Kf Seetoh supports 216 Bedok Market hawkers amid TB scare, bumps into PAP MP Tan Kiat How

SINGAPORE: Local food guru and Makansutra founder Kf Seetoh did his part in supporting the hawkers at Block 216 Bedok Food Centre & Market, who were affected after the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) announced on April 30 that it would conduct mandatory tuberculosis screening for the market’s tenants and workers, along with those from Heartbeat@Bedok and Singapore Pools.

Mr Seetoh also bumped into East Coast Member of Parliament Tan Kiat How (PAP), who is also Senior Minister of State for Health as well as for Digital Development and Information. Mr Tan has been vocal in appealing for people to help out the hawkers affected by the TB scare.

But first, the food guru was pleased to find that the area was relatively full, starting from the car park at Heartbeat@Bedok, and he had to park at the back as the spaces near the front were all taken.

“So everybody’s still coming,” he said in a video he posted on Facebook on Sunday (May 24). 

Mr Seetoh panned his camera around the food centre, pointing out queues and noting that there were so many people around. He also said that people who felt wary could put on masks. He added that he had missed the recent “Still Safe to Eat, Still Safe to Meet” voucher initiative event that Mr Tan had organised.

For that day, he chose to patronise stalls run by two graduates of the Culinary Institute of America. He had an $8 bowl of prawn mee soup, along with carrot cake strips and yam cubes (Chai Tow Kway).

“So good lah, beats french fries anytime,” he said.

Mr Seetoh, who had just returned from a trip to Manila, where he opened an eatery called Hainan Jones, said that while the food in the Philippines is very good, the sheer range of food that’s available in Singapore is “absolutely gorgeous.”

He also reminded everyone to support the wet market hawkers, whose businesses have not yet returned to normal.

FB screengrab/ Kf Seetoh

As he was walking around the hawker centre, he bumped into Mr Tan, who told him that business is around 60 to 70% back.

And when Mr Seetoh noted how unafraid Mr Tan is and that he doesn’t even wear a mask, the MP said that he goes to 216  Bedok Food Centre & Market every day.

After the screening, the CDA announced that 473 individuals tested positive for TB. However, the vast majority of them are expected to have a latent TB infection (LTBI), which is not uncommon among Singaporeans. This means they do not have symptoms of the infection, are not infectious, and do not pose a public health risk. Only one active case of TB has been found, and the person infected started treatment before May 19 and will no longer be infectious after completing two weeks of medication. /TISG

Read also: Pritam Singh, WP members visit 216 Bedok Food Centre to support hawkers amid TB scare