Hawkers physical presence at stall 'most practical & fair way' to ensure no subletting of stall: Koh Poh Koon

Requiring hawkers to be physically present to operate the stall is the "most practical and fair way" to ensure the store is not being sublet, said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and Environment Koh Poh Koon.

This is so the National Environment Agency (NEA) can monitor stallholders through inspections.

Speaking in parliament on Mar. 10, Koh explained that the requirement prevents tenants from potentially subletting the store and collecting the difference in rent.

"It may encourage persons to bid for the store without the true intention of running the store," he added.

Koh stated that if tenants cannot operate the store, they must return it to the NEA, which will then release it to other interested hawkers to bid for it.

In some instances, NEA does exercise flexibility when stallholders are temporarily unable to operate their stores, such as for medical reasons. Stallholders can appoint a joint operator or nominee to manage the store during that period.

Koh said NEA may extend support through rental waivers if the store closes temporarily.

"NEA does not restrict such arrangements, as long as registered stall holders in hawker centres are still able to fulfill the tenancy requirements by personally operating the stores."

What if they are very successful?

People's Action Party (PAP) Member of Parliament (MP) Edward Chia asked whether some flexibilities can be extended for hawkers who may need to be outside their stall due to other business activities they need to operate.

Chia cited examples where new hawkers need to invest in branding to grow their business and would have to work on social media marketing. He also noted that some may have set up their own central kitchen.

All these could prevent them from being physically present at their store.

In response, Koh said that "it's only right that [the hawkers] relinquish the store to someone else who needs the space" if the hawker has expanded the business beyond a hawker centre, is very successful, and does not have the time to run the store themselves.

Koh suggested that hawkers nominate their family member to take over the store, which is allowed under the policy.

"But to nominate the store to an unrelated person that opens up the risk of actually someone, basically, then profiteering and buying whatever has been given to this person through a business transaction, and that's something that we will not allow."

One-sided story

Koh mentioned the recent case in which a man took to Facebook to say his pregnant wife received a warning from NEA for not being present in the stall despite the fact that their staff runs the stall.

He noted that it was "a very one-sided story".

Koh explained that NEA had offered his wife to nominate another person to take over the store while pregnant.

"But instead of actually accepting that as a legitimate option to do so, they decide to put on social media to try and say that we have been unhelpful."

Koh then added that the system should not be catering to private chain owners.

"We're quite happy that hawkers like him have succeeded, but it is understandable that as a business owner, he wants to focus on his other business and try not to focus as much attention on the hawker stalls.

But that's not something we would want to, because we cannot allow our NEA hawker system to be catering to the interest of such private chain owners."

Koh reiterated that hawker centres are also community dining spaces with a social role, not just commercial spaces.

"We have invested in our hawker centres to provide affordable, cooked food for Singaporeans, while wanting to enable small food businesses to earn a reasonable living," said Koh.

"The reality, therefore, is that we need to balance between protecting our heritage, keeping the food affordable and ensuring fair opportunities for new hawkers."

Top photo via MDDI/YouTube and Noorman Mubarak/Facebook