PUBLISHED ONNovember 19, 2024 10:02 AMByKhoo Yi-HangA stall in Dunman Food Centre has received five bids in October, with the highest nearly hitting the $7,000 mark, 8world reported on Monday (Nov 18).
The $6,929 offer was from the son of a hawker who runs a stall in the same row. If he wins the tender, he intends to open a third drink stall.
While they find the $7,000 rent too steep, some hawkers told 8world that they believe there will be fairer competition once the revised rental renewal policy kicks in this month.
"This rental price is a bit ridiculous," one hawker said.
Another stated: "We can accept the market price the government gives us now. But if it goes up, we'll have a harder time."
Worried about the trickle-down effects on customers, a drinks vendor said: "The lower the tender bid, the better… If we set our prices too high, customers will walk away after asking for our prices."
Meanwhile, a food stall in Toa Payoh's Lorong 8 Food Centre received four bids, with the highest bid at $6,508.
This marks a record-high since 2021, 8world reported.
According to the chairman of the Toa Payoh Lorong 7 Shopkeepers and Hawkers Association, the hawker stall bids are affected by current market conditions.
"There's been an increase in the number of hawker centres, so customers have dispersed and business has decreased.
"If we want to continue operating, prices can't be too high," he said.
In order to discourage high bids for hawker stalls, the National Environmental Agency (NEA) announced a new initiative on Nov 4 that changes how rental pricing is adjusted after bids are made.
In the past, hawkers who submitted high bids for stalls would see their rents immediately drop to market rates after their three-year tenancy.
With November's tender exercise, however, NEA has staggered the downward adjustment of tendered stall rentals over a longer period.
Instead of the immediate full downward adjustment to the assessed market rate when the hawker makes their first tenancy renewal, the rental will be adjusted downwards by 50 per cent of the difference between their tendered rent and the market rate for the second tenancy term.
The rent will be the market rate from the third tenancy period onwards.
Last Wednesday (Nov 13), Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) NCMPs Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa put forward a motion in Parliament regarding hawker reforms.
It called for the government to "review its policies relating to hawkers and the management of hawker centres to provide better support for hawkers to sustain and grow Singapore hawker culture, so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy good and affordable hawker food".
During his speech, Leong shared that hawkers face high operational costs, harsh working conditions, as well as expectations to provide cheap food.
Besides proposing a new government agency called Hawker Singapore to oversee the management of hawker centres in the country, Leong also suggested that the government adopt a flexible model when it comes to hawker stall rent.
"While rent may not be the biggest cost item for a hawker, it is the biggest burden because it is a fixed cost," Leong explained.
In response, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon defended the current bidding system for hawker stall rental.
He described it as "open, transparent and straightforward".
"A bidding system enables market mechanisms to work at hawker centres," he explained, adding: "The process encourages prospective hawkers that are committed and serious to come forward and submit a bid."
Meanwhile, Holland-Bukit Timah MP Edward Chia proposed three amendments to the motion.
The amended motion then called on the government to "continue its support for hawkers by regularly reviewing its policies" to "help to sustain and grow Singapore's hawker culture" for Singaporeans to continue enjoying "good and affordable hawker food while enabling hawkers to earn a fair livelihood".
All MPs present in Parliament voted in favour of the amended motion.
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khooyihang@asiaone.com
