Tag: hawker centres

NTUC FoodFare To Review Price Caps At Hawker Centres After Criticism

Following sharp criticism from hawkers on the price caps to be imposed at its new Bukit Panjang hawker centre, NTUC Foodfare said today (July 29) that these limits – which were intended to keep basic meals affordable – would be reviewed from time to time if necessary, to take into account the cost of ingredients and inflation. Stallholders can also submit requests to adjust the price ceilings, it added.

Foodfare was appointed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to operate the Bukit Panjang hawker centre, which is the second of 20 new hawker centres to be managed by social enterprises and cooperatives.

Tender documents for the hawker centre, which is slated to open by the end of this year, state that each stall should offer at least two items that are capped at certain prices. The price of dishes such as fishball noodle, nasi lemak and chicken rice are capped at between S$2.50 and S$2.70. The price ceilings for Western food are higher, such as S$5.80 for pasta.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, Foodfare said: “These caps are not to be held indefinitely and reviews would certainly be made should raw materials price increase or other cost pressures make it necessary for the adjustments.”

It reiterated the rationale for the price caps, saying that it “wants a public hawker centre to have affordable food for everyone”. Interested hawkers would have to submit, in their bids, the amount of rent they can pay – this will make up 40 per cent of the assessment criteria. The remaining 60 per cent involves “(food) pricing, food variety and concept, experience and taste”, Foodfare said.

In 2012, the Hawker Centre Public Consultation Panel proposed having social enterprises manage new hawker centres, and having the operator setting aside stalls for the lower income and special needs persons to set up low cost businesses. Hawker centres are currently managed and run by the NEA.

The first of 20 new hawker centres will open at Ci Yuan Community Club in Hougang Avenue 9 next Thursday. It will also be managed on a not-for-profit basis by Fei Siong Food Management. Stall holders at this hawker centre are required to offer at least two products that are priced at S$2.80 or lower. A Fei Siong spokesperson said all stallholders will pay a total of S$2,200 each month, including rental.

The hawkers are required to operate their stalls for 12 hours a day and “work with the management to ensure their off days do not disrupt the business operations and dining experience”, the spokesperson said. “The stallholders’ commitment is a key fundamental to the success of their operations and the hawker centre,” she added.

HAWKERS UNHAPPY WITH NEW MODEL

The new hawker centre management model came under the spotlight this week after Minister of Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan responded to a Facebook post by Mr Douglas Ng, a hawker who attended a tender briefing by Foodfare.

Mr Ng, who runs a stall at Golden Mile hawker centre, spoke out against the price caps. “Do you actually think that a quality hawker will come out with quality food when they use quality ingredients and if the cost of food is so high…If the basic ingredients are so expensive, how can we expect hawkers to make a living?” he said. Responding to Mr Ng on Monday, Mr Balakrishnan reiterated the steps that his ministry has taken to reduce rental costs for hawkers. He added that he had “made it clear to Foodfare that they are not to charge high rents”.

Speaking to TODAY, Mr Ng, 24, said there is a lack of transparency in how the price ceilings are derived. “Why is it that Western food can be sold at double the price of fishball noodles? It makes all of us want to sell pasta instead…then how do we preserve hawker heritage?”

Makansutra founder and food writer KF Seetoh also took issue with the price caps and the lack of a guideline on rental bids. “When top restaurants raise prices for the rich, not many really cares, but when the hawkers do, the loud and richer ones make noise and cry foul… Please don’t politicise our hawker food and don’t kill our hawker culture,” he said.

Other hawkers also raised concerns such as the required operating hours and higher overhead costs at these new hawker centres.

Ms Li Ruifang, 31, who owns 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles at Tekka Centre, had failed with her bid to run a stall at the hawker centre at Ci Yuan Community Club. She said: “Although we only open for business seven to nine hours a day, we spend another five hours preparing food and washing the stall. I will have to double my manpower or increase my own (working) hours just to make this ruling, and that will increase costs.”

Mr Melvin Chew, who runs Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap at Chinatown Food Complex, added: “Hawkers at the new food centres have to pay plate collection and dishwashing fees, use common utensils and uniforms. They are run like food courts, not hawker centres.”

An NEA spokesperson said that while the respective managing enterprises have the prerogative to decide on the price caps, it will monitor the implementation of the new management model and the concerns that may be raised by hawkers.

It added that it is open to the idea – which has been suggested by some hawkers – of concession passes for seniors and low-income individuals, in place of price caps, should the operators decide to take it up.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 30, 2015
Abuse Of Future Hawkers While Keeping Prices Low

By Foo CL

This article by Straits Times, “First of 20 new hawker centres will open in Hougang in August 2015: NEA” wrote about how new hawker centres bring about more hawker and affordable food to Singaporean.

For one of such hawker centres, NEA mentioned that Fei Siong Food Management will manage the new hawker centre on a not-for-profit basis, by channelling operating surplus “to improve vibrancy and create social benefits”.”

I saw this as a step in the right direction but at the end, I cannot describe how disappointed after I was directed to “FEI SIONG FOOD MANAGEMENT PTE LTD”, knowing more about the tendering of the hawker stall.

In the article, it states that the rental is S$1500-S$1800 which is comparable to others hawker at the same area, but failed to mention all the hidden cost charge by Fei Siong food management.

Cleaning and washing fee up to S$2000 per month excludes GST.

In most hawker centers, their highest rate to clean tables ranges between S$450-600 and S$600-1000 to wash the bowl inclusive of GST. Even taking the highest rate of the of the busiest hawker center, most would never exceed S$1600 in total cleaning fee (GST INCLUDED).

The rates offered is very much higher than the prevailing market rate.

Compulsory rental of point of sale (POS)

The POS system cost S$50 a month and the Fei Siong food management can also access your sales figure through this system.

Fixed uniform and utensil

Uniform and utensils will be provided by Fei Siong food management at an undisclosed amount.

Unfair tendering system.

There is a total of 40 stores but only 20 will be open tender, and the other 20 will be under the “entrepreneurship” program which will be operated by Fei Siong food management.

Under this program, applicants will write in the food they can cook and Fei Siong food management will select them to operate the stall on their behalf. The operator and the helper will be paid 25% of the stall sales. If u cannot meet the sales target, you will be removed from the program.

The rest of the 20 stall will be selected by Fei Siong food management instead of an open tender, which I will cover in the next point.

Conflict of interest?

Since Fei Siong food management will be managing 20 of the stalls and select the other tender. Wouldn’t Fei Siong food management give priority to food stores that are more popular, better profit margin and easier to operate to themselves and left over choices to those that decided to tender the stall remaining 20 stalls?

This 20 stalls will also have an unfair advantage due to higher overheads and operation cost stated above.

Strict Terms and conditions.

Fei Siong food management will require the hawkers to operate their stalls for 12 hrs a day. Wear their uniform, and control their off days so there will be a minimum numbers of stall opened every day.

This will not be easy for small family operated businesses that wish to keep their overhead low since they will definitely need to hire helpers to operate such long hours.

Business entity or government entity.

Is this hawker center that is built by taxpayer money been tender to Fei Siong food management for revenue or is it build for the benefit of residents to keep the food pricing low?

Price control

Despite having a higher operation cost, the hawker center management still wish to disguise it as a low-cost food center by restricting at least 2 product to be below $2.80

Been in F&B business myself, all the condition seem awfully similar to those in commercially operated food courts. But this is a NEA hawker center that is built by taxpayer money and released by the government as a form to assist citizen keeping food cost low. Why is it being abused as such?

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

July 2, 2015
Beer Promoters No Longer Able To Work At Hawker Centres

Breweries have been asked to withdraw their beer promoters from the 107 markets and hawker centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA), The Straits Times understands.

Promoters have stopped working at hawker centres for about two weeks.

Letters were sent out to hawker drink stall operators earlier this month reminding them of the ban.

In a letter seen by The Straits Times, Ms Yew Meng Yet, assistant director (tenancy management) of NEA’s hawker centres division, said NEA does not allow beer promoters at hawker centres as this could lead to touting amongst the various drink stalls.

She reiterated that non-Singaporeans are also not allowed to operate or assist at hawker stalls.

In response to queries, the NEA said it does not allow any beer promotion in hawker centres as beer promoters are not stallholders or registered stall assistants.

Furthermore, said its spokesman, “stallholders or registered stall assistants are also not allowed to carry out beer promotion nor engage beer promoters as such activities may give rise to disamenities, such as touting and possible harassment of patrons when promoters compete for business.”

The NEA spokesman noted: “Hawker centres are essential social infrastructure and important communal spaces – they provide a family friendly, clean and hygienic environment for patrons and families to enjoy good food at affordable prices.”

Hawkers said promoters are paid about $1,000 a month by breweries and earn a commission of five cents to 10 cents a bottle. They also earn tips, which can average $100 a night. There are probably about 600 beer promoters here, with Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Singapore hiring most of them. It declined comment.

But beer wholesaler Lee Hong Kiat, who supplies APB beers such as Tiger and Heineken to 10 hawker centres, said the withdrawal has led to an estimated 25 per cent fall in sales for his firm.

Industry players said it was the first time they had seen such a major clampdown.

Drink stall owners had mixed reactions to NEA’s move but most said business had been affected since the beer promoters stopped working. Six stallholders said beer sales have as much as halved since the promoters left about two weeks ago.

One stall helper in Chinatown said the move had dampened beer sales by 80 per cent.

“We used to sell five to six cartons of beer a day but now we sell less than one carton a day,” said 55-year-old Madam Huang Yan Chu. “I guess people like beer girls pouring drinks for them.”

Another drinks stall owner in his 50s who only wanted to be known as Mr Tang said that beer sales have dropped 25 to 30 per cent since they left.

“With the beer girls around, they help us to take the beer to customers. Without them, we have to do it ourselves or customers have to self-service,” he said. “If you want to stop them from touting then there should be some guidelines. Being a beer girl is not an easy job.”

Patron Jeffrey Goh, 65, has also noticed fewer customers since the beer promoters left but supports the move to ban them from hawker centres.

“It’s more peaceful here without them. Sometimes they will get into arguments among themselves. They are quite persistent and will keep asking us to drink more. For instance, they will say “Support me, support me. Buy more beer,” he said.

“Of course not all beer girls are like that but there are bound to be some who will spoil the impression that people have of them.”

Another patron, however, said he is quite surprised that beer promoters are no longer allowed in hawker centres.

“They’re just here to provide a service,” said Mr Daniel Tan, 55, who works in the legal profession. “They open the beer bottle and pour alcohol for you or ask if you would like to buy more beer. They are decent people.”

Retiree S.G. Lee, 74, said he will miss the promoters. “We are retirees. Honestly, it’s nice to have someone to chat with.”

Beer promoter Alice Tan, 31, who works at two coffee shops in Toa Payoh, said she earns $35 for a five-hour shift and a five-cent commission for each bottle sold. “It can be quite stressful, especially if there is more than one promoter at a coffee shop.”

Meanwhile, Lubritrade, which brews Dester beer, will re-deploy its promoters from hawker centres to coffee shops.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 20, 2015
10 More Hawker Centres To Be Built Over Next 12 Years

The Government will build 10 more hawker centres over the next 12 years, located in new estates or existing ones that are relatively under-served, said Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu today (March 11).

Speaking in Parliament during debate on the ministry’s budget, Ms Fu said five of these centres will be located in Bidadari, Sengkang, Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Panjang and Bukit Batok. The remaining locations will be made known later in the year.

In 2011, the ministry announced that 10 new hawker centres will be built over 10 years. The first two centres in Bukit Panjang and Hougang will open this year. Taken together, the 20 new hawker centres centres will add more than 800 cooked food stalls and help to further moderate rentals, said Ms Fu.

Today, Members of Parliament (MP) raised concerns on rising rental prices, the feasibility of the social enterprise model for hawker centres, among other issues.

Mr Yeo Guat Kwang (Ang Mo Kio GRC) noted that existing and potential hawkers are concerned with impact of the outsourcing model on stall rentals, while consumers worry if increases in rental will translate to higher prices.

Ms Fu said that findings from an annual survey of more than 1,000 hawkers showed that rentals take up only 12 per cent of hawkers’ total costs. On the other hand, cost of raw materials took up more than half the total costs, while manpower, utilities, table-cleaning and other costs took up 17, 9 and 3 per cent of the total costs respectively. The survey used data from the National Environment Agency’s Cost Component Survey of hawker cooked food stalls in 2012 and 2013, as well as price data from the Department of Statistics.

Among the hawker stalls which experienced rental changes, more than half did not change their food prices, according to the survey. “Hence, there is little substantive evidence to say that rentals are the main driver of hawker food prices,” said Ms Fu.

She also noted that the Government has taken steps over the last few years to moderate rentals to ensure it does not drive up food prices. Currently, sub-letting or assignment of stalls is prohibited for stallholders. Following a three-year grace period, all non-subsidised stallholders also have to personally operate their stalls from April, she added.

Both Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) and Mr Yeo also asked about the new management model of hawker centres, where they are operated by social enterprises on a “not-for-profit” basis.

In response, Ms Fu said as these managing agents have only run these models for a short period of time, time will be needed before assessing their effectiveness.

Source: www.todayonline.com

March 12, 2015
Clementi Hawker Centre Faces Rat Infestation

10 baby rats were found in a rats nest made of shredded plastic and paper at Clementi Hawker centre.

The nest was discovered last Tuesday on top of an exhaust pipe located above one of the stalls there.

The stall owner of the stall below the nest said that he disposed of the rats immediately and cleared the rats nest.

The chairman of the Clementi Centre Market Hawker’s Association explained that the hawker centre there started to have a rat problem only after another nearby coffee shop went under renovations last month.

Mr Patrick Sze, 56, also explained that the grassy patch behind the hawker centre also had rat burrows and the hawker association is currently working with NEA and West Coast town council to deal with the issue.

Source: www.tnp.sg

January 12, 2015