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
