S'pore malls & hawker centres should have minimum share of halal & local options in tenant mix: Jamus Lim

Singapore cannot allow its local food and beverage (F&B) scene to become a "guinea pig for the market-share aspirations of foreign chain restaurants", said Workers' Party MP Jamus Lim.

Instead, special care must be taken to protect this culinary heritage — for instance, by ensuring that mall, coffeeshop and hawker centre operators include a minimum share of halal options and local cuisine in their tenant mix.

Lim was speaking during an adjournment motion in parliament on Oct. 6.

F&B sector facing challenges

In his speech, the Sengkang MP addressed the various challenges that local F&B operators face.

Among these were rising rent, manpower constraints, and competition with foreign chains.

To the first two, he suggested measures such as the relaxation of hiring quotas to allow Malaysians — who share Singapore's hawker culture — as stall assistants, and rental caps to restrict the maximum quantum of rental increases per year.

"The specific percentage increase can be calibrated for our own local markets, based on average historical rate increases, and possibly further adjusted by property size, location, and lease duration," Lim added.

"Doing so would avoid situations, such as those widely reported in the press, where landlords hike rents by as much as 30 to 50 per cent in a single year."

Foreign competition

On the topic of tenant competition, Lim referenced the recent entry of chain concepts from countries such as China.

Such chains have deep pockets, and some have subsidies from their home states, which allow them to "bid very aggressively" on rent, he said.

Lim added that in extreme cases, they may be willing to treat a Singapore-based operation as a loss leader, to establish their brand in the Southeast Asian market.

But this may come at the expense of local restaurants, which might have been otherwise sustainable.

Culinary heritage

To that end, Lim called for malls, coffeeshops, and hawker centre operators to be held to a tenant mix with a minimum share of halal and local options.

This would serve as a "brake" on the speed of absorption of foreign tenants in F&B, without imposing a hard quota, he said.

The MP also acknowledged existing measures, such as FoodX and the F&B Process Optimisation Plan, which already provide support to the sector.

But more can still be done to "seriously" tackle business costs of hawkers and small business owners, and protect Singapore's culinary heritage, he said.

"When we walk into the food section of a mall in the future, what do we want to see?... Row upon row of only McDonald's, Subways, Jollibees, Haidilaos, and Genki Sushis?

Or do we want to also see local brands and local foods, our Ya Kuns and Old Chang Kees and Paradise, proudly alongside?"