‘More than a year but no action’—KF Seetoh says PM’s appearance at food centre is ‘mere political optics’ if Gov’t doesn’t follow through on action plan to uplift hawkers

SINGAPORE: Prominent food critic and hawker culture advocate KF Seetoh has warned that a recent video featuring Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will amount to little more than “mere political optics” unless the Government takes more serious action to support Singapore’s struggling hawkers.

Mr Seetoh is the founder of the long-running Makansutra food network, which over the past 21 years has produced heritage street food guides, international culinary television programmes, and food market concepts. He has also received international recognition from publications including The New York Times and CNN, and was previously named Singapore’s Food Ambassador by former President S R Nathan.

His remarks came in response to a video uploaded to Mr Wong’s official YouTube channel, in which the prime minister visited veteran hawker Roger Wong Hien Lai of Lai Xing Prawn Noodle at Marsiling Lane Food Centre. Published two days earlier, the video had attracted more than 34,000 views as of May 19.

During the visit, Mr Wong highlighted the demanding nature of hawker work and the years of dedication required to preserve traditional recipes and standards.

“Behind every bowl is a lot of hard work — long hours, careful preparation, and recipes refined over time,” he said.

Roger’s family business dates back to 1975, when his mother first sold prawn noodles from a pushcart before eventually moving into a hawker centre. Over the years, the stall developed a loyal following for its prawn mee and became well known among local food lovers.

Mr Roger shared that he had not initially intended to become a hawker. He studied maritime training at Singapore Polytechnic and later worked for shipping company Maersk Line before returning to take over the family business after his mother suffered a serious injury and required knee replacement surgery.

The discussion also touched on broader concerns surrounding the future of Singapore’s hawker culture and traditional wet markets.

Mr Roger’s daughter, Carin, described hawker culture as an integral part of Singapore’s identity and expressed concern that it could eventually disappear amid changing consumer habits and the rise of modern retail formats.

“I really like the hawker culture, market culture, it’s part of our Singapore lifestyle,” she said.

“I think I will cry if eventually the hawkers or the markets will be replaced by supermarkets.”

Mr Roger also spoke candidly about the physical demands of the trade, saying hawkers required discipline, stamina and consistency to maintain quality standards over many years.

Despite rising operating costs and broader economic pressures, he said the family continued trying to keep meals affordable for retirees, lower-income residents and retrenched workers.

“Some people, they are retrenched, retired, they got no money, so when they add noodle, outside need to pay S$1 or 50 cents, but we don’t charge people extra for all these,” he said.

The stall currently sells its prawn noodles for S$3.50.

Mr Wong concluded the video by stressing that preserving hawker culture involved more than simply maintaining hawker centres as physical spaces.

“Every hawker dish reflects the efforts and pride of our hawkers in Singapore,” he said.

He also encouraged Singaporeans to continue supporting hawkers to ensure the culture survives for future generations.

“Let’s all do everything we can to keep this culture alive and keep it going strong for many more generations to come,” he added.

While acknowledging the symbolic importance of the prime minister publicly championing hawkers, Mr Seetoh argued that such gestures alone would not resolve the structural problems affecting the trade.

Referring to Mr Wong, he wrote: “The one that can actually enact change to ‘preserve’ the food culture as mentioned in the video, but I wonder if PM Wong truly knows the impossible situation our hawkers face in their quest to survive.”

Mr Seetoh criticised what he described as restrictive contractual conditions imposed under social enterprise hawker centre management systems approved by the National Environment Agency (NEA). He said hawkers were increasingly caught between public expectations for cheap food and operating conditions that made long-term sustainability difficult.

“The public is also made to think hawkers owe them cheap food and feel entitled to it. Very demoralising,” he wrote.

He also referred to a parliamentary motion on preserving hawker culture that was debated and unanimously passed in November 2024.

According to Mr Seetoh, proposals discussed during the debate included improving manpower support for hawkers, removing rent bidding systems, reducing rental or gross turnover obligations and abolishing the social enterprise hawker centre management model.

“No dissensions. But till today, no action too,” he wrote, questioning how Parliament functioned if unanimously supported proposals were not implemented.

Mr Seetoh further alleged that some newly issued contracts under social enterprise hawker centres had become even more restrictive despite earlier discussions about reform.

Among the issues he highlighted were requirements for hawkers to operate seven days a week and penalties of S$100 per day for stall closures without prior approval.

He also criticised what he described as higher gas prices imposed by certain operators compared with other hawker centres, as well as compulsory point-of-sale systems that hawkers were allegedly required to adopt despite there being no gross turnover-based rent calculations or commission structures.

“All this in the midst of energy and cost crisis,” he wrote.

“Again, I say, the hawkers are not subsidised. And the govt pays SEHC millions to operate on their behalf.”

Mr Seetoh cited Jurong West Hawker Centre as an example, noting that operator JW50 Hawker Heritage had secured a management contract worth S$4.86 million after the NEA assessed its proposal as the strongest among competing bids.

He warned that Singapore risked losing authentic food heritage if policymakers continued focusing on infrastructure and branding efforts without adequately addressing the welfare and sustainability of hawkers themselves.

Mr Seetoh urged Mr Wong to use his political influence to pursue substantive reforms rather than relying on promotional campaigns celebrating hawker culture.

“I hope this top-flight influencer can truly act to protect, preserve and imagine new possibilities to our fast-fading heritage hawker culture, not just build fancier hawker centres,” he wrote.

“Or these hawker videos are mere political optics.”