3/30/2011

Hawkers please be responsible

Hawkers are told to be responsible and not to raise prices irresponsibly. Kopitiams were closely watched in case they raise another 10c on a cuppa. Today the headline for the Today paper is ‘Electricity tariffs up 6.5% from April’. Of course this is well considered after the hike in oil prices. The headlines in ST are about the nuclear crisis and the flood in Koh Samui and a footballer that ran away. There is a letter in Today by a Huang Lifen complaining of hawker stall owners subletting their stalls at huge profits. A $2000 monthly rental could go up to $10,000 when subletted. How could genuine hawkers maintain their prices if the rental is so high and so irresponsibly raised? And the hawkers who subletted their stalls are not the only culprits. The landlords are all happily raising rentals over the years, some with the excuse of upgrading while some simply raised because property prices are up and they need to book their returns based on a percentage of market prices. Who are the real culprits that are fleecing on the people and raising the cost of living?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Before the big payout oredy taking back.

Anonymous said...

There was this popular char kway teow stall at the Margaret Drive hawker centre which was re-locate to a hawker centre in Telok Blangah when the area go under HDB's SER.

He was paying about $300 at Margaret Drive, The rental for his new stall is in the region of 3 thousand per month. A visit revealed that there are no longer queues for his kway teow which he is still selling at between $2.50 -$3.00 a plate. The new location is not a new place, just partially renovated, is not easy to find and has limited parking.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Yeessss! My prediction is vindicated!

> Who are the real culprits that are fleecing on the people and raising the cost of living?


The one and only nefarious, invisible thieves: Helicopter Ben with his QE 1+2+...n, aided and abbetted by the Monetary Authority Of Singapore.

Artificially induced liquidity promotes and incentivises "mad grab" behaviour in the human primate brain. Soon this catches on and everyone has to pay more for what they buy. They find their money is not worth much, so they seek to increase their own liquidity -- which means they raise the price of goods and services they sell. Everyone wants "part of the action" -- so they seek profits every which way they can -- subdividing property and extricating "revenue" from the parts, for example -- as you see in the subletting mayhem.

I have been a long critic of Ben Bernanke and the central bank of S'pore -- MAS -- under the baton of SM Goh Chok Tong.

However at times I feel myself warming to this euphoria and anal fixation on "growth" -- with the govt and its statist-Keynesian blow-hards chanting the mantra:

Growth is wealth,
growth is wealth,
growth is wealth!!
.

Keep chanting and dancing, and above all : SPENDING...borrow heavily if necessary -- but above all KEEP SPENDING!!

...and fall on your knees and ask god to bless Ben Bernanke and Sm Goh!

Anonymous said...

I am waiting to see how much will the hawkers at Hong Lim Complex be increasing their prices, on reopening on April 1st.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Did any big developer take over the lease and did the renovation? If not maybe safe like Chinatown Hawker Centre. But if they did, than cham liao.

All prices sure go up. They will say they created value. Next time they will say they are turning the hawker centre to world class standard. Then the poor buggers just have to pay world class price for world class hawker centre.

Anonymous said...

The poor can go to the many places of worship for free meals.
So, don't worry; there shall still be NO STARVATION IN SIN.

patriot

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

why do the developers come in now?

Because they can borrow money at 1-1.5%, that's why.

Thank you Lord Bernanke. Thank you for giving developers and speculators money so that they can "create value".

Anonymous said...

Hahaha

The poor sure can go to the many places of worship for free meals. That is the good part, that even foreign workers take advantage of, being ferried there by the truckloads. The problem is not all those places are always within walking distance, and if public transport is factored in, better forget about it.

Just like informing Singaporeans that such and such a place sells such and such food cheaper than others, but factor in the transport cost and it becomes more sensible to eat at a place nearer home, even though it may be slightly more expensive.

But as sure as the sun rises from the East, any hawker centre that goes through upgrading, the prices of food are sure to be upgraded as well.

So, have you ever wondered why hawkers themselves like to have upgrading of their stalls, sometimes paying tens of thousands of dollars for temporary places to do business without complaining during upgrading? The rewards are worth the inconveniences.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

If what you all say is true, I am happy. I'll be happy to pay a bit more for better quality.

My last visit to S'pore was about a month ago. Naturally, I put my "Mediterranean diet" on hold for the trip and decided to nourish myself with "local fare" at any chance I got. And in one week I put on 2 kg. Not having to drive meant I drank a whole lot more.

Tiger beer...yum yum yum, oh how I miss you so my love! Let me take off your top and the sip sweet nectar from your fragrant hole...

I also have a 'fixation' on Polar curry puffs

Ah Polar curry puff, how luscious thine texture. I devour thy lightly greasy, yet sensual crust and bite into thee to reveal the succulent tasty interior of thy arousing filling...Let me put you into my yearning mouth... th

...anyway...

Except for the kopitiam at the bottom of the hill in Holland V at the corner of Lorongs Mambong and Liput, all the other hawker cuisine was absolute SHIT. I threw away so much food - from Yishun Food court all the way into Orchard Rd, Raffles Pl, East Coast...all SHIT SHIT SHIT. Jalan Kayu -- big piece of SHIT, as is Serangoon Gardens, West Coast

Kopi o, kopi c...all RUBBISH. Not one cup I could call "good"...except for YaKun franchise.

Pay more for real value, bring it on. Makan makan until ah pui...fuck it!

Anonymous said...

"There was this popular char kway teow stall at the Margaret Drive hawker centre which was re-locate to a hawker centre in Telok Blangah when the area go under HDB's SER.

He was paying about $300 at Margaret Drive, The rental for his new stall is in the region of 3 thousand per month. A visit revealed that there are no longer queues for his kway teow which he is still selling at between $2.50 -$3.00 a plate. The new location is not a new place, just partially renovated, is not easy to find and has limited parking. "


You are talking about
http://www.haikee.com.sg/

It is the best award-winning kway teow I ever eaten in Singapore ! Believe me. You will never eat any kway teow after you eat this !

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Matilah, some good and cheap local kopi, Keong Saik corner coffee shop, I think $1, very good, solid coffee powder. Maxwell Market Hawker Centre, 70c man, if I can remember, 6th stall from Chinatown side facing ex Metropole Theatre. Another one in Chinatown hawker centre, coming up from escalator, on the left, $1.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

We must have world class establishment and institutions. But there must also be alternative for the not world class people to go to, cheap and good.

This applies to hospitals and also to hawker stalls. The cheap and good must not be forced to make way for the world class people and world class establishments.

Leave Holland V for the world class people to patronise and charge them world class prices. They will not complain. They are not supposed to.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

redbean 942

Oh crap. I didn't even venture into Chinatown/ Outram/ Tiong Baharu that trip. You know what, I was so busy i forgot about Chinatown -- and it was CNY to boot!

I know that kopitiam in Keong Siak very well as I used to be a frequent guest at the Red Peacock (opposite) on my visits. I much prefer the 'boutiuqe' hotels over the dry and characterless big hotels -- unless it is Raffles -- where the spirit of the British Raj always enters by psyche, and I can revel in the role of an obviousy faux, and embarrassingly poor rendition of a mat salleh -- using words like 'dine' instaed of makan, and 'tiffin' instaed of snack ;-)

Should I discover that the food sucks in Tiong Baharu and Chinatown on my next "hotel" visit, I will conclude that is is all over -- Singapore is completely fucked. If you cannot get decent tasty food and a decent cup of LOCAL coffee (aka kopi) then the society is doomed.

What I did enjoy was the cuisine at Dempsey Road. However, I found the prices to be close to or on par with the inflated prices we pay here in Australia. However, the women who frequent Dempsey are often well-presented and eminently fuckable by my estimation.

i agree with your point: there needs to be plurality when it comes to culture -- and FOOD CULTURE is and has been an anchor point in S'pore society. You take a bus to eat at Dempsey or park your Merc/ Lexus/ BMW outside Block 16 Commonwealth food court -- no one cares. You are there because the foold is DELICIOUS. Nothing to do with class, social standing, upward mobility...just eat.

Anonymous said...

Just eat and enjoy your food, tomorrow is another day the sun surely rises but we cannot be too sure that we will rise with it.

$290 for those on welfare should afford the recipients a few good meals. So go Dempsey, Keong Siak and Killiney Road for the Nasi Padang(have not been there for sometimes- do not know if it's still around). Super stuff at under $10 per head.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Just eat and enjoy your food, tomorrow is another day the sun surely rises but we cannot be too sure that we will rise with it.

$290 for those on welfare should afford the recipients a few good meals. So go Dempsey, Keong Siak and Killiney Road for the Nasi Padang(have not been there for sometimes- do not know if it's still around). Super stuff at under $10 per head.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Btw, hawkers have to be responsible for their rentals first, otherwise even if You are willing to wait and pay for their fares, they would still not be able to cater to You. So, the landlord gets the priority.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Btw, hawkers have to be responsible for their rentals first, otherwise even if You are willing to wait and pay for their fares, they would still not be able to cater to You. So, the landlord gets the priority.

patriot

Anonymous said...

I see many doubles. Election fever is getting hot and affecting many people.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The Hong Lim Hawker Centre has reopened after renovation. Slight improvement but the ventilation is worst in the centre area. And all prices up and I was told the rental has doubled.

Renovation and upgrading is really wonderful. Value add is the key to all such upgradings. Well someone must pay. Good stuff doesn't come cheap.

Anonymous said...

Why blame the hawkers for increasing the price of their food. It is utter shit and most irresponsible for the government or the ministers or any gullible fools to echo the hubris, "Hawkers please be responsible." Hawkers must either increase the price of their food or close down and die. The price increase by hawkers is due to the unavoidable forces of nature of 'action and reaction.' What was the damning original action that caused this reaction and who was or were the mother of this evil action that triggered the reaction. You don't have to go far to look for the answer. First the rapacious greed of our talented ministers in the government schemed the highly illogical increase of taxes year in and year out. Look at the COEs, the endless number of ERPs, high property tax, high rental, high PUB bills and myriad of other charges. Then in the midst of world economic crisis the Singapore government claimed that Singapore's income last year increased by 15.7 per cent. That claim was a signal to the people that the ministers and the civil servants who were partly instrumental to the increase in national income reserve the right to raise their remuneration by leaps and bounds. There you see , first they raise the taxes. Then they pay themselves with ridiculous high salaries, when even devils were shocked. How can the Roti-Prata man be paid five million dolllars just for going round shaking hands.Thus this cause an evil spiral chain reaction. The end result is that the populace by and large are left to suffer in silence. Worst still they add insult to injury by accusing others for being irresponsible - the poor hawkers and other small businesses. Shake them like a tremor in the coming ballot box or Arab Spring may not be far away.