No penalties for Bukit Canberra hawkers who cannot provide free meals: 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 the Housing Board to provide Singaporeans with meals typically priced $3.50 and below.
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
Ex-NMP Calvin Cheng resolves differences with ex-SDP chairman after latter retracts comments
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Former NMP Calvin Cheng (right) and former SDP chairman Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood said they have resolved their differences amicably. SINGAPORE – Former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng and former Singapore Democratic Party chairman Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood have resolved their differences amicably. In separate Facebook posts on Aug 12, the two men said they met to talk after Mr Cheng sued Mr Jufrie for defamation and were able to agree to disagree. In March, Mr Cheng made remarks about activists who had turned up and caused a scene at a Meet-the-People Session in Chong Pang. Mr Cheng had proposed sending them to Gaza as long as they did not return. Mr Jufrie then claimed that Mr Cheng had a track record of anti-Muslim sentiment and supported genocide, among other comments. In April, Mr Cheng then came out to say he was deeply remorseful for his initial comments and that he should have been more sensitive. He added that some other statements were wrongly attributed to him and that he had to take legal action as the untrue statements were damaging to him. One of the people he took action against was Mr Jufrie. On Aug 12, Mr Jufrie posted that both he and Mr Cheng have strong opinions about the situation in Gaza. He said they agreed to meet and were able to have a pleasant discussion, after which he accepted that Mr Cheng is neither a racist nor an Islamophobe. 'While I thought Mr Cheng was insensitive, which he accepts, I now recognise that I was too harsh in some of my other comments,' said Mr Jufrie. 'In (the) light of our meeting and further information made available to me, we both agreed to resolve our differences amicably and the court case.' He said he retracted his previous statements that criticised Mr Cheng's character and that implied he had committed criminal offences. Mr Cheng posted a photo of the two men standing side by side and noted Mr Jufrie's retractions. He said: 'Gaza is a divisive and emotive issue. But as Singaporeans, we can agree to disagree. 'We agreed we both want the best for Singapore.'
Business Times
6 hours ago
- Business Times
India, China to resume direct flights in sign of closer ties
[NEW DELHI] India and China are set to resume direct flight connections as soon as next month, people familiar with the negotiations said, as the world's two most populous countries seek to reset their political ties. Airlines in India have been asked by the government to prepare flights to China at short notice, with a possible official announcement as soon as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit at the end of August in China, said the people, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are ongoing. Passenger flights between India to China were suspended after the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing travellers from the two neighbouring countries to pass through hubs like through Hong Kong or Singapore. The renewed push to rebuild a direct link comes at a time when India's relations with the US have come under considerable strain, after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil. On Monday, Air India announced it would suspend its direct link to Washington, DC, next month, though it cited 'operational factors' as the reason. Diplomatic ties between the two Asian heavyweights hit a low point in 2020, when border clashes left 20 Indian fighters and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers dead. India recently allowed tourist visas for Chinese nationals after years of curbs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO summit in Tianjin starting Aug 31, where he may meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. India's aviation ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the country's press information bureau did not respond to requests for comment. The exact timing of any flight resumption remains fluid, and talks might still hit a snag, the people cautioned. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Before the suspension, Indian carriers including Air India and IndiGo, as well as Chinese airlines such as Air China, China Southern and China Eastern ran services between key cities of the two countries. A resumption is likely to see both Air India and IndiGo restarting flights to China, the people said. Air India and IndiGo did not respond to emails seeking comment. India and China had first agreed in January to resume direct flights, before relations between the two countries cooled again amid India's limited war with Pakistan. The two countries then announced a takeup of direct connections once more in June, though without any visible progress. Plans to rebuild direct links only gained pace in the past two weeks, and the airlines involved have also been informed about the proposal, the people said. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
India, China set to resume direct flights in sign of closer ties
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Before the suspension, Indian carriers including Air India and IndiGo, as well as Chinese airlines such as Air China, China Southern and China Eastern ran services between key cities of the two countries. India and China are set to resume direct flight connections as soon as next month, people familiar with the negotiations said, as the world's two most populous countries seek to reset their political ties. Airlines in India have been asked by the government to prepare flights to China at short notice, with a possible official announcement as soon as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit at the end of August in China, said the people, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are ongoing. Passenger flights between the two neighboring countries were suspended after the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing travelers from India to China to pass through hubs like Hong Kong or Singapore. The renewed push to rebuild a direct link comes at a time when India's relations with the US have come under considerable strain, after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil. Diplomatic ties between the two Asian heavyweights hit a low point in 2020, when border clashes left 20 Indian fighters and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers dead. India recently allowed tourist visas for Chinese nationals after years of curbs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO summit in Tianjin starting Aug 31, where he may meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. India's aviation ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the country's press information bureau did not respond to requests for comment. The exact timing of any flight resumption remains fluid, and talks might still hit a snag, the people cautioned. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Luxury items seized in $3b money laundering case handed over to Deloitte for liquidation Singapore Power switchboard failure led to disruption in NEL, Sengkang-Punggol LRT services: SBS Transit Singapore NEL resumes service after hours-long power fault; single-track service on Sengkang-Punggol LRT Business Ninja Van cuts 12% of Singapore workforce after 2 rounds of layoffs in 2024 Singapore Hyflux investigator 'took advantage' of Olivia Lum's inability to recall events: Davinder Singh Singapore Man who stabbed son-in-law to death in Boon Tat Street in 2017 dies of heart attack, says daughter Singapore Scoot to launch flights to Chiang Rai, Okinawa, Tokyo-Haneda, boost frequency to other places Singapore Man who stalked woman blasted by judge on appeal for asking scandalous questions in court Before the suspension, Indian carriers including Air India and IndiGo, as well as Chinese airlines such as Air China, China Southern and China Eastern ran services between key cities of the two countries. A resumption is likely to see both Air India and IndiGo restarting flights to China, the people said. Air India and IndiGo did not respond to e-mail seeking comment. India and China had first agreed in January to resume direct flights, before relations between the two countries cooled again amid India's limited war with Pakistan. The two countries then announced a takeup of direct connections once more in June, though without any visible progress. Plans to rebuild direct links only gained pace in the past two weeks, and the airlines involved have also been informed about the proposal, the people said. BLOOMBERG
