Amy Khor’s 2018 claim that that stall rentals do not affect food prices resurfaces online

SINGAPORE: A comment ruling party politician Amy Khor made in 2018 has resurfaced online, sparking heated debate after the Prolific Skins blog called attention to how Dr Amy Khor, then-Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, said in Parliament that the rental price of hawker stalls does not directly affect food prices.

Opposition politician Lim Tean has also highlighted the comment, in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Jul 2). Mr Lim, who is the founder and secretary-general of Peoples Voice party, wrote, “I Am Absolutely Stunned Hearing Amy Khor Say That Hawkers’ Rentals Have No Direct Relation To The Food Prices They Charge! Go And Work That One Out!”

Dr Khor, who is now Senior Minister of State for Transport and for Sustainability and the Environment, had said in Parliament on Nov 19, 2018, that the rental costs of hawkers only indirectly affect their overall costs, adding that they do not directly affect food prices.

She cited a 2014 study from the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and the Ministry of Trade and Industry showing that 76 per cent of hawkers’ costs went to manpower and raw materials, while the cost of rentals only took up 12 per cent.

“Hence, stall rentals do not directly affect food prices,” said Dr Khor, adding that hawkers “generally price food according to what the market can bear.”

Moreover, she said competition in the vicinity and the demographic profile of customers also influence food prices.

Just as netizens were angered by Dr Khor’s comments at the time, many commenters were also upset when Mr Lim drew attention to her comment afresh.

Some felt that Dr Khor is disconnected from the realities that people face every day.

Others who commented on the People’s Voice chief’s post expressed shock.

“Is there something that we don’t know that she knows? Every business is complaining about rental, yet our minister said otherwise,” wrote one commenter.

In May, Makansutra founder Kf Seetoh, who has long been a champion of Singapore’s hawkers, posted an article on his site titled “The Problem with Hawkers,” wherein he called for people to stop complaining about “that $12 plate of nasi padang,” and explained the challenges that hawkers have to face, which include the bidding system, cleaning and washing rates, the requirement to offer a low-priced dish, and rental rates at Social Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHC).

He wrote that rental rates at SEHCs are now at an average of S$2,000, which causes hawkers to sell popular low-cost fare, and cuts innovation and creativity.

“This systematically dulls the great Singapore hawker menu as it forces them to just sell what is popular and money churners. You should differentiate rentals for stall offering vanishing or fading items. Don’t we have enough bak chor mee, fishball noodle, wanton mee, porridge, chicken rice and nasi lemak stalls already?” he wrote.

In Parliament in March 2023, Dr Khor said that median rental rates at non-subsidised cooked food stalls, around $1,250, have remained constant since 2018. /TISG

Read also: Singaporeans livid at Amy Khor who said “stall rentals do not directly affect food prices”