A quintessential part of many Singaporeans' childhood is buying ice cream from the ice cream uncle and the ice cream cart attached to his motorcycle.

As of January 2024, only 11 street hawking licences issued for the sale of ice cream remain active, said Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon.

This was in response to a parliamentary question raised by Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Gerald Giam, who asked how many street hawking licences have been issued for streetside ice-cream vendors in the last 10 years and how many are still active.

He also asked whether the licences from the inactive vendors can be transferred to new applicants and "how much longer will streetside ice-cream vendors be allowed to exist".

21 licences in the last 10 years

Koh explained that the Street Hawking Scheme was intended to assist unemployed individuals temporarily.

These individuals are assessed to be best supported through a street hawking licence instead of other financial assistance or employment matching schemes offered by a Social Service Office.

As such, such hawking licences are personal to the holder and non-transferable.

"In the past decade, 21 licences were issued under the Street Hawking Scheme for the sale of ice cream. Of these, 11 remain active as of January this year," said Koh.

Rational behind license cost

In a follow-up question, Giam asked Koh about the rationale behind the S$120-a-year licence, as it is "a considerable amount for some low-income hawkers" and whether the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment (MSE) would consider lowering it.

Koh replied that the S$120 a year is a cost recovery for administration.

He said: "Basically, it's not really to make life hard for these hawkers because there are enforcement needed, there are also licensing requirements that the administration needs to be done."

For eligibility, Koh explained that the consideration is based on the fact that those who obtain the licenses are unsuitable for other forms of employment, or the social service agency assesses that the licence is the "most appropriate means to help them tide over a temporary period".

The long-term intent is for these people to get a good job with better job prospects, he added.

In a parliamentary reply in 2016, then Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifi stated that the street hawking scheme started in 1994 as a one-time exercise to control the number of street hawkers.

In the early 2000s, the street hawking scheme was reopened to "temporarily help those who are needy and less employable tide over their financial difficulties".

In another parliamentary reply, it was stated that street hawking is "not a permanent solution for someone trying to make a living".

Cultural value in street hawking

Giam asked if MSE saw any cultural value in street hawking, citing the reason that ice cream sellers are "something that is part of our shared heritage and something that we all remember growing up".

Koh shared that the sale of ice cream at certain locations — like funfairs or trade fairs — can help to enliven the place.

He said sellers have been given licences to participate in trade fairs to add to the festivities.

However, Koh pointed out that for those who want to take on hawking as a longer-term job, it would be better for them to be in a hawker centre with better facilities and for hawkers to have a more fixed customer base.

"I would say that, fundamentally, the first question is to see how best we can help them to find a better career where there are better job prospects for the longer term and have career stability."

Ice cream uncles in Singapore

In an interview with Mothership in 2018, three ice cream hawkers shared that they usually wake up early to collect their supply of ice cream and dry ice from various wholesale locations before setting up their cart by noon.

Two of these had hawker licenses, allowing them to sell ice cream anywhere in Singapore, while the other was only allowed to sell his ice cream in Ang Mo Kio.

Top photo via Google Maps