Wet markets crucial for community

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Wet markets crucial for community
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOR the past 10 years, the wet market in Serangoon has had to fight off competition from supermarkets. However, the community values the wet market as a place for cheaper fresh food and it has become a place for people like my mother and other elderly to catch up with one another.
There are also many former residents who have moved away but still make their way to the wet market to shop.
When a big supermarket chain decides to expand, does it honestly take into consideration the impact on the community?
By Chinese New Year next year, hundreds of stallholders will be left helpless and jobless. Many have tended their stalls for three generations and their family livelihood depends on the small profit they make from long hours of work. They have no other skillsets in life except to serve the community from 4am to 5pm.
What are these hundreds of stallholders to do if they do not find another anchorage?
It is disheartening to walk through the market now and see the troubled faces of the stallholders, especially in these hard times. I hope MPs in the affected estates come out and show their support. Let's us keep the wet markets.
Audrey Low (Ms)

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=heading>Latest comments</TD></TR><TR><TD id=messageDisplayRegion width="100%"><TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left><TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left><TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" class=Post cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left>One reason why the Jobs Credit scheme using taxpayers’ money should ceased immediately:

Flashback ST 24 January 2009 - Cash grant will take a chunk off wage bills.
SUPERMARKET chain Sheng Siong is poised to slice about $567,000 per month from its wage bill as a result of the Government's new cash grant to subsidise companies' wage bills.

That’s S$6,804,000 increased profits per year!

Then . . . . opposition MP Low Thia Khiang argued in Parliament that the scheme will simply benefit profitable companies that have no intention of retrenching workers. He asked: 'Are we using our reserves to increase the profits of profitable companies in this downturn?'

Fast forward ST 12 September 2009 - Sheng Siong buys five wet markets for $26m
LOCAL supermarket chain Sheng Siong is on an expansion drive with its recent purchase of five wet markets for $25.55 million

Now . . . . . PLANS to shut down five wet markets in Choa Chu Kang, Serangoon North, Bukit Batok West and Bukit Panjang are making two groups of people unhappy. Residents in these neighbourhoods are upset over what looks to be a loss of lower prices, freshness and variety, and market stallholders are wondering what is to become of their livelihoods.
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left>Posted by: ladyhaha at Sat Oct 03 04:49:01 SGT 2009
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left><TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left><TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%" class=AlternatePost cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left>I can totally understand the sentiments you are going through, Ms Audrey.

My parents are among one of the many stallholders that are going to lose their livelihood through the removal of the heartlander wet markets.

I grew up helping them selling eggs on every Chinese New Year and has certainly come to develop a strong sense of belonging and friendship with many of the residents here.

This was the stall that my parents brought me and my two other siblings up.

And this is the stall that has followed so many of us through these years.

Not to mention the sense of identity & synergy it has formed among the residents.

It is indeed a big blow to not just my parents the stallholders, but also us, the younger generation.
</TD></TR><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top" align=left>Posted by: CYNTHIAANG at Sat Oct 03 03:09:50 SGT 2009
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[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>When a market is also a community chat stop
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Wednesday's report, 'Wet markets' buyout causes upset'. Supermarket chain Sheng Siong bought over five wet markets in Choa Chu Kang, Serangoon, Bukit Batok West and Bukit Panjang, much to the dismay of heartlanders.
Wet markets are supposed to be places for residents to buy the freshest food at the lowest price possible. Each stall is managed by a stall owner, who has the right to give his customers the best and also take control of his selling price. Now wet markets will be replaced by Sheng Siong, goods will be sold to consumers at a fixed price. Residents in the neighbourhood are unhappy over higher prices and less variety of food.
Closure of the wet markets will also affect the unemployment rate. Stallholders are usually middle-aged or older. They may suffer from structural unemployment. Unlike previous contracts, new ones may allow termination. Usually less educated than the younger generation, stall owners tend to sign without realising they may have to leave in less than three months. Furthermore, some stallholders said they would have difficulty finding another stall at other wet markets. I feel for the stallholders as they are just trying to earn a living on their meagre income.
Wet markets are good places for residents to mingle and talk with other residents and stallholders. Residents feel comfortable and very much at home as they haggle amid the noise and familiar surroundings of wet markets they have patronised for years. Strong friendships were forged over the years as customers supported the stallholders.
This will soon be replaced by something cold - and air-conditioned at that. As these markets are corporatised, there is a possibility that the sense of familiarity residents once enjoyed will dissipate as they face new staff from Sheng Siong.
Also, a wet market is a good melting pot for a multiracial society, as people of different races come to the market to buy their ingredients.
I hope more consideration can be given as this issue concerns many groups of people.
Jayne Lee (Miss)