While this phase in post-Circuit Breaker times is hardly life-as-usual, it is a significant step towards that normalcy.

Eateries, while by no means completely in the clear, have seen an uptick in sales over the past weeks.

However not all food centres might be recovering at the same pace. Theoretically, the number of people in Singapore is way fewer than it normally is, mainly due to the complete eradication of tourism in the last few months.

Those that depend on those eradicated numbers might not be doing as well.

Mothership went down to Newton Food Centre over the weekend to see if the switch to Phase 2 has been going well. We also visited a hawker center in the heartlands — Bedok Food Centre.

Newton Food Centre was definitely not in any way a ghost town when we went down on Saturday. There was quite a number of people actually, although maybe not as bustling as Bedok.

Part of that could of course be attributed to NFC just being larger than its Bedok counterpart, although as we talked to the hawkers, it became clear that there was a difference in how their respective recoveries had gone.

While hawkers at Bedok did acknowledge a drop in sales, especially on weekdays, they talked about a strong recovery in Phase 2.

Laksa Mama

"Last time, during CB and right before CB, it was very bad. There wasn’t anyone. Even though some customers could still take away and order from home, the percentage drop was more than half.

But now, it’s getting better lah. It’s still not like usual but during the weekends, that is when we see the crowds. It’s positive now. During CB, it was also negative. But in weekdays, I can see a difference because most people are working from home and when they work at home, they might not want to go out to eat, they will order the usual fast food or cook themselves.

Normally, during lunchtimes on a weekday, the place will be packed but for this period, lunch also, not that many people. There are people, but not as many as last time."

That sentiment was echoed by other hawkers.

Persian Tandoor

"About 30 to 40 per cent drop as of now. But during circuit breaker, it was so sudden and quite surprising. So the drop was close to 50/60. Now it’s better lah. But on average, on a daily basis, it’s still not back up yet like last time. Weekends are still okay but on weekdays, a bit sluggish."

The 30 to 40 per cent figure was cited by most of the Bedok Food Centre hawkers we talked to.

The common refrain was that sales is better now than during CB, with the weekends seeing almost a semblance of normalcy, but the situation was nowhere near resolved.

In Newton though, the drop in customers does not appear to have reversed course quite as drastically since its reopening.

Newton

In a sharp contrast from Bedok, the issue of tourism, or lack of it, was organically brought up by the Newton Food Centre vendors we talked to.

The lack of customers has left some "sitting down doing nothing" during the weekdays.

Indian Palace

"Usually all the ang moh they like the Indian food, like butter chicken, naan bread. I’ve been here for 10 years and I never see like this before. Really. Because usually at this timing [around 5pm on a Saturday], the place is full you know. Got no space to sit at all. At 7pm, even worse. We also don’t have time to eat during our breaks."

The drop in revenue has been steep as well:

"Very bad ah. Yesterday I only earn $200 around the 12 hour clock. $200 and after giving to the workers all, I only left with $50. About 60 to 80 per cent drop. Very tough lah."

Lucky Newton Seafood

"Drop at least 60/70 per cent. Because here usually a lot of tourists one. Now no more. Then local ah, only come on weekend. Weekend then I see people come here to eat and drink. But weekdays very quiet. More quiet than today. Today Saturday mah so not that bad."

And that focus on the lack of tourists was a consistent theme among many of the hawkers at Newton.

Al Rayyan Fruits Juice

"Ah yes people from overseas, the tourists, they always come here. Last time I see many of them. Turn right, I see them. Turn left, I see them. Every stall also will have tourist. Now really all gone. All the stalls suffer from that."

Although there were outliers.

Takara Grilled Seafood

"Our stall usually don’t attract many tourists but can see lah other stalls sure affected. I come work everyday, I never see any tourists leh. It’s very different than before this virus thing happen. Newton ah, it’s the tourism….the Singapore Tourism Board promote eh. But now you see, no tourists. Crazy."

But even with that small semblance of a buffer, the impact is still felt keenly.

"During CB that time at least 70 per cent, can go as high as 90 per cent drop. Now Phase 2 already, okay lah. About 50/60 per cent drop. But still not like normal. We are the second generation in charge of this stall. We never see this before. During SARS that time, not so serious. This one worse than SARS."

Guan Kee

"Tourists ah? *laughs* Now where got? All no more already. They cannot come here. This place ah, always got tourists. Not saying that without tourists cannot survive. Can, still can. Luckily still got many customers come here, many Singaporeans still want to eat hawker food. But atmosphere different lah without the tourists."

Although once again the drop is palpable.

"Now not good ah. Sales drop about 50/60 per cent. More than half lah. Last time during weekend, not like this. Last time very busy, very noisy. Customers everywhere. Now...I mean still got people, still got a lot thankfully but really different if you compare it to last time."

While the lack of tourists was a major theme in most of their answers, an interesting observation was how some establishments within the food centre that has picked up slightly better than their counterparts.

Also this very interesting tidbit from a drinks vendor.

"For this stall, now many people buy beer only. They come Friday night or weekend and drink from night till very late. I see more drunk customers here than last time. Really, they drink until morning also they drink. Very loud and rowdy. I also tak boleh tahan (I cannot take it). But on weekdays, nothing much happens. Very quiet. People from overseas also no more."

According to him, there's been almost a flip in alcohol demand.

"Last time, 70 per cent of our customers buy normal halal drinks. 30 per cent buy beer. Now it is opposite. 70 per cent want to buy beer and 30 per cent buy normal drinks."

Interesting.

Waivers and the future

Some of the stall owners praised rental waivers they had received, noting that while that alone is not enough to guarantee their survival in these rather tumultuous times, it definitely eased some of their burdens.

However some also pointed the other aspects that a pandemic might wrought on one's business and other debts that might accrue during CB.

Bedok

"Ya, it helped a bit. During CB, we suffered a lot of losses, so it did help at that point."

"It helped a bit. But rent, not the biggest worry. The workers, they need their salary. And we cannot let them go. We are all family here. They depend on us. This (stall), we work here for eight years already. Before here, we were at Woodlands, and then we move to Beach Road. Everybody stayed together. So we cannot just let them go. It’s not easy"

"Ya, it helped. It was useful but then you see, we still have to think about other things. Pay our workers salary. That one also need money."

Newton

"I feel thankful. Without it ah, I think quite jialat already. Lucky the government got this to help us."

"That one good lah, of course it’s good lah. No need to pay rental is good lah. But workers we still need to pay them mah. That one still we still struggle. Not easy now."

"Ya we got it for our stall. Okay lah, it quite useful, I cannot say anything much also. If you think about it, if they don’t help us, confirm we really cannot survive one."

"Ya the government, lucky they help you know. Lucky. Business already bad now, and if have to think about the rent money, I don’t know lah, it will be very hard I tell you."

Other similarities they cited included the lack of tables due to the need for social distancing — a problem that they readily acknowledge as necessary but which affects their bottom line nonetheless.

What now?

Newton Food Centre is iconic, perhaps the most famous food centre in Singapore, thanks in no small part to cameos in films like Crazy Rich Asians.

That fame has served relatively well when celebrities come to town.

And when you are the premier spot for tourists to try Singapore food, why would you feel the need to pivot away from that business model.

However the image of Newton Food Centre to locals might be a bit different. An area that's more upscale, serving food that might be a bit too catered to tourists, prices a bit steeper than what they pay for in Bedok for instance.

And while that perception hardly mattered when the stream of eager foreign foodies were streaming in, these are drastically different times.

The pandemic has forced eateries to reconsider how to run their businesses. Time-tested tactics like word-of-mouth nice cafes might find it almost impossible to succeed if we encounter another CB and dining-in is once again banned.

Different problems, but seemingly structural issues as well, surfaced in our conversations with some of the vendors in Newton.

While those with an already well-established local clientele are also suffering the effects of Covid-19, they seem to have fared better.

But that's far from all of them.

At least one stall owner at Newton told us that their food might not be what local Singaporeans would necessarily flock to, which makes this significant period without tourists a far loftier task to handle than others.

But there is somewhat of an opportunity here. When we visited Bedok and Newton, one of the more stark contrasts was how the patrons at Newton Food Centre was much younger than those found at Bedok, which saw mostly families and older couples. Perhaps a demographic they could target possibly?

It is not going to be an easy pivot whichever way they choose, especially for those that used to depend on a stream of visitors that suddenly disappeared overnight, but appears to be a necessary change to make if this is the world they have to survive in for the foreseeable future.

Images taken by Syahindah Ishak