SINGAPORE: Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon announced in Parliament on Monday (Oct 14) that long-term visit pass holders (LTVP) may start working at food stalls in hawker centres beginning from Jan 1, 2025.
This should aid in addressing staffing issues that hawkers face.
The National Environment Agency said in a statement that the move “will provide our hawkers with more hiring options while still largely preserving the local identity of our hawker culture.”
Currently, Singapore citizens and permanent residents are the only people allowed to own food stalls or work as staff at hawker centres and markets managed by the NEA and affiliated operators.
However, the stall holders’ spouses with long-term visit passes can also be employed as assistants at the stalls “given their familial ties to the hawkers,” added Dr Koh.
Starting from Jan 1, however, LTVP pass holders who are the parents or children of stall holders may be employed to work at the stalls. Alternatively, stallholders may even opt to hire people unrelated to them.
Moreover, these LTVP plus holders, who can stay for as long as three years when they initially apply, will be given employment and healthcare benefits.
This may not be the end of initiatives the government has planned to help hawkers.
“We are also studying other support measures for hawkers and will share the details when ready,” said Dr Koh.
“We are relaxing our manpower policies to address challenges faced by our hawker stallholders. This change will allow more flexibility in hiring stall assistants, providing additional support to our hawkers.
In addition to this policy change, we are also exploring further support measures for hawkers as part of our commitment to safeguarding our hawker heritage,” he said in a Facebook post.
While a number of commenters on the change in the ruling for employment at hawker centres seemed to approve of the move, some expressed that what may be more helpful to hawkers is if rental rates are regulated or lowered.
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“Could someone explain whether there are any legitimate economic reasons why the Govt can’t simply reduce the rents for these public hawker stalls?” one wrote.
Another, however, applauded it as “a good move.” /TISG