NCMP Hazel Poa spoke in Parliament on 13 November 2024 in support of Mr. Leong Mun Wai’s Hawker Culture Motion to keep hawker food affordable amid rising living costs, proposing fixed stall rents, targeted government subsidies for budget meals, and a centralized procurement system to lower hawker costs. She also suggested alternative stall allocation methods and fairer leasing rules to support hawkers, aiming to sustain affordable hawker culture in Singapore.
Mr Speaker Sir,
I support the motion raised by my colleague Mr Leong Mun Wai.
Many Singaporeans are extremely concerned about the cost of living. The cost of food, including hawker food, is a big part of such concerns. Out of the hundreds of complaints about price increases received by the Committee Against Profiteering, most are about food prices.
For generations, hawker centres have been an essential place for working-class families to access delicious and affordable food in Singapore, and we should keep it that way. To do that, not only do we need to keep the cost of hawker food under control, we also need to ensure that the overall hawker industry remains vibrant and being a hawker is a viable and sustainable livelihood for Singaporeans. That is why in our motion statement today, we have emphasised that we must improve the prospects of hawkers so that we can sustain and grow our hawker culture and continue to enjoy good and affordable food.
The policies we propose today will improve the prospects and livelihoods of our hawkers and ensure that hawker food remains affordable for Singaporeans in the longer term.
Take for example our proposal of a fixed rental structure.
Currently, stalls are allocated to the highest bidders in tender exercises. This is generally held to be the economically efficient approach. However, PSP believes that the allocation of essential goods and services needs to account for other non-economic factors. The subsidising of public housing, public transport, and healthcare are examples of considering both social and economic factors in essential goods and services. We believe that hawker food qualifies as another case deserving special consideration.
We have therefore proposed that the allocation of hawker stalls should NOT be based on highest rent tendered. Instead, we propose a pre-determined rent structure to keep rental cost under control. We believe that this proposal will be a game-changer for hawkers.
A reduction in rents in hawker centres will also have an anchoring effect on rents in privately-operated food courts and coffeeshops. This will benefit all Singaporeans.
If rent is not the mechanism used to allocate hawker stalls, how should they be allocated? We have said earlier that one way to do so is by random ballot. Another possible way is to allow the customers to decide.
For example, for hawker centres located near HDB flats, let the residents living nearby vote for their desired stalls through a small food fair or competition. Hawker Singapore will ensure that the stalls that are chosen can still meet the needs of the different ethnic groups. PSP believes that getting the stakeholders involved in the decision making will lead to a more optimal outcome. We can first implement this on a trial basis at a few hawker centres to determine its feasibility before extending it to all hawker centres.
Next, I want to reiterate that PSP firmly believes that it should be the Government’s responsibility to ensure that food remains affordable, and not the hawkers’.
We therefore propose that, instead of compelling hawkers to offer budget meals to everyone at their own cost, the Government should pay for targeted food discounts at hawker centres for Pioneer, Merdeka, CHAS cardholders and lower-income households. The Government can also provide lower-income households with more CDC vouchers to pay for their hawker meals. This will provide vulnerable groups with some much-needed assistance in the short term to ensure that their meals remain affordable.
This approach ensures that assistance is more targeted at the more vulnerable. The Government’s current “budget meal” approach, however, is open to all.
In the past, we have argued for basic goods and services to be exempted from GST. The Government’s response has always been that this would also benefit the rich, and targeted vouchers and rebates are better. Therefore, I am sure the Government can understand how the hawkers feel when they see customers visibly better off than them financially, buying budget meals from them. Isn’t this a case of double standards? How is this fair to the hawkers?
Secondly, PSP’s approach ensures greater fairness to all vulnerable Singaporeans, not just those staying near the social enterprise hawker centres or rental HDB coffeeshops.
Thirdly, our proposal is more sustainable because it will be funded by the Government instead of the hawkers themselves. As my colleague Mr Leong Mun Wai has explained, the “budget meal” initiative is being paid for by hawkers themselves, but many of them are themselves lower-income Singaporeans who are not in a good position to pay for such initiatives.
Now, I would like to share another proposal by PSP to lower costs for hawkers and keep hawker food affordable for Singaporeans.
We can set up a centralised procurement system where the new agency, Hawker Singapore, can contract with wholesalers to supply hawkers with ingredients that are commonly used by hawkers, such as cooking oil, rice, flour, sugar, salt, and eggs, at lower prices through bulk purchasing. Hawkers have the option to get their supplies through such arrangements or they could still choose to use their own suppliers if they think that it is of better quality or it gives them some other competitive advantage.
Currently, we already have a company, ALPS Pte Ltd, that purchases drugs, medical and non-medical supplies and equipment, and services for Singapore’s three Public Healthcare Clusters. Last year, PSP had called on the Government to centralise drug procurement across all public and private medical institutions and distribute drugs to public and private health facilities on a not-for-profit basis.
It would not be a huge stretch to set up a similar centralised procurement system to bulk buy all the essential raw ingredients used by hawkers in Singapore. We believe that such a system would have a very substantial impact on reducing the cost of living in Singapore.
I would like to emphasise that no hawker will be forced to get their supplies through PSP’s proposed centralised procurement system. Additionally, the Government will not provide any subsidies to hawkers through this system. All savings will come from bulk purchasing the ingredients from wholesalers.
We have received feedback that currently, some SEHC operators require hawkers to purchase supplies such as gas and crockery from designated suppliers. This has caused unhappiness in cases where the designated suppliers charged a higher price than free market.
We believe that such provisions in the rental contracts are unfair to hawkers and provide potential for abuse or profiteering. Landlords should not be specifying who their tenants should be buying from.
We propose that the Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises be revised to explicitly cover hawkers, and prohibit all such practices. Contracts that deviate from this must seek the tenant’s agreement and be submitted to the Fair Tenancy Industry Committee, as is the existing practice.
Mr Speaker, Mandarin please.
议长先生，
多年以来，小贩中心在许多新加坡人的生活中扮演着很重要的角色，是我们可以平价获得美食的地方， 更在2020年被联合国列入“非物质文化遗产代表名录”。
为了确保小贩文化能被保留并持续发展， 前进党今天提出了小贩文化动议，呼吁政府检讨小贩政策和小贩中心的管理, 以处理小贩目前面对的种种问题，确保这个行业能吸引新一代新加坡人的加入，以及确保小贩中心的价格能为大众所负担。
为了改善小贩的前景和生计，以及确保小贩中心能继续提供平价美食，前进党今天提出了六项建议。
第一，前进党提议逐步废除社企化小贩中心，并将所有小贩中心的管理集中在一个名为“新加坡小贩发展局”的新政府机构。新加坡小贩发展局除了管理全国的小贩中心，也将负责与新加坡旅游局和新加坡企业发展局等其他相关机构合作，在国内外积极推广小贩文化。
第二，前进党提议，停止目前以价高者得的方式决定摊位得主。我们提议租金定在每月五百元或总营业额的百分之三，以较高者为准。我们相信，在这个租金模式下，大多数小贩将会缴纳较低的租金。降低小贩中心的租金，也有助于压低私人咖啡店和食阁的租金，从而降低所有国人的生活成本。
如果不通过租金来决定摊位得主，那么该如何决定呢？我们提出两种办法。第一种是随机抽签。第二种是由顾客投票决定。例如，“小贩发展局”可以举办试吃会，邀请附近居民试吃并投票来决定邻里小贩中心摊位的得主。
第三，前进党提议政府允许小贩聘请一名持有工作准证的客工作为小贩助理以减轻人力不足的问题。
第四，近年来，社企化小贩中心和建屋发展局租赁的咖啡店陆续强制小贩自费提供“经济餐”。前进党不反对经济餐，但是我们认为经济餐应该由政府买单。很多小贩的收入不高，他们赚的是血汗钱，不应该被迫自费提供经济餐。前进党认为，更好的做法是让政府出钱为有需要的群体提供针对性的折扣或餐券。
第五，前进党提议政府设立一个集中采购系统，与批发商签订合同，让小贩可以自行选择通过这个安排，以量购价购买常用的食材，如食用油、大米、面粉、糖、盐和鸡蛋等等。这将有助于降低熟食价格，从而降低所有国人的生活成本。
第六，前进党获得反馈，目前一些社企化小贩中心的经营者，要求小贩从指定供应商购买煤气和餐具等用品，由于价格较高， 造成了不愉快。我们认为，这些规定对小贩不公平，并有可能被滥用来牟取不当的利益。我们建议修订《零售场所租约行为守则》，禁止这类行为。
我们认为，我们今天提出的六项提议，将有效的降低国人的生活成本，并加强小贩文化的持续性。希望政府认真考虑实施我们今天提出的建议。
Conclusion
Mr Speaker Sir,
PSP understands that many Singaporeans, especially the lower-income and the elderly, are extremely concerned about the cost of living.
Over the years, affordable hawker food has been one of the major ways through which the cost of living has been kept in check for Singaporeans. We recognise the importance of this. As circumstances change, we need to adjust our policies to ensure that hawker food remains affordable in a sustainable way.
We believe that our six proposals will substantially help lower the cost of living for Singaporeans while ensuring that being a hawker remains a viable and sustainable livelihood for Singaporeans. We hope that the Government will seriously consider these proposals.
