Chitchat Oppie Stirring Peasant Hawkers To Revolt Against Good Grassroots Leader Towkay Pang Lim! Bayi Lawyer Where?

[JohnTan]

Food guru KF Seetoh from Makansutra wrote an open letter to Senior Minister of State Dr Amy Khor on Tuesday (9 Oct) imploring her to preserve Singapore's public hawker centres. In essence, Mr Seetoh is against the government appointing a 3rd-party, the so-called "social enterprise" operator, to run publicly funded hawker centres.

In his letter, Mr Seetoh also shared more unfair practices adopted by some of the Social Enterprise Hawker Centre (SEHC) operators against hawkers.

In particular, he highlighted some of the high-handed tactics adopted by one SEHC operator after going through the agreement between the operator and a hawker. The operator would penalize the hawker if the hawker quit his stall half-way, making him pay the remaining months of rent and fees until a new tenant, subjected to the approval of the operator, is found.


The one-sided contract also stated that the operator is entitled to "at any time" and "from time to time" increase stall rentals and ancillary charges. There is little the hawker can do once he signs the agreement.

SEHC operator belongs to Koufu owned by Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC grassroots leader Pang Lim

Yesterday (11 Oct), Todayonline reported that the SEHC involved is actually the new Jurong West Hawker Centre, run by Hawker Management Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Koufu Group. Koufu in fact, just went public recently in Jul this year. Koufu is founded by Mr Pang Lim (PBM), a grassroots leader at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. He is the Vice-Chairman of Punggol 21 CC Building Fund Committee as well as Patron of Punggol North CCC and Punggol 21 CCMC.

Todayonline also reported other dubious tactics employed by the Koufu's subsidiary, forcing the hawkers to subsidize the tray-return monies. It was reported that hawkers at Jurong West Hawker Centre are the ones paying for patrons to return their trays. In other words, unlike other hawker centres where the patrons would pay a small deposit per tray and get their refunds when they return the trays, the patrons at Jurong West Hawker Centre do not pay for the trays. When they return the trays, they will get $0.20 for each tray. Koufu then charges the hawkers accordingly.

The hawkers said sometimes they even had arguments with patrons over trays due to the tray returning system imposed by Koufu. For example, if a customer uses three trays for three dishes that could be placed on one tray, the stallholder has to fork out 60 cents in total, a hawker pointed out.

One hawker also told Todayonline that they had to pay up to $900 a month for tray charges, on top of the monthly rental and the ancillary charges imposed by Koufu. He gave a breakdown of the costs:

Rent - $2,140
Dish washing - $1,100
Cash machine rental - $300
Tray return - $900
Service fee - $250
Total: $4,690

Furthermore, according to Mr Seetoh, Koufu's subsidairy would also charge hawkers for contract drafts whenever it updates management terms in the agreement.

Hawkers launch petition but NEA says hawkers aware of charges before signing agreement

Feeling the pinch, some hawkers at Jurong West Hawker Centre have petitioned the National Environment Agency (NEA) for the operator to remove the fee of 20 cents for each returned tray.

The NEA said that it has received “feedback” from some stallholders at Jurong West Hawker Centre. Stallholders were “aware of the charges involved before signing the (tenancy) agreement” with Hawker Management, said a spokesperson from NEA.

The agency has asked Hawker Management to work with the stallholders to address any concerns on this matter. It added that effective tray-return systems make the cleaning of tables easier and faster, which is beneficial to both customers and stallholders.

In the contract, indeed, it is stated that stallholders must take part in the “tray return with incentive system implemented by the landlord”, where the tenant "shall pay S$0.20 / tray issued to the tray cleaning contractor at the point of issuance”:

Koufu's subsidiary, in reply to Todayonline, said the tray return system was a joint effort by stallholders and the management.

“The initiative was implemented to achieve two objectives — to collectively encourage customers to return their used trays and thereby creating a cleaner and more comfortable environment; and to increase productivity within the hawker centre and provide more affordable food options for the community,” it added.

NEA said it is looking into the matter.

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/20...koufu-fb-owned-by-grassroots-leader-pang-lim/

 

[JohnTan]

SINGAPORE — Feeling the pinch from paying hundreds of dollars a month for customers to return their trays, some hawkers at Jurong West Hawker Centre have petitioned the National Environment Agency (NEA) for the operator to remove the fee of 20 cents for each returned tray.

The petition, signed by 12 hawkers, was submitted in August and also sent to Koufu, which runs the hawker centre through its social enterprise subsidiary Hawker Management.

The hawkers are claiming that Jurong West Hawker Centre, which opened a year ago, is the only one in Singapore where stallholders are the ones paying for patrons to return their trays.

Customers at the hawker centre do not pay anything to take a tray when they buy food, but receive 20 cents when they return their tray.

In contrast, at hawker centres such as the one at Ayer Rajah Crescent and Yishun Park run by Timbre Group, customers pay refundable deposit of 50 cents or S$1 when they take trays.

One of the Jurong West hawkers who signed the petition told TODAY that they had to pay up to S$900 a month for tray charges, on top of the monthly S$2,140 rent and overhead costs.

The monthly overhead costs include S$1,100 in washing and collection fees, S$250 in service fees and S$300 for an automated cash machine allocated to each stall — making up a total of nearly S$4,000 per month.

As a result of Hawker Management’s system, the 40-year-old hawker, who asked not to be named, said she and fellow stallholders have had arguments with customers over trays.

For example, if a customer uses three trays for three dishes that could be placed on one tray, the stallholder has to fork out 60 cents in total. The costs add up if business is good, she said.


https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...-price-tray-returns-jurong-west-hawker-centre

 

[JohnTan]

SINGAPORE: Hawker Management met at least six hawkers from Jurong West Hawker Centre on Tuesday (Oct 16) who had signed a petition to call for the removal of charges for a tray-return programme.

The social enterprise subsidiary under Koufu Group managing the hawker centre had received complaints from hawkers who had to pay for a tray-return programme that rewards customers with S$0.20 for each tray they returned.

The petition, submitted in August to the National Environment Agency, was for the removal of the charge levied on stall tenants, which can come up to hundreds of dollars a month.

Of the 34 cooked food stalls at Jurong West Hawker Centre, 12 signed the petition.

Koufu Group's chief development officer David Yang told Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday that the meeting, which took more than an hour, was "cordial" and "fruitful".

There were no instances of finger-pointing, he said.


Hawker Management also said in a statement that the tray-return programme has resulted in lower cleaning fees for the food centre as fewer cleaners are employed.

At S$1,100, Jurong West Hawker Centre's cleaning fees are one of the lowest among social enterprise hawker centres, it said.

ISSUES TO BE RAISED TO MANAGEMENT

Apart from the tray-return issue, Mr Yang said that the tenants also brought up other concerns such as the contractual period tenants are under.

"At the end of the day, I think the tenants understand that we're all in the same boat. So it's not a finger-pointing session but more of how do we resolve the matters so that we are all aligned and can move forward together," Mr Yang said.

The engagement with hawkers, including those who did not sign the petition, is expected to complete by the end of this week. Mr Yang added that the management will discuss their findings and speak with the hawkers again next week on the potential solutions to ease their concerns.

A hawker who goes by the name of Mdm Cheong said that a Hawker Management representative present at the meeting listened to the hawkers' concerns.

"We were told that it will be presented to the management for discussion, so now we are just waiting for a response," Mdm Cheong said.

"We also raised our concerns about the little footfall over here. Lunch is okay, there are still some customers. But when it's dinner time, it's very quiet," she added.

Some hawkers also suggested a lowering of their operating costs during the meeting, she said, particularly on the tray-return fees which can come up to a significant cost for the hawkers.

FIGHTS OVER TRAYS

Hawker assistant Mdm Lee, who signed the petition on her employer's behalf, said that her stall uses about 100 to 150 trays in a day. This comes up to between S$600 to S$900 a month, she said.

"We serve hot soup here. It's impossible to not give out trays to customers because the soup might spill," she said.

Stallholder Nur Farah Damri said she is fine with paying for using the trays and added that she has benefited from the tray return system.

"It helps us because you know how pampered our customers are. It makes them clear their trays so the aunty that you see pushing (the cleaning cart), there are fewer things for her to clear," she said.


Another stallholder, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the intention to inculcate a culture of tray return among patrons is misplaced.

"They want to teach customers to be more gracious but this should be taught at home, since young. It shouldn't be on us. This is a very f**ked up method. It puts us in such a precarious and embarrassing position," she said.

"I've seen fights break out between stallholders over these trays. I've also seen people and school children come to the hawker centre to collect and return trays just to get the S$0.20 in exchange. You can't put this on us," the anonymous stallholder added.

After Makansutra founder and veteran food critic KF Seetoh posted a blog entry in August titled "Not Social Enterprise Hawker Centres", social enterprise hawker centres have been in the spotlight for their additional charges and services.

Last month, Ci Yuan Hawker Centre managed by the social enterprise arm of Fei Siong Group came under scrutiny after some stallholders were levied "compulsory" charges for quality control and coin exchange.

Fei Siong later explained that there was a "miscommunication" between the management and hawkers and that the fees were, in fact, optional.

Ci Yuan and Jurong West Hawker Centres are two of the seven social enterprise hawker centres running on an alternative management model. The others are Our Tampines Hub Hawker Centre, Yishun Park Hawker Centre, Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre, Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre and Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre.


Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...g-west-hawkers-over-tray-return-fees-10832948

 

[AhMeng]

Businesses for PAP dogs. Peanuts for Sinkies. 70%, loves it. Lol

 

[winnipegjets]

There should be a public wall of shame listing those PAP cronies benefitting from PAP polices.

 

[shittypore]

Wash hands, just collect Salary and bonuses. If cost goes up, its Sinkies to feed the Bill.

 

[iluvgst]

Time to stick the pigs

 

[Kopi0Kosong]

Businesses for PAP dogs. Peanuts for Sinkies. 70%, loves it. Lol

This Social Enterprise project is a complete failure and the arrogant, complacent and incompetent PAP LEEders must shoulder the blame.
PAP LEEders want the poor hawkers to do social and community services while the PAP-LEElated LEEches cream off the money and laugh all the way to the banks.
PAP LEEders want to appear as compassionate and caring to glorify and endear themselves to the people.

In fact, it should be the responsibility and duty of the Government and the richLEE-benefitted operators to front and support the project financially. Only then can we rightly claim our country to being a cultured and gracious society. Intention vs ActuaLEEty - as always...PAP is onLEE good at staging a Fit and Fix.

 

[winnipegjets]

This Social Enterprise project is a complete failure and the arrogant, complacent and incompetent PAP LEEders must shoulder the blame.
PAP LEEders want the poor hawkers to do social and community services while the PAP-LEElated LEEches cream off the money and laugh all the way to the banks.
PAP LEEders want to appear as compassionate and caring to glorify and endear themselves to the people.

In fact, it should be the responsibility and duty of the Government and the richLEE-benefitted operators to front and support the project financially. Only then can we rightly claim our country to being a cultured and gracious society. Intention vs ActuaLEEty - as always...PAP is onLEE good at staging a Fit and Fix.

Social Enterprise sounds charitable but it is a blood-sucking method to feed the PAP cronies at the expense of sinkees. If everyone opts to buy the $2.80 item, the hawker would go broke. While rent is 'low', the incidental fees are more than the rent. The hawker still forks out high monthly cost, with the PAP cronies making lots of money of the hawker.

There is no gain to society with this Social Enterprise scheme. Sinkees need to wake up to the reality that the PAP is a money-sucking machine that will eventually bleed sinkees to death.

 

[winnipegjets]

Stallholder Nur Farah Damri said she is fine with paying for using the trays and added that she has benefited from the tray return system.

"It helps us because you know how pampered our customers are. It makes them clear their trays so the aunty that you see pushing (the cleaning cart), there are fewer things for her to clear," she said.

Damri is dumb! If customer has to do all these things, they must as well eat at home. If the aunty has less work to do, she would be out of a job soon.
With that kind of thinking, Damri is not fit to operate any business.

 

[Rainowar]

Stallholder Nur Farah Damri said she is fine with paying for using the trays and added that she has benefited from the tray return system.

"It helps us because you know how pampered our customers are. It makes them clear their trays so the aunty that you see pushing (the cleaning cart), there are fewer things for her to clear," she said.

Damri is dumb! If customer has to do all these things, they must as well eat at home. If the aunty has less work to do, she would be out of a job soon.
With that kind of thinking, Damri is not fit to operate any business.

Thats y u abang forever poor lah everything also suka suka ok
Ask u pay more also okay how to get rich?

 

[Kopi0Kosong]

Social Enterprise sounds charitable but it is a blood-sucking method to feed the PAP cronies at the expense of sinkees. If everyone opts to buy the $2.80 item, the hawker would go broke. While rent is 'low', the incidental fees are more than the rent. The hawker still forks out high monthly cost, with the PAP cronies making lots of money of the hawker.
There is no gain to society with this Social Enterprise scheme. Sinkees need to wake up to the reality that the PAP is a money-sucking machine that will eventually bleed sinkees to death.

AptLEE presented. This has to be an election issue to let Singaporeans understand and see the real truth, that the PAP is a money-sucking machine at the expense of the citizens. The $$$elf-$$$erving PAP has never had the welfare of Singaporeans at heart. PAP LEEders are trueLEE complacent and incompetent. Singaporeans are suffering under PAP governance. There is no effective LEADership under the arrogant PAP LEEders.

 

[JohnTan]

There should be a public wall of shame listing those PAP cronies benefitting from PAP polices.

There would be a wall of shame soon enough. PAP top lawyer, SC Davinder Singh, is working on it. Oppies Low, Sylvia and Pritam will be on it.

 

[Rainowar]

There would be a wall of shame soon enough. PAP top lawyer, SC Davinder Singh, is working on it. Oppies Low, Sylvia and Pritam will be on it.

EMAS MINISTER NEPHEW RUN ENTERPRISE

 

[Rogue Trader]

Come election time, ministers and their glassloot doggies will just go to shake hands and give out "small business relief packages" and these hawkers will vote for Pap again

 

[Kopi0Kosong]

Stallholder Nur Farah Damri said she is fine with paying for using the trays and added that she has benefited from the tray return system.
"It helps us because you know how pampered our customers are. It makes them clear their trays so the aunty that you see pushing (the cleaning cart), there are fewer things for her to clear," she said.
Damri is dumb! If customer has to do all these things, they must as well eat at home. If the aunty has less work to do, she would be out of a job soon.
With that kind of thinking, Damri is not fit to operate any business.

Many Singaporeans have come to realise that there is NO real truth in what is reported. It's the manipulative and $$$elf-$$$erving PAP 'staging a Fit and Fix' through their machinery to hoodwink the people.
The poor stall-holder has sureLEE been misrepresented. SadLEE, she has to face her fellow stall-holders and the ridicules of the people. Seriously, which stall-holder trying to eke out a living by having to work long hours serving people, would like to be paying and paying for this and that...UNLESS he/she does not have a better option.

PAP LEEders will stop at nothing and even 'to kill' ordinary citizens to achieve their GOLD.

 

[Kopi0Kosong]

Come election time, ministers and their glassloot doggies will just go to shake hands and give out "small business relief packages" and these hawkers will vote for Pap again

Personally IMHO, it may not be this time round. There's a limit to everything. Give the people the 'REASSURING PRESENCE' to make the decisive leap.
You LEAD, We LEAP.

 

[bobby]

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan responds to young hawker's concerns about rising costs

SINGAPORE - Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan has responded to a young hawker's Facebook post on the costs of running a hawker stall in Singapore.

Hawker Douglas Ng, 24, who runs famous fishball noodle stall Fishball Story, wrote an extensive post on Facebook on Sunday about the rising cost of running a hawker stall.

Mr Ng's stall at Golden Mile Hawker Centre was recently featured in Food Wars Asia, a reality TV show that pitted eateries that sold similar food against each other.

His post was shared more than 600 times, and liked by more than 840 people as of Monday.

He said in his post that after attending a briefing for a new hawker centre to be opened in Bukit Panjang, he was not sure about submitting a tender for a stall as the NTUC Foodfare centre will have price caps.

All cooked food stalls at the new hawker centre will have price caps on at least two basic meals, The Straits Times reported on July 14.

The price cap for fishball noodles, for instance, will be set at $2.70.

Mr Ng wrote: "On the papers they talk about attracting quality hawkers. Do you actually think that a quality hawker will come out with quality food when they use quality ingredients and if the cost of food is so high...how much do you think the profit margin will be?"

He added that the model was not sustainable and wrote: "If they want young gen(eration) to come in, give them a better profit.

Mr Balakrishnan, in a response posted on Facebook at around 2am on Monday, said that Mr Ng's post was "thought provoking".

Citing a study from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Minister said that rent was not the main cost faced by hawkers.

"The reality is that rentals constitute a small fraction of the overall cost of running a hawker stall. The major cost drivers are actually ingredients and manpower," he wrote.

He also listed what the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) has done to lower rental costs for hawkers.

The measures have removed speculation from the market, and some stalls have been rented for as low as $10 a month, he said.

"I have made it very clear to Foodfare that they are not to charge high rents. The top priority is to have good affordable food for my residents in Bukit Panjang. That is why every stall must have at least two low cost main courses," he wrote.

 

[Kopi0Kosong]

There would be a wall of shame soon enough. PAP top lawyer, SC Davinder Singh, is working on it. Oppies Low, Sylvia and Pritam will be on it.

What shame is there for 'sincere people working diligently to eke out an honest living?' The shame is on the imperious, egoistic, $$$elf-$$$erving people who stop at nothing to slander and hinder the honest sincere people from performing and completing their tasks..
The unscrupulous and manipulative LEEders can kill in order to rule, but the many determined and committed others shall always rise, again and again, to right the wrong. There is no hiding the truth. Accountability does not have to be in the present.

 

[Kopi0Kosong]

Minister Vivian Balakrishnan responds to young hawker's concerns about rising costs

SINGAPORE - Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan has responded to a young hawker's Facebook post on the costs of running a hawker stall in Singapore.

Hawker Douglas Ng, 24, who runs famous fishball noodle stall Fishball Story, wrote an extensive post on Facebook on Sunday about the rising cost of running a hawker stall.

Mr Ng's stall at Golden Mile Hawker Centre was recently featured in Food Wars Asia, a reality TV show that pitted eateries that sold similar food against each other.

His post was shared more than 600 times, and liked by more than 840 people as of Monday.

He said in his post that after attending a briefing for a new hawker centre to be opened in Bukit Panjang, he was not sure about submitting a tender for a stall as the NTUC Foodfare centre will have price caps.

All cooked food stalls at the new hawker centre will have price caps on at least two basic meals, The Straits Times reported on July 14.

The price cap for fishball noodles, for instance, will be set at $2.70.

Mr Ng wrote: "On the papers they talk about attracting quality hawkers. Do you actually think that a quality hawker will come out with quality food when they use quality ingredients and if the cost of food is so high...how much do you think the profit margin will be?"

He added that the model was not sustainable and wrote: "If they want young gen(eration) to come in, give them a better profit.

Mr Balakrishnan, in a response posted on Facebook at around 2am on Monday, said that Mr Ng's post was "thought provoking".

Citing a study from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Minister said that rent was not the main cost faced by hawkers.

"The reality is that rentals constitute a small fraction of the overall cost of running a hawker stall. The major cost drivers are actually ingredients and manpower," he wrote.

He also listed what the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) has done to lower rental costs for hawkers.

The measures have removed speculation from the market, and some stalls have been rented for as low as $10 a month, he said.

"I have made it very clear to Foodfare that they are not to charge high rents. The top priority is to have good affordable food for my residents in Bukit Panjang. That is why every stall must have at least two low cost main courses," he wrote.

Just like the YOG mishandLEEng, as always...the PAP LEEder's approach is "I don't care how it is done. JUST GET IT DONE.Just get me the GLORY"
The hallmark of the arrogant, complacent and incompetent $$$elf-$$$erving PAP LEEder.