PSP's amended motion on supporting hawkers passed in Parliament by group of cross-party MPs

An amended Progress Singapore Party (PSP) motion aimed to support hawkers in Singapore was passed in Parliament on Nov. 13, 2024.

The original motion called for the government to "review its policies relating to hawkers and the management of hawker centres to provide better support for hawkers to sustain and grow Singapore hawker culture so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy good and affordable hawker food".

After amendments, the motion called for:

"The government to continue its support for hawkers by regularly reviewing its policies relating to hawkers and the management of hawker centres, which will help to sustain and grow Singapore’s hawker culture so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy good and affordable hawker food while enabling hawkers to earn a fair livelihood.”

A debate ensued in parliament concerning PSP's suggestions that lasted more than five hours between MPs on both sides of the aisle.

All 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) present passed all amendments to the motion.

New proposed government agency

"Not enough is done to address the hardships of our hawkers," Non-Constituency PSP MP Leong Mun Wai claimed, citing low prices, high rent, and "arguably predatory management practices in the social enterprise hawker centres".

“This situation is not sustainable. At the rate we are going, our traditional hawker culture, which is based on the hard work and enterprise of individual hawkers, will slowly wither away,” Leong said.

He shared that hawker issues are close to his heart, as his late father, the sole breadwinner of the family, was a hawker in Chinatown. Also, his sister is currently a wonton noodle hawker.

PSP recommended that the current social enterprise model be phased out and replaced with a new government agency tentatively called "Hawker Singapore".

Hawker Singapore would oversee the management of all hawker centres in Singapore, and "work with hawkers in each centre to develop its unique value proposition within the general guidelines laid down by itself."

Leong also proposed that Hawker Singapore set up a "hawker academy" that would be the "focal point for training young hawkers."

Poa added that Hawker Singapore could also help by bulk purchasing common ingredients at a lower rate, to provide them to hawkers for a cheaper price.

Rental costs

Leong also proposed a more flexible rent model where all hawker stalls are charged a monthly base rent of S$500 or 3 per cent of Gross Turnover, which will help "lower the barriers of entry for new hawkers".

Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon defended the current bidding system, calling it open, transparent and straightforward.

He pointed out that going by gross turnover would require a point-of-sale system for every stall to assess the real takings.

Outliers

Workers' Party (WP) MP Louis Chua highlighted a vacant hawker unit at Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre that set a new record high rental cost in the July 2024 tender of S$10,158 per month.

In response, Koh highlighted that such bids are an outlier and that such extremely high tender bids would not be reflective of the locality's normal market situation, and would not be considered in the valuation of the Assessed Market Rent (AMR).

The valuation compares the locality characteristics, stall sizes, and footfall of comparable hawker centres, as well as past tender bids.

The "outlier" bid at Marine Parade is the only one in the past five years amongst the close to 7,000 hawker stalls, so it will not affect the valuation, which is based on the vast majority of rental bids.

For the majority of cooked food stallholders in hawker centres, median rent is about S$1,250 a month and has remained relatively stable for the past decade, despite the rise in prices.

Foreign Manpower

PSP also recommended that each cooked food hawker stall, including drinks and cut fruit stalls, be allowed to employ one work permit holder as a stall assistant.

In response, Koh said that such a "full liberalisation" for foreign manpower would "alter the nature of our hawker centres significantly," and that Singaporeans may not be able to accept this change.

Koh noted that the recent announcement that hawker stalls will be allowed to hire long-term visit pass holders as assistants from Jan. 1, 2025, is a way in which the government is trying to strike a balance.

PSP's Poa also proposed a central procurement system for hawker centres.

This would involve a government agency contracting wholesalers to supply hawkers with cheaper ingredients through bulk purchasing.

Koh responded that some hawker centres have been offered bulk purchasing services, but that there has not been widespread take-up, with some hawkers having established relationships with their suppliers, or being particular about their ingredients.

Targeted discounts

Leong also proposed that the government should pay for targeted food discounts for Pioneer, Merdeka and CHAS cardholders at all hawker centres and provide lower-income households with more CDC vouchers.

Leong was addressing the budget meal scheme introduced in 2018 when for new coffee shops let out by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann responded to Leong's assertion that the government forces hawkers to provide "budget meals" at their own expense:

“The prices should be affordable compared to surrounding options, but we do not require them to be lower."

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Shawn Huang added that the government is already providing targeted support via rebates, payouts and support.

Long-term view

Koh said that the government takes a "long-term view" when crafting hawker policies, adding:

“We may not always get this right the first time. With your input and feedback, and as circumstances change, we will review and adjust our policies. We have done so in the past, and we will continue to fine-tune and improve.” 

Top image via Tribe Tours.