S'pore hawker, 41, cooked free food daily for elderly & low-income residents despite her stall being closed for 2 months

When Hani Isnin-Racine had to shut her stall for nearly two months to care for her ailing parents, her first worry was not the loss of income. It was whether her regulars would have enough to eat, according to Berita Harian (BH).

Throughout the stall's closure, the 41-year-old owner of The $2.50 Shop at Kukoh 21 Hawker Centre continued cooking dishes like mee goreng and nasi lemak, which she left outside her stall daily for residents of the Jalan Kukoh neighbourhood to take for free.

The stall reopened on Jul. 6, according to BH.

"What would they eat if I closed completely?"

Speaking to BH, Hani said her regulars, many of whom are elderly residents and families living in rental flats nearby, had been depending on her stall for years.

She said:

"I was more worried that they would have no food. I have known them for years.

Some depend on my stall for their daily meal before taking their medication, and some live alone.

So if I closed completely, what would they eat?"

Six years of S$2.50 meals

The $2.50 Shop was set up six years ago with the goal of selling affordable food to residents in the neighbourhood.

Malay dishes such as nasi lemak, nasi rawon, mee rebus, mee soto, nasi ayam and lontong were initially priced between S$3 and S$4.50.

In Nov. 2023, Hani made the decision to standardise all dishes at S$2.50, a price she has held firm on ever since, despite the rising costs of ingredients and operating costs.

She told BH: "I opened this stall for the community. I just want to contribute what I can and do what I am able to for the people here."

She added that keeping prices low was also about preserving her customers' dignity, saying that with S$10, they could still walk away with four dishes without feeling like they were asking for charity.

Costs rising, income falling

Hani told BH that her income has dropped significantly in recent times, with many days yielding no earnings at all. The situation worsened after GST was raised to nine per cent in Jan. 2024, adding further pressure on top of rising ingredient, utility and operating costs.

She currently spends around S$500 a day on raw ingredients such as meat, vegetables and other cooking essentials, not including approximately 50kg of rice purchased every four days.

Limited storage space means she has to buy supplies in small quantities almost daily, making bulk purchasing difficult.

BH reported that some have questioned whether S$2.50 is a realistic price for the food she serves, but Hani said what others consider low may still be too much for some of her customers.

She said: "There are still customers who come with only 80 cents. I can't bear to tell them to eat just one kuih, so I give them something more filling."

"I would feel like I had lost my purpose"

After nearly six years running the stall, Hani told BH that her customers have become part of her life.

She said: "This stall has become part of my life. All this while, my purpose has not just been to sell food, but to serve the community here. That is why, if one day I can no longer continue, I feel like I would lose my purpose in life."