Bukit Canberra hawkers' free meal clause in contracts to be removed in Sep. 2025

The clauses requiring Bukit Canberra hawkers to provide free meals will be removed when the tenancy agreements are renewed in September 2025, the Canopy Hawkers Group said in a Aug. 15 Facebook post.

An earlier 2022 contract obtained by Lianhe Zaobao reportedly said stallholders are required to participate in the "Pay-It-Forward" programme.

If they do not, they could face penalties like demerit points and penalty fees.

In the operator's post, Canopy Hawkers Group reiterated that the "Pay-It-Forward’ initiative had not been implemented, and that no hawkers "have been penalised for not providing free meals under the tenancy agreements".

They also said they do not intend to "enforce the obligation in the future", and they were "publicly" making this commitment.

They also touched on "budget meals", which they noted was different from the ‘Pay-It-Forward’ initiative.

They said they work with our hawkers to offer food options at different price points, which includes more affordable value meals.

The operator said these value meals do not form a large part of meals sold, and that hawkers are not expected to make a "loss selling value meals".

Here is their Facebook post.

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Photo by Ilyda Chua/Mothership