S’pore Farm Shutting Down After Feeding S’poreans For 3 Generations, Struggles To Pay $500,000 In Costs

[The_King]

Farmer Wakes At 3am Daily To Meet Covid-19 Demand, He’s Now Troubled By Cost Of Reinstating Land To Govt

As the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions has led to panic buying of food, local farms are toiling hard to meet Singaporeans’ needs.

One third-generation farm has been working really hard — but finds itself having to shut down by the end of June, and not because of Covid-19.

Disheartened, local food business owner Jane Lee decided to call attention to the closure of her favourite supplier and how tough it is to be a farmer in Singapore.

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Food business owner pens heartfelt tribute to hardworking farmer

Ms Lee penned a heartfelt Facebook post on Thursday (4 Jun), paying tribute to the hardworking farmer.

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She said she respects Mr Oh, the proprietor of Oh Chin Huat Hydroponic Farms Pte Ltd, so much that she has never considered working with other suppliers despite getting offers from them.

Throughout their 6 years of working together, Mr Oh has always provided “top-notch” service with low crop prices, and even made urgent personal deliveries when they lacked supplies, she added.

 

SLA taking back land, farmer can’t pay reinstatement costs

According to Ms Lee, the farm is closing down as the Singapore Land Authority is “taking back the land to build houses”.

Mr Oh is also in a bind because he says he cannot afford the high cost of reinstating the land, which amounts to about $500,000.

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Reinstating the land means clearing it up and returfing it by replanting grass, so as to meet the requirements of the authorities.

As returfing of the grass involves grass of different grades and prices, reinstatement of the land is an expensive process — Mr Oh has been quoted the princely sum of half a million by contractors.

Despite him saving up for this, he simply can’t afford to pay so much, and has been having sleepless nights, according to Ms Lee.

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Land & manpower are financial concerns when running farm in S’pore

Highlighting the difficulties of running a farm in Singapore, Ms Lee pointed out that land and manpower are also sources of financial concern that have an impact on the survival of the farm.

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Despite that, Mr Oh and his staff, which comprise his family members and a few foreign workers, are dedicated to the work.

He reportedly wakes up at 3am daily and works till late at night in order to ensure local food demands are being met during the Covid-19 period — and does this with little complaint, saying it’s a privilege to serve the nation.

 

Ostensibly, it’s been a tough time, as Ms Lee says when he saw Mr Oh on Thursday (4 Jun), he had visibly lost weight.

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Owner has sense of responsibility for farm that lasted 3 generations

In response to his numerous worries, Ms Lee joked that as a private business, Mr Oh could just wind up and leave.

He responded that as a business that lasted 3 generations, he owes it to his grandfather to be responsible.

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His words filled Ms Lee with respect for him, making her even more saddened that he still has to end the business after so much effort.

After all, the history of the place can’t be replicated.

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Appealing to netizens for help

While Ms Lee has said she will write in to the SLA to see what can be done to help mitigate the reinstatement costs, she also appealed to netizens for help.

So if anyone has lobang for contractors who can do land reinstatement and returfing for a reasonable fee, do reach out to her.

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In the meantime, Ms Lee said she was privileged to have a final tour of the place, snapping lots of photos, before it’s shut down for good.

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Wishing Mr Oh all the best

While many are helping in their own ways in the fight against Covid-19, let’s not forget food producers like Mr Oh who are ensuring Singaporeans’ food security amid the pandemic.

Now that he’s shutting down, we should also try to provide him as much support as we can.

We hope him and his family can solve their financial worries soon and enjoy a meaningful life after winding down the business.

 

 

https://mustsharenews.com/third-generation-farmer-shuts-down/

[The_King]

if i am him, i rather open my factory or farm in malaysia then in SG

[XianGe]

Sb70

[chamfer]

I don't understand why govt give such short term lease to farmers and on the other hand say want to ramp up local produce....

 

Farming/rearing fishes or seafood is not easy job and profit margins can be low due to manpower costs

[Huat Zai]

10 minutes ago, chamfer said:

I don't understand why govt give such short term lease to farmers and on the other hand say want to ramp up local produce....

 

Farming/rearing fishes or seafood is not easy job and profit margins can be low due to manpower costs

Because the figures look good on paper. They can tell you piak piak no need space already, grow food where got need space?

[chamfer]

2 minutes ago, Huat Zai said:

Because the figures look good on paper. They can tell you piak piak no need space already, grow food where got need space?

Really lack of foresight.....

 

Some things need time and effort to grow and they don't magically appear when there is increase in demand.

[Huat Zai]

3 minutes ago, chamfer said:

Really lack of foresight.....

 

Some things need time and effort to grow and they don't magically appear when there is increase in demand.

LIES

[Standing Birdy]

Edited June 5, 2020 by Standing Birdy

[aaur4man]

Land is ex so need smart farming

 

Sadly govt only want earn land cost

 

Those that possible to survive will be like the upcoming multistorey fish farm

[The_King]

in short just go malaysia or country with cheap cost

[XianGe]

1 hour ago, chamfer said:

I don't understand why govt give such short term lease to farmers and on the other hand say want to ramp up local produce....

 

Farming/rearing fishes or seafood is not easy job and profit margins can be low due to manpower costs

 

Ya tis covid taught us we nid hab own farm produce... No fugging point build so much air filter hdb

[meng.huat]

If u govt with a limited supply of land, will you prefer to

 

- lease it to some smelly loser farmer??

 

Or

 

- build some ATAS million dollar shoebox condos to sell rich ah guas to build pinkdot gay nest???

[meng.huat]

I find the article is not a balanced piece of reporting. Clickbait

 

1) the title says the farm has been "feeding" sinkies for 3 generations? Hello?? Sinkies no pay money to buy veg is it? Need you to feed? Supply say supply la... What feed? They are a vegetables supplier, sinkies pay to buy their veg to eat. No need them to feed.

 

2) when the farmer take up the lease, the landlord  (govt, SLA) will make them sign a lease agreement with the reinstatement cost clearly stated. The farmer should know the cost long ago. Article say until farmer was caught by surprise, only know the cost recently? They long ago know the cost involved already. Dont be fooled.

 

They should do the math and prepare for the cashflow if want to continue the business. By the way, they been selling veg to sinkies for 3 generations, where all the earnings go? Feed ATB is it?

 

If u are a contractor and can help do the reinstatement at lower cost, please go ahead and provide a quotation.

 

I hope sinkies dont so KG go start some crowdfunding to pay for their reinstatement costs. You are only subsidizing the farmer next condo.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by meng.huat

[aaur4man]

10 hours ago, XianGe said:

 

Ya tis covid taught us we nid hab own farm produce... No fugging point build so much air filter hdb

 

Who say no need

 

These are expensive quarantine pigeon boxes

 

U get to decorate it nicely also