An elderly hawker decided to shut his stall on Feb 26 after the new coffee shop operator had planned to triple his monthly rent.

Leo Shang De, 76, and his wife ran Shang De Vegetarian at 566 Serangoon Road for more than a decade.

Before running the stall, the hawker had worked in Denmark with his brother, and was in the food and beverage industry for over 10 years before returning to Singapore.

"At the time, I was around 50 years old. I initially helped out at a friend's steel factory, but ultimately, I wanted to start my own business," he said.

"I sold items, such as chicken rice, wanton mee, and prawn noodles. Later on, I got introduced to vegetarianism through religion. I was so inspired that I wanted to promote healthy dining."

After the coffee shop changed hands, Leo decided to move out after the rent was expected to rise over three-fold from $930 to $3,000.

"I am just running a small business, and I only earn enough to get by. I can't afford such rent," he told Shin Min Daily News. "I may bid for a stall at a government-owned hawker centre to continue running my business."

Leo said that the existing coffee shop operator told him to clear his stall by Friday (Feb 28) to make way for the new operators.

But Leo and his wife, who are both in their 70s, took longer to clear the stall.

This frustrated the coffee shop operator, whom Leo said "rushed him" while he was moving his belongings in the morning.

"I had already told him that the move would be completed by 6pm, with only one refrigerator left waiting for a truck to take it away. I don't know why he was so aggressive," the beleaguered hawker said.

Leo also asked the existing operator for a refund of two days' rental - amounting to $62 - as he closed his stall on Feb 26, but the latter rejected his request.

The issue was resolved after the police were called to mediate.

"The new coffee shop operator kindly paid out of his own pocket to refund my two days' rent and advised me not to be angry," said Leo.

Shin Min reported that several long-time customers patronised Leo's last day of business on Feb 26.

Workers' Party chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh was one of them.

Sharing a photo of him with Leo and his wife on Instagram, Singh said: "Leo shared today that he and his wife only planned to take a short rest before restarting at a new location nearby.

"I expected him to say a few months' rest. He said one or two days."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Pritam Singh (@pritamsingh76)

Hawker's comments disrespectful: Previous coffee shop operator

Responding to Leo's allegations, the previous coffee shop operator told Shin Min that he had informed all stallholders that they would need to empty their stalls before Saturday (March 1) so that the venue can be handed over to the new operator for renovation.

After noticing that Leo had not cleared his stall on Feb 28, he approached him to find out more.

"But he told me that it's none of my business and said that he would speak directly with the coffee shop owner. These comments made me feel disrespected," he said.

"Although I am only the operator of the coffee shop, the stall owners pay their rentals to me, and they also signed their lease with me."

The previous coffee shop operator, however, admitted that he spoke inappropriately on Friday, saying that he was caught up in the heat of the moment.

As for why he refused to return Leo his two days' of rental, the operator said that all stalls were closed on Feb 26, but the current coffee shop owner did not return the rental to him.

"How can I give back to the stall owners?" he asked.

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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