SINGAPORE: In recent years, the financial sustainability of Singapore’s hawker trade has become a pressing concern. Hawkers face numerous challenges, chief among them being rising costs of manpower and raw materials. Some hawkers report operating costs exceeding S$10,000 per month. Yet, the public’s expectation for affordable food options forces them to operate with extremely thin profit margins, sometimes as low as 20 to 30 cents per bowl. The ramifications of this financial strain are profound and manifold. For one, it deters younger generations from entering the trade. Some established hawkers, like Melvin Soh of the 17-year-old hawker business Toast Hut, have closed their businesses due to an inability to meet potential hires’ salary demands. In the case of Toa Payoh zi char stall Hong Sheng Restaurant, which recently ceased operations after 50 years, older hawkers actively discourage their children from taking over. These are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a systemic problem. However, implementing higher pricing is challenging for many hawkers. When hawker Douglas Ng raised his fishball noodle prices by 50 cents, his business dropped by 40 to 50 per cent. How can we understand Singaporeans’ reluctance to pay for hawker food and the complex landscape of hawker food pricing? EXPECTATIONS OF LOW PRICES According to former head chef Nurl Asyraffie Mohamed Shukor, who now runs hawker stall Kerabu by Arang, patrons at hawker centres expect fast, cheap and filling meals. In an 8days interview, he explains: “A lot of people don’t understand my food and they ask, ‘why is it so expensive?’ They don’t understand the work behind it. For the chicken, I need to brine it for two hours, then marinate overnight. The whole process is very tedious but they only see rice, chicken, and salted egg on the plate and think it should be S$3.” However, this seems not to be the case for BlackGoat, a popular hawker stall serving Western-style cuisine, with prices ranging from S$9 for a brownie to S$59.50 for 495g of striploin, significantly higher than traditional local hawker fare. According to BlackGoat’s reviews, customers deem the food “value for money”. It appears that hawker patrons expect local fare to remain cheap, but are willing to spend more money on other cuisines. Is it a case of double standards? While Singaporeans’ reluctance to pay more for hawker food could be attributed to internalised bias - where Singaporean cuisine must justify its worth, while foreign cuisines, such as Italian or Japanese, are priced without question - the issue is more complex. Singaporeans perceive traditional hawker food as “everyday food” rather than an occasional luxury. While fishball noodles may require more work and incur higher production costs than aglio olio, for instance, one could argue that it is the frequent consumption, rather than its lack of inherent value, that drives consumers to demand lower prices.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/hawker-food-price-affordable-stall-rental-rising-cost-manpower-4836616   Commentary: Singaporeans’ reluctance to pay more for hawker food is endangering the trade 2 hours ago Hawkers are not only providers of daily sustenance for Singaporeans, but also protectors of a UNESCO-recognised intangible cultural heritage. With chronic diseases on the rise, there is an additional responsibility for hawkers to serve healthy options. Is it reasonable to thrust these burdens on hawkers? Food writer Pamelia Chia weighs in.

Disgraceful behavior from scums, so far no actions from EFL