SINGAPORE: A visit to a bak chor mee stall at Tanglin Halt Market and Food Centre gave members of opposition party Red Dot United (RDU) a chance to talk to hawkers about the pressing issues they’re facing these days.
“We listened closely to our hardworking hawkers,” wrote RDU in a Facebook post earlier this month, adding that the hawkers talked to them about a number of issues, including labour shortages and high rental and cleaning fees.
Not to say that the visit was a sad one. The RDU team felt welcomed at Tanjong Pagar with “a positive vibe.” Residents told them they were happy to see them, with some even noting that political competition is good.
The party added in its post that they promised to amplify hawkers’ voices, adding that their issues are among the points they’ll include in their election manifesto. Lower rental fees and halting rent hikes at government-owned food centers would help hawkers thrive, wrote RDU, which also appealed to its Facebook followers to “support our local hawkers and cherish our food heritage.”
As we wanted to know more about the challenges hawkers face, The Independent Singapore reached out to RDU to tell us more about the issue. High prices all around appear to be their number one issue.
Despite working long hours daily, high costs have eaten into their profits, and one hawker who only opened his stall half a year ago told RDU he might have to close down if business doesn’t pick up.
While footfall has increased since pandemic restrictions ended, so have costs—including transportation, ingredients, and even the GST, as well as utility bills.
A stallholder told the party that he’s now paying more for water and electricity, which naturally means less profit for him.
“They are caught between a rock and a hard place because if they raise prices too much or reduce portions, customers will complain, and some may even stop patronising their stalls,” Mr Eddy Tan, the Media Liaison for RDU, told TISG.
When RDU asked the hawkers what they wanted, the opposition party was told the hawkers were not asking for “handouts handouts” but were seeking support from the government, which included stepping into moderately increased rentals and keeping essential costs like water, electricity, and transport prices low. This would also allow the hawkers to afford to pay more for manpower.
“This kind of structural support would be of the greatest value to them, allowing them to sustain their businesses and thrive in a challenging economic environment,” added Mr Tan. /TISG
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