees, and “socially-responsible” clauses in their contracts. Food prices go up for diners, and they choose to go elsewhere. In turn, having fewer customers further drives down the potential earnings of hawkers.
Just look around at the number of shut stalls.
It’s a vicious cycle and complaints have grown since the SEHC scheme came about in late 2018.
On behalf of hawkers, we spoke about these burgeoning problems several times since 2021.
KF Seetoh, a veteran in the hawker food industry, has documented these complaints well and bravely championed the wellbeing of hawkers.
There are presently 12 SEHCs in Singapore, and the government wants all new hawker centres set up as SEHCs. So, the problems will only become more numerous and worsen down the road.
The SDA proposes these changes to the SEHC scheme to improve the plight of hawkers and diners:
- Cut out greedy middlemen operators and bring hawker centres under NEA control once again.
As a sole operator, the NEA will have higher bargaining power with contractors and work to keep operating costs low for hawkers, thereby lessening the need for food price increases. The NEA will also be in a position of authority to stamp out unnecessary high fees. - Have the government fund mandatory food discounts instead of hawkers.
With high budget surpluses, and an existing CHAS scheme to identify low-income individuals, the government has the funds and the means to do this. It should not force hawkers to do charity. - Offer rental rebates to hawkers who choose to do charity.
Hawkers who choose to give free meals out of the goodness of their hearts should receive rental rebates, similar to how tax rebates currently work for charity organisations. - Treat hawkers as business owners and not labourers.
Remove restrictions that encroach on the independence of hawkers, such as mandatory working hours and arbitrary limitations on new menu dishes. These rules curb entrepreneurship and impose
unnecessary hardship on hawkers.
The SDA believes these changes will return the SEHC scheme to its original well-intentioned goals.
Hawkers and diners we have spoken to agree that such changes are fair and beneficial.
We strongly urge the government to reconsider its stance on SEHCs with these proposed improvements in mind.
For Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, we further propose to increase the feeder bus frequency between Tampines and Pasir Ris so that more people can enjoy the delicious food made served by hawkers here.
Hawkers have also requested to increase the number of parking lots, so that there is enough space for diners, and those who are attending events in the vicinity.
Thank you.
Desmond Lim
Chairman
Singapore Democratic Alliance
