8/10/2007
Price Survey
With so many incidents of price hikes and profiteering, the Dept of Statistics should conduct a survey on the prices of food sold in all hawker centres and food courts, plus shops. The survey form shall list out all the items on sale, what is the latest price, when was it changed and what were the last three prices.
Make this a compulsory survey like the household surveys and not completing them honestly will be heavily fined. Once the hawkers and stall holders have submitted their guilt in black and white, then go after them one by one, at your own time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
the post is abt price survey, but since you mentioned abt hawkers...
With so many incidents of food contaminations in China, the Food and Agri Dept should conduct regular checks on the food sold by Chinese Nationals in local food stalls, coffe shops and hawker centers.
Though this may sounds sweeping, but my observation is no less true, that Chinese Nationals behave the same where ever they go and the fact that sweet smiling petite China girls serve at the tables doesnt mean the food got to be hygienic. I rather believe the opposite is true.
I have actually seen a kitchen at a coffee shop opposite OG Bugis, which is run by Chinese Nationals. You will never want to eat at a Chinese stall after you saw the conditions and the blatant mishandling of the food. I worried abt hygiene problems from these people long before the news abt China food problems hit the headlines.
Perhaps it is interesting to note that stall charges above average prices for their food. They are SMART mainlanders after all.
The state does a lousy job at "enforcing" behavioral change—the market (demand driven) does a much better job.
The best recourse customers have if they feel that they've been "cheated" (in reality, impossible), or mistreated, or taken advantage of, or not getting value for their money... is to BOYCOTT the provider of the goods or services.
The market is a harsh punisher, because of the potential losses suffered by those who piss off their customers.
WRT to food handling: I am to the point where I'm totally turned off by hawker or coffee chop food. I occasionally get into a thing where I screw people for not wearing their gloves (I love and consume a lot of fresh fruit and fresh juice) and threaten to call ENV. However the experience is less than pleasant and I feel it is not my place to be the unpaid Public Health Defender.
So I've taken the market route: I refuse to patronise any venue if I suspect the hygiene is not up to the mark.
It is not just the Chinese nationals, I've noticed that Muslim food stalls are mostly not up to the mark when it comes to cleanliness.
Drinking fruit juice is just like me, that's healthy to the body I agree.
Our body has a time limit just like a leasehold property. But if we hang on to it stubbornly and unthinkingly we may easily lose the chance of owning a freehold, perpectual life. Becos when this body of us is no longer usable, our spirits will leave it forever. And nothing else will be added AFTER THIS TIME.
What if it is true that we have only this chance to find out the "truth" abt our real purpose on earth and that after this lifetime, we will never again be given anymore chances to mess around with and wonder about the truth any longer.
It is either you are In perpectually or Not, and nothing else will be added AFTER THIS. Do you then feel a sense of responsiblity to FIND OUT and claim what has been given to you, or to reject it with finality?
Without a thorough check?
The reason I posted this is becos I find you to be a nice and interesting person. And I felt like sharing these with you, at the risk of being walloped.;-)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article673663.ece
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2003/PSCF9-03Collins.pdf
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article673663.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/
article673663.ece
there is one fact we must accept as far as food handlers are concerned. They are not your highly educated and thinking group of people. Most of them are school dropouts or did not do well in schools. There are exceptions. But in food courts and hawker stalls, this is generally the case.
And many are filthy and unclean. Personal hygiene is something relative to themselves. Just like pigs being happy in dirty pigsty, there are happy with their level of cleanliness.
Don't expect too much. What you don't see you feel better. When you start to imagine what they did to your food or how they prepared them, it can be nauseating.
we need to raise the level of hygiene, personal hygiene and cleanliness among all levels of people in our society.
If you want to eat don't find out how or what they did to your food.
If you want to find out, you probably think twice about eating the food.
Post a Comment