Ong Ye Kung rebuts complaints about treatment of stallholders at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre
Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre opened in December 2022 after a three-year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
SINGAPORE – Stallholders at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre are not charged for storing supplies in baskets or penalised for not providing free meals, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Mr Ong, who oversees the ward where the food centre is located, was responding in an Aug 11 Facebook post to concerns raised by veteran food critic K.F. Seetoh about the treatment of hawkers there.
In a Facebook post on Aug 4, Mr Seetoh had claimed that the food centre's hawkers were forced to pay $70 each month to use blue supply baskets at the back of each stall.
The founder of local food guide Makansutra, in another post on Aug 8, said the stallholders were contractually obliged to offer 60 free meals at their own expense.
'What a ridiculous smash and grab management policy,' he said in the post, which included a screenshot of what appears to be a contract with the hawker centre's management.
Mr Seetoh also claimed that hawkers were forced to offer budget meals of up to $3.50 for everyone, not just 'the poor'.
In March 2023, the
budget meal initiative was launched by the Ministry of National Development and Housing Board to provide Singaporeans with meals typically priced $3.50 and below.
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Mr Ong, who also leads the Sembawang GRC MPs, said he had investigated the matters raised after finding out about the food critic's online posts.
He said the claim that hawkers must provide 60 free meals 'does not present the full picture'.
Mr Ong said stallholders had initially agreed to provide 30 meals each month for low-income residents when the hawker centre first opened, before the figure was adjusted to 100 meals over the three-year duration of their lease.
Mr Ong, who is also Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, added: 'There are no penalties if they do not or are unable to provide the meals.
'This simple, well-intentioned initiative was meant to encourage our hawkers to 'pay it forward'.'
Mr Ong, who said he visits the hawker centre frequently, noted that the initiative has yet to commence.
He added: 'I appreciate K.F. Seetoh's concern for our hawkers and share his passion for keeping our hawker culture alive and thriving.
'However, let's do so without putting down anyone, whether they are patrons, hawkers, the hawker centre operator, or government agencies.'
On Aug 11, Mr Seetoh thanked the minister and suggested that they meet so that he could get 'the full picture'.
The 44-stall Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre
opened in December 2022 after a three-year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the time of its launch, about 10 per cent of the stalls were run by Sembawang residents.
It was the first such facility to open in the constituency after about three decades.
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