Singapore Pau, Currypuff and Chicken Pie, Beef Pie

[winnipegjets]

Wrong. High food prices are also caused by laborious preparation of food. Many hawkers close their stalls only by midnight and they have to be back at the stall by the next morning 5am to begin their food preparation so that they can start selling food by 7am or 8am.

If you charge high, your food better be much better than your competitors or you have a captive market. You could put 23 hours in the prep but if it is not better than the majority, you don't deserve to charge more.

 

[Nice-Gook]

the food prices where ordinary folks eat had been on the rise lately ...not only in SG but in malusia too ...it's far worse in malusia, i had drunk copi in the same spot in malusia fm RM 1 to RM1.30 to RM1.50 just in 6 months ....and the prices vary greatly between their states too ...e.g. you can have a decent lunch for RM 5 to 6 in Johore ,the same lunch will cost you RM 12 minimum in KL ...the cost of labour is even cheaper in malusia than Sinkiland...an average foreign labourer draws about RM 900 to 1200 monthly ,about $ 300 to 400 SG dollars whreas in sinkieland that is nothing less than $1200 to $1500 ...Of course ,the rental cost makes a huge difference between these countries ..even than an average rental for a whole shop house in states other than KL is about RM 3k to 7K ...whreas just a spot in a coffee shop in Sinkiland is nothing less than S$ 5. k these days ..so the operating cost in SG is at least 5 times more

the point I am driving at is ,despite all that cost factor Sinkiland still remains a far far better option for quality food at reasonable prices ...only the taste have taken a beating over the years ,compared to what I ate before the 80s

even compared to indonesia ,the food eaten outside is far more expensive than SG..I am talking about say a nasi padang stall not restaurant ...in the 90s when the excg .rate was about 1700 rupiah to 1 SG dollar ...1 rice 1 veg and 1 meat cost about minimum 15k rupiah ,about SG 7 or 8 ..and I had the same meal for less than 5 dollars here in SG...the same story even in Cambodia or Vietnam ..only in Thailand the prices of street food seems cheaper ...India was far worse as ou stomach is not ready for their street food and as a foreigner you must eat in their 5star hotels

the point I am driving at is despite all the short comings ,our hawker food is comparatively far cheaper despite the huge operating cost ...but I do long for the taste of the 50s and 60s ,even up to the 80s...than henceforth taste went down hill

 

[nayr69sg]

the food prices where ordinary folks eat had been on the rise lately ...not only in SG but in malusia too ...it's far worse in malusia, i had drunk copi in the same spot in malusia fm RM 1 to RM1.30 to RM1.50 just in 6 months ....and the prices vary greatly between their states too ...e.g. you can have a decent lunch for RM 5 to 6 in Johore ,the same lunch will cost you RM 12 minimum in KL ...the cost of labour is even cheaper in malusia than Sinkiland...an average foreign labourer draws about RM 900 to 1200 monthly ,about $ 300 to 400 SG dollars whreas in sinkieland that is nothing less than $1200 to $1500 ...Of course ,the rental cost makes a huge difference between these countries ..even than an average rental for a whole shop house in states other than KL is about RM 3k to 7K ...whreas just a spot in a coffee shop in Sinkiland is nothing less than S$ 5. k these days ..so the operating cost in SG is at least 5 times more

the point I am driving at is ,despite all that cost factor Sinkiland still remains a far far better option for quality food at reasonable prices ...only the taste have taken a beating over the years ,compared to what I ate before the 80s

even compared to indonesia ,the food eaten outside is far more expensive than SG..I am talking about say a nasi padang stall not restaurant ...in the 90s when the excg .rate was about 1700 rupiah to 1 SG dollar ...1 rice 1 veg and 1 meat cost about minimum 15k rupiah ,about SG 7 or 8 ..and I had the same meal for less than 5 dollars here in SG...the same story even in Cambodia or Vietnam ..only in Thailand the prices of street food seems cheaper ...India was far worse as ou stomach is not ready for their street food and as a foreigner you must eat in their 5star hotels

the point I am driving at is despite all the short comings ,our hawker food is comparatively far cheaper despite the huge operating cost ...but I do long for the taste of the 50s and 60s ,even up to the 80s...than henceforth taste went down hill

In other words Cooke food sellers in Singapore should raise prices to be on par with relative costs to their world wide peers.

Sinkies are enjoying cheap cooked food at the expense of the hawkers. And unappreciative of it.

 

[Nice-Gook]

In other words Cooke food sellers in Singapore should raise prices to be on par with relative costs to their world wide peers.

Sinkies are enjoying cheap cooked food at the expense of the hawkers. And unappreciative of it.

than PAP is gonna lose a lot of votes

there is another factor ,i had failed to highlight ...in Sinkiland, no hawker will set up a place if there is no volume of sale to justify the operating cost

but say in malusia ,i had seen food stall set up to serve customer just for a very few ..meaning their volume of sales is simply not there ...here in SG people comes to eat and leave but a kopi shop in malusia is like a community thingy ...malays buy a tea o and will sit and occupy the place for several hours .

but i do agree that we are enjoying cheaper food at the cost of hawkers

 

[eatshitndie]

Cheaper than hawker?

only $1.69 per packet.

 

[knnb40]

the food prices where ordinary folks eat had been on the rise lately ...not only in SG but in malusia too ...it's far worse in malusia, i had drunk copi in the same spot in malusia fm RM 1 to RM1.30 to RM1.50 just in 6 months ....and the prices vary greatly between their states too ...e.g. you can have a decent lunch for RM 5 to 6 in Johore ,the same lunch will cost you RM 12 minimum in KL ...the cost of labour is even cheaper in malusia than Sinkiland...an average foreign labourer draws about RM 900 to 1200 monthly ,about $ 300 to 400 SG dollars whreas in sinkieland that is nothing less than $1200 to $1500 ...Of course ,the rental cost makes a huge difference between these countries ..even than an average rental for a whole shop house in states other than KL is about RM 3k to 7K ...whreas just a spot in a coffee shop in Sinkiland is nothing less than S$ 5. k these days ..so the operating cost in SG is at least 5 times more

the point I am driving at is ,despite all that cost factor Sinkiland still remains a far far better option for quality food at reasonable prices ...only the taste have taken a beating over the years ,compared to what I ate before the 80s

even compared to indonesia ,the food eaten outside is far more expensive than SG..I am talking about say a nasi padang stall not restaurant ...in the 90s when the excg .rate was about 1700 rupiah to 1 SG dollar ...1 rice 1 veg and 1 meat cost about minimum 15k rupiah ,about SG 7 or 8 ..and I had the same meal for less than 5 dollars here in SG...the same story even in Cambodia or Vietnam ..only in Thailand the prices of street food seems cheaper ...India was far worse as ou stomach is not ready for their street food and as a foreigner you must eat in their 5star hotels

the point I am driving at is despite all the short comings ,our hawker food is comparatively far cheaper despite the huge operating cost ...but I do long for the taste of the 50s and 60s ,even up to the 80s...than henceforth taste went down hill

I too puzzle as I am conducting a survey in Singapore, malaysia, China...as I am thinking of going into hawker/ F&B as my 3rd/4th/5th career.
China - before 2008 in 2nd or third tie town/city street food is cheap and portion is huge and taste is authentic. than when property developer reaches all this small twon/city, price shoot up and the taste become bad/worst.

Malaysia - not too sure why a wontan mee plus one coffee can range between 9 ~ 12 dollar in KL (my last wanton noodle at road side coffee shop near sunway shopping mall Oct-2019)
the local told me its due to malaysia currency depreciation, GST implement by government, inflation....
some of the ingredient are suppose to be local sourced not like Singapore where we import most of the ingredient.
KL is far away from Singapore, therefore it is not that Singapore flood in over weekend and push up consumption.
still cannot figure out why

Singapore - coffee and shopping mall food court are pushed up due to high rental. and I gave up trying any of these food outlet no matter is old brand's bak ku teh, braised duck.....they taste suck's compare to their old stall years back. even the ah kun coffee and toast bread changes.
for hawker - some stall rental is low and some stall rental is high. some are new comer and therefore not much of skill, food taste is bad.
some of the old hawker stall start to change in their taste due to two issue - ego/attitude, want to eat eat don't want to eat fuck off, worst some of them start to short cut on their ingredient, for example chay kwey tiao uses fish-cake that is sucks, pour in alot of water..., chicken rice chilli source watery.... , pig organ soup put in lots of sugar and ajinomoto.

Hawker is hard work, which job/career / trade is not.
if you are in the trade than live up to be profession, it is not only a professional attitude, it is also an individual Characteristic/soul.
I always tell my younger friend, if you take up a job, treat it profession even if it is serving at the table, else get out and get another job somewhere else.
old days our local hawker and coffee shop helper is professional in their job, they remember their client, they clean the table before a client sit down and they serve customer with courtesy and professional attitude even though the order is just a tea or coffee.

I would put one-third of the blame to family, my old days, all family teaches their young manners.
respects others, be patient with others and look out for the youngs.
in return when others serve us or show kindness to us, reciprocate with a thankyou or respect the person with a node or future dealing return the same.

 

[hofmann]

LOL!

And you said if rents dropped, prices guaranteed come down.

My catered food prices won't come down even if my fixed costs go up. Neither will the hawkers or other merchants.

Refer to previous post: outlier situation.

Previous previous post refers to normal situation, not extreme case like this. It should have been obvious.

 

[hofmann]

My catered food prices won't come down even if my fixed costs go up. Neither will the hawkers or other merchants.

I doubt you even own such a business. Once rents come down, somebody will definitely seek to undercut prices to get more business. This is a basic premise of free market competition and efficiency. Somebody will be able to supply 1 plate of fried rice for less than current market prices if rents come down and he will do so to grab more business for himself. Prices will then come down to match him until someone else achieves Monopoly power and raises prices back up, but only if Monopoly power is achieved.

If you can't understand this, try running an actual business.

 

[Nice-Gook]

I too puzzle as I am conducting a survey in Singapore, malaysia, China...as I am thinking of going into hawker/ F&B as my 3rd/4th/5th career.
China - before 2008 in 2nd or third tie town/city street food is cheap and portion is huge and taste is authentic. than when property developer reaches all this small twon/city, price shoot up and the taste become bad/worst.

Malaysia - not too sure why a wontan mee plus one coffee can range between 9 ~ 12 dollar in KL (my last wanton noodle at road side coffee shop near sunway shopping mall Oct-2019)
the local told me its due to malaysia currency depreciation, GST implement by government, inflation....
some of the ingredient are suppose to be local sourced not like Singapore where we import most of the ingredient.
KL is far away from Singapore, therefore it is not that Singapore flood in over weekend and push up consumption.
still cannot figure out why

Singapore - coffee and shopping mall food court are pushed up due to high rental. and I gave up trying any of these food outlet no matter is old brand's bak ku teh, braised duck.....they taste suck's compare to their old stall years back. even the ah kun coffee and toast bread changes.
for hawker - some stall rental is low and some stall rental is high. some are new comer and therefore not much of skill, food taste is bad.
some of the old hawker stall start to change in their taste due to two issue - ego/attitude, want to eat eat don't want to eat fuck off, worst some of them start to short cut on their ingredient, for example chay kwey tiao uses fish-cake that is sucks, pour in alot of water..., chicken rice chilli source watery.... , pig organ soup put in lots of sugar and ajinomoto.

Hawker is hard work, which job/career / trade is not.
if you are in the trade than live up to be profession, it is not only a professional attitude, it is also an individual Characteristic/soul.
I always tell my younger friend, if you take up a job, treat it profession even if it is serving at the table, else get out and get another job somewhere else.
old days our local hawker and coffee shop helper is professional in their job, they remember their client, they clean the table before a client sit down and they serve customer with courtesy and professional attitude even though the order is just a tea or coffee.

I would put one-third of the blame to family, my old days, all family teaches their young manners.
respects others, be patient with others and look out for the youngs.
in return when others serve us or show kindness to us, reciprocate with a thankyou or respect the person with a node or future dealing return the same.

my info is at least 10 years older except for sinkie and malusia ,so how relevant i dont know

first thing first, yes ,you can go into hawker food buisness in sinkieland but will face a lot of legal hurdle in malusia ...as a sinkie you could not operate at street level ...but there are many ways around it ,you could buy yourself a work permit say for RM 3000 above for 2 years and actually operate a buisness ...that's how most banglas and mamak do it in malusia but as a Chinese you will face lot of problems from officialdom

the other factor is the customer base ...in Sinkiland its simply chinese ,even the nasi lemak, mee Siam or prata stalls cannot sustain without chinese patronage but in malusia it's the malays ,so a halal operation has a better viability...even than a chinese operating a halal outlet is mostly shunned

than the question about taste in chinese food in malusia ....the taste varies within states in malusia ..what is prefered in Ipoh is not liked in Johore ...and more towards Cantonese preparation if in KL and Pernakan typo in Penang or Malacca ...if you want to get a feel of how chinese chinks in malusia feel about our food ,may I suggest you put a qustionaie0 in their Lowyat forum ,it's the closest to our Sammyboy but with lot more and extensive participation ...generally malusia chinks hate our chinese preparation, they usually bad mouth it ...say we use too much sauce and chilli and kill the food ..it will be diaster if you go to malusia on asingaporesn taste base

 

[nayr69sg]

than PAP is gonna lose a lot of votes

there is another factor ,i had failed to highlight ...in Sinkiland, no hawker will set up a place if there is no volume of sale to justify the operating cost

but say in malusia ,i had seen food stall set up to serve customer just for a very few ..meaning their volume of sales is simply not there ...here in SG people comes to eat and leave but a kopi shop in malusia is like a community thingy ...malays buy a tea o and will sit and occupy the place for several hours .

but i do agree that we are enjoying cheaper food at the cost of hawkers

No lah

Look at jewel. There are food courts there right? But no volume.

 

[Nice-Gook]

I too puzzle as I am conducting a survey in Singapore, malaysia, China...as I am thinking of going into hawker/ F&B as my 3rd/4th/5th career.
China - before 2008 in 2nd or third tie town/city street food is cheap and portion is huge and taste is authentic. than when property developer reaches all this small twon/city, price shoot up and the taste become bad/worst.

Malaysia - not too sure why a wontan mee plus one coffee can range between 9 ~ 12 dollar in KL (my last wanton noodle at road side coffee shop near sunway shopping mall Oct-2019)
the local told me its due to malaysia currency depreciation, GST implement by government, inflation....
some of the ingredient are suppose to be local sourced not like Singapore where we import most of the ingredient.
KL is far away from Singapore, therefore it is not that Singapore flood in over weekend and push up consumption.
still cannot figure out why

Singapore - coffee and shopping mall food court are pushed up due to high rental. and I gave up trying any of these food outlet no matter is old brand's bak ku teh, braised duck.....they taste suck's compare to their old stall years back. even the ah kun coffee and toast bread changes.
for hawker - some stall rental is low and some stall rental is high. some are new comer and therefore not much of skill, food taste is bad.
some of the old hawker stall start to change in their taste due to two issue - ego/attitude, want to eat eat don't want to eat fuck off, worst some of them start to short cut on their ingredient, for example chay kwey tiao uses fish-cake that is sucks, pour in alot of water..., chicken rice chilli source watery.... , pig organ soup put in lots of sugar and ajinomoto.

Hawker is hard work, which job/career / trade is not.
if you are in the trade than live up to be profession, it is not only a professional attitude, it is also an individual Characteristic/soul.
I always tell my younger friend, if you take up a job, treat it profession even if it is serving at the table, else get out and get another job somewhere else.
old days our local hawker and coffee shop helper is professional in their job, they remember their client, they clean the table before a client sit down and they serve customer with courtesy and professional attitude even though the order is just a tea or coffee.

I would put one-third of the blame to family, my old days, all family teaches their young manners.
respects others, be patient with others and look out for the youngs.
in return when others serve us or show kindness to us, reciprocate with a thankyou or respect the person with a node or future dealing return the same.

yes ,about the vast differences in prices ...a fucked up wanton mee at city square 6th floor in JB is nothing less than RM 12 but a decent one just a few meteres away in Jalan Trus is no more than RM4 ,likewise in KL too ...it's not the overheads alone ,i guess...except for rental the cost of labour is not that different unless you employ local chinks ...my guess is the pricing depends on the customer base ...if you are in KL and if you cater to upper market your prices will be on the higher side ...but your ambience have to make the difference

i often come across bumi VIPs who will not share a excellent coffee with me in a coffee shop but paying ridiculous prices in a Sheraton ..

 

[JohnTan]

I doubt you even own such a business. Once rents come down, somebody will definitely seek to undercut prices to get more business. This is a basic premise of free market competition and efficiency. Somebody will be able to supply 1 plate of fried rice for less than current market prices if rents come down and he will do so to grab more business for himself. Prices will then come down to match him until someone else achieves Monopoly power and raises prices back up, but only if Monopoly power is achieved.

If you can't understand this, try running an actual business.

Many businesses do not operate on how you describe. Your model is basically a race to the bottom, where businesses falling over each other in slashing their prices just to suck your cock. There are business models, even in food, that offers premium food and good service. Even in hawker fare, Ashton's is certainly not the cheapest hawker stall around, nor were they the cheapest western food stall around. But people were willing to pay for quality food. When Ashton's upgraded to restaurants and upped their hawker fare to restaurant prices, people still came to eat.

If you can't understand this, then be content with being a perpetually poor struggling food seller, or an employee.

 

[JohnTan]

Refer to previous post: outlier situation.

Previous previous post refers to normal situation, not extreme case like this. It should have been obvious.

When I do business deals, nothing is obvious, nothing is left to chance. You think, I thought, who understand?

 

[mahjongking]

I doubt you even own such a business. Once rents come down, somebody will definitely seek to undercut prices to get more business. This is a basic premise of free market competition and efficiency. Somebody will be able to supply 1 plate of fried rice for less than current market prices if rents come down and he will do so to grab more business for himself. Prices will then come down to match him until someone else achieves Monopoly power and raises prices back up, but only if Monopoly power is achieved.

If you can't understand this, try running an actual business.

you cant be serious, taking john tan the talk cock king seriously

 

[mahjongking]

I too puzzle as I am conducting a survey in Singapore, malaysia, China...as I am thinking of going into hawker/ F&B as my 3rd/4th/5th career.
China - before 2008 in 2nd or third tie town/city street food is cheap and portion is huge and taste is authentic. than when property developer reaches all this small twon/city, price shoot up and the taste become bad/worst.

Malaysia - not too sure why a wontan mee plus one coffee can range between 9 ~ 12 dollar in KL (my last wanton noodle at road side coffee shop near sunway shopping mall Oct-2019)
the local told me its due to malaysia currency depreciation, GST implement by government, inflation....
some of the ingredient are suppose to be local sourced not like Singapore where we import most of the ingredient.
KL is far away from Singapore, therefore it is not that Singapore flood in over weekend and push up consumption.
still cannot figure out why

Singapore - coffee and shopping mall food court are pushed up due to high rental. and I gave up trying any of these food outlet no matter is old brand's bak ku teh, braised duck.....they taste suck's compare to their old stall years back. even the ah kun coffee and toast bread changes.
for hawker - some stall rental is low and some stall rental is high. some are new comer and therefore not much of skill, food taste is bad.
some of the old hawker stall start to change in their taste due to two issue - ego/attitude, want to eat eat don't want to eat fuck off, worst some of them start to short cut on their ingredient, for example chay kwey tiao uses fish-cake that is sucks, pour in alot of water..., chicken rice chilli source watery.... , pig organ soup put in lots of sugar and ajinomoto.

Hawker is hard work, which job/career / trade is not.
if you are in the trade than live up to be profession, it is not only a professional attitude, it is also an individual Characteristic/soul.
I always tell my younger friend, if you take up a job, treat it profession even if it is serving at the table, else get out and get another job somewhere else.
old days our local hawker and coffee shop helper is professional in their job, they remember their client, they clean the table before a client sit down and they serve customer with courtesy and professional attitude even though the order is just a tea or coffee.

I would put one-third of the blame to family, my old days, all family teaches their young manners.
respects others, be patient with others and look out for the youngs.
in return when others serve us or show kindness to us, reciprocate with a thankyou or respect the person with a node or future dealing return the same.

great post.....thanks for the effort

 

[JurongEast]

Johntan is a joke. He said prawn noodles hawkers have to spend 8 hours to boil the soup. That is bullshit and totally lie.
Hawkers only throw in prawn heads and some prawns into the water, slow fire boil over 8 hours.
They can make love with pinoy or masturbate when the soup is boiling. That is it

 

[JurongEast]

I know this because my uncle is a hawker and he told me that.

 

[hofmann]

Many businesses do not operate on how you describe. Your model is basically a race to the bottom, where businesses falling over each other in slashing their prices just to suck your cock. There are business models, even in food, that offers premium food and good service. Even in hawker fare, Ashton's is certainly not the cheapest hawker stall around, nor were they the cheapest western food stall around. But people were willing to pay for quality food. When Ashton's upgraded to restaurants and upped their hawker fare to restaurant prices, people still came to eat.

If you can't understand this, then be content with being a perpetually poor struggling food seller, or an employee.

Premium and luxury goods are but a small sector of any business sector. Every brand strives to be an Hermes, but many more exists as Giordarnos.

Tell me then, what is cheaper, better, faster all about if not a race to the bottom?

Manufacturing is a race to the bottom.

I strongly suggest you run your own business to get a better understanding of reality beyond the textbooks. You can sell women's underwear at a pasar malam to begin with.

 

[hofmann]

Johntan is a joke. He said prawn noodles hawkers have to spend 8 hours to boil the soup. That is bullshit and totally lie.
Hawkers only throw in prawn heads and some prawns into the water, slow fire boil over 8 hours.
They can make love with pinoy or masturbate when the soup is boiling. That is it

John Tan is very book smart. No need to belittle him. Name calling is a trait of the PAP. We do not need to stoop so low. The air tastes much better on the high ground.

 

[hofmann]

When I do business deals, nothing is obvious, nothing is left to chance. You think, I thought, who understand?

I stand corrected for being unclear.