Keep rentals low to raise quality of hawker fare

• Clivebenss

  27 Sep 10, 17:16

  Sep 27, 2010 - ST Forum

   

  I READ with great interest the commentaries ('Singapore's amnesia of the taste buds'; Sept 22 and 'Celebrate our hawkers with Culinary Medallion'; Sept 14) which suggested a few ways to address the decline in the quality of Singapore's hawker food.

  While creative, I do not think those suggestions alone will nip this problem in the bud.

  One look at last Tuesday's report ('Sengkang market turns into ghost town') and it becomes clear that we may have overlooked an important factor that is more economic in nature: rising rentals of hawker stalls.

  If we want good hawker food to flourish in Singapore, we must stop squeezing out our hawkers.

  While upgrading hawker centres is a good idea, raising rentals simply makes the hawkers' life harder.

  In addition, turning over the running of hawker centres to private operators is a bad idea as their main motive will always be to maximise profits. They will bid high to get the right to run the centre and then squeeze the hawkers to recoup their investments.

  Hawkers cannot mark up the prices of their food too much. This means that for them to earn more, they must sell more. However, there is a limit to how many bowls or plates they can sell each day.

  Increasing rentals raises the cost of doing business significantly for them and they will have no choice but to resort to cost-cutting measures like changing the quality of ingredients used and how they are procured. Is it any wonder that the quality of hawker fare has gone down across the board?

  If we do not want to lose our hawker food heritage, we must build an environment that makes it financially viable for existing hawkers and even their successors to do well.

  Our hawker food culture is something worth keeping and the Government should continue to nurture that which is uniquely Singaporean.

   

  Joseph Khoo

• Just_do_it_lah

  27 Sep 10, 17:28

  Lower rental ?

  unlikely...

  most kopitiam owners are like ....

  

  

• charlize

  27 Sep 10, 17:53

  Hike, hike, hike.

• Just_do_it_lah

  27 Sep 10, 18:10

  some hawkers makes

  

  after rental, utilities cost, labour....

  but definitely NOT Those peanuts offered by NKF.... their (NKF) peanuts are VERY BIG.

  

• Clivebenss

  27 Sep 10, 18:14

  now more and more foreign food in hawker centres.

  

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 20:26

  Originally posted by Clivebenss:

  now more and more foreign food in hawker centres.

  

  
  especially from the favourite country/nation of that master mind ghosts in white

  We see more jiao zi in hawker centres and restaurants these days.

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 20:28

  AS i said everything is money to them, keep raising the rental of the food centre is a must for them.    THe people that really are affected are consumers and the hawkers while these greedy ghosts happily running themselves to the banks.  

• Clivebenss

  27 Sep 10, 20:29

  Originally posted by hasene:

  
  especially from the favourite country/nation of that master mind ghosts in white

  We see more jiao zi in hawker centres and restaurants these days.

  northerner fares, not exactly like our southern flavours.

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 20:39

  Originally posted by Clivebenss:

  northerner fares, not exactly like our southern flavours.

  
  Taste of the northern China food loses out to southern China.   All I can remember is they use lots of flour and meat, lamb meat for cooking.      Among all, I only like the Peking Duck.

  Whereas there are so many varieties in Southern China food.     Yummy and thumbs up for this.   

• Clivebenss

  27 Sep 10, 20:45

  northerners cooking is bland compare to the southerners.

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 20:47

  AGree.      .. . . . .  and tastes more carbo and oily.

   

• dechang

  27 Sep 10, 21:06

  The only way to keep rental low is to kick the PAP out of sg

• Just_do_it_lah

  27 Sep 10, 21:50

  dechang is just another CLONE.... (Clone of Fcukpap) ?

  

  (Just create another email address & register again !)

  

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 21:54

  Originally posted by dechang:

  The only way to keep rental low is to kick the PAP out of sg

  
  agree

• Clivebenss

  27 Sep 10, 21:55

  Originally posted by Just_do_it_lah:

  dechang is just another CLONE.... (Clone of Fcukpap) ?

  

  (Just create another email address & register again !)

  

  ??

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 21:57

  Originally posted by Clivebenss:

  ??

  
  supporter of ghosts in white

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 21:59

  gotta go.  may come back later.

• Just_do_it_lah

  27 Sep 10, 22:01

  Originally posted by Clivebenss:

  ??

   

  The only way to keep rental low is to kick the PAP out of sg (Dechang)

  always mentioned by Fcukpap... haha.

• Clivebenss

  27 Sep 10, 22:03

  Originally posted by Just_do_it_lah:

   

  The only way to keep rental low is to kick the PAP out of sg (Dechang)

  always mentioned by Fcukpap... haha.

  his trademark?

  

   

• Just_do_it_lah

  27 Sep 10, 22:06

  Probably...

  his ..in SgForums. 

• hasene

  27 Sep 10, 23:53

  after reading the above post, reminds me of Vote PAP out to save Sg, where is he?

• the Bear

  28 Sep 10, 00:00

  probably scared out of his wits and figured he'd need a clone to keep posting his idiocies

• hasene

  28 Sep 10, 00:02

  Originally posted by the Bear:

  probably scared out of his wits and figured he'd need a clone to keep posting his idiocies

  
  Probably he is getting ready for the coming election, contesting somewhere. 

• Clivebenss

  28 Sep 10, 00:04

  Originally posted by hasene:

  
  Probably he is getting ready for the coming election, contesting somewhere. 

  come to tanjong pagar.

  

• hasene

  28 Sep 10, 00:06

  Originally posted by Clivebenss:

  come to tanjong pagar.

  

  
  wow, contesting with the lau lee, uwee!