2 days ago
Hawkers at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre will not need to provide free meals under new contracts
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Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre's management said the free meals initiative had never been implemented.
SINGAPORE – The management of Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre will scrap clauses requiring hawkers to provide free meals when their contracts are renewed in September.
Following days of public outcry, the management said in a Facebook post on Aug 15 night that it may not proceed with its Pay-It-Forward initiative in its current form, which contractually required stallholders to provide free meals for the needy each month at their own expense, or risk being penalised.
It added that it was making a public commitment that it does not intend to enforce the obligation in the future.
The hawker centre is run by Canopy Hawkers Group, a subsidiary of Food Canopy.
Debate surrounding the Pay-it-Forward initiative first gained traction on Aug 8 when veteran food critic K.F Seetoh
criticised the management's attempt at 'forced charity' in a Facebook post , which included a screenshot of the contract.
On Aug 11, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who oversees the ward where the hawker centre is located, said on Facebook that hawkers did not face penalties if they did not provide the meals.
However, a 2022 contract shown to media, including The Straits Times, indicated that hawkers could chalk up demerit points if they did not provide the meals.
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ST had earlier reported
in June 2024 that tenants at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre have to participate in a 'Belanja A Meal' programme, which required them to set aside 100 meals for the needy at their own cost.
In that report, 25 hawkers from Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHC), including Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, told ST that their livelihood is becoming less sustainable, with a host of responsibilities, which includes the need to shield lower-income families from rising costs.
Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre on Aug 15 said that it acknowledged that participation in charitable causes should be voluntary.
It reiterated its position stated in its Aug 12 post, that when stall applications opened three years ago, the initiative had been incorporated into tenancy agreements to differentiate applications and 'select the hawkers who shared our vision to contribute back to the community'.
Before the hawker centre opened in 2022, the management had attracted 'overwhelming' interest, with nine applicants for each available stall.
The management's Aug 12 post said it 'significantly reduced' the number of meals under the Pay-It-Forward programme to 100 meals over the three-year tenancy period, following discussions with the stallholders after the hawker centre was opened.
Even so, the programme has not officially started, as the management has not done the preparatory work to identify low-income residents and track their eligibility.
'While hawkers have voluntarily agreed to participate at the point of selection, we also acknowledged the view that charity should not be contractual, and this is something to be reviewed again when the Pay-It -Forward programme is ready,' it added.
On Aug 15, the management further shared that it held back implementing the initiative as some hawkers had said they may not be able to fulfil their commitments, even though they would have liked to 'if their circumstances had been better'.
It added: 'We also learnt that in the constituency we are in, the concept of the meal assistance programme is called 'Belanja a Meal', relies on voluntary contributions from patrons, instead of hawkers.'
The management noted that no hawkers have been penalised for not providing free meals under the tenancy agreements, and said it did not intend to enforce the obligation in the future. 'This is a commitment we are making publicly,' it added.
The management said that it will work with hawkers to offer 'affordable value meals', and that its hawkers 'are not expected to make a loss selling value meals'.
It said: 'We remain committed to fostering a caring community while ensuring fairness for our hawkers, and will continue to engage openly with tenants and the public as we refine the programme'.
The SEHC model was started in 2011 when the Government resumed building hawker centres. The scheme had the aim of helping a new breed of hawker centres succeed, by ensuring good visitorship, a diverse food mix that responds to evolving needs, and long-term viability.
Discussion about whether the model was the right way forward sparked debate in Parliament in November 2018.
Following that, the National Environment Agency introduced a series of changes aimed at easing the constraints on hawkers.
