S.O.S - Save Our Stalls, dear Government
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Dec 26, 2010 - Sunday Times
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
Bedok Food Centre hawkers fear for future when lease ends
By Teo Wan Gek
STALLHOLDERS at Bedok Food Centre, famed for its chwee kueh (steamed rice cake with preserved radish) and chye tau kueh (carrot cake), have petitioned the Government not to tear the place down when their lease expires in 2014.
Such a move, they said, would put an end to their means of making a living at the food centre in Block 207, New Upper Changi Road, where most of them have been for almost 30 years.
There are about 70 stallholders there, and unlike most of their counterparts elsewhere, many of them own their stalls under a 20-year lease that will expire in 2014. These stall owners were among the first group of hawkers allowed to buy their stalls under the 1994 Stall Ownership Scheme. But now they are losing sleep over their future because in three years the land will go back to the Government, which has yet to make public its plans for it.
A new development at a neighbouring site has made them fear the worst.
In September this year, the plot next door, which is home to a bus interchange, was sold to property giant CapitaLand. It will build an integrated public transport hub on the plot, to be ready by 2015.
The stallholders fear that their food centre may go the same way.
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This is a lesson for those planning to buy or leasing a hawker shall or property from the government. Have the hawker check the lease before they buy the stall from the government? Actually they are paying them for about 2k a month up to 2014, let say the deal is 500k for 20 years. Have the hawker informed about anything about the hawker centre future during that time when they brought the stall from government? Why so stupid indirectly paying the 2k rents plus interest if borrowed from banks? Early years hawker stall the rent is cheap because the government helped it as the government reduce the renting rate by about 70 to 80 percent and the hawker paid 30 or less for the rent. Actually the hawker paid only $300 –500 dollar a month.
This is one way people get tricked by the government. I don't think the government will give way to this as the hawker already signed the deal long time ago. Even the property giant also a GLC. So trickery by the government.
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seems this gahmen is pushing their limits
anything they got hold, they capitalise everything to the max. cpf, hdb, gst, car......
dun they know people in the street need to eat?
why do they need so much money?
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You die your business.
If you are rich, then I am your servant.
Since when there is any limit for being greedy ?
If you dun make noise or complain, I will makan you.
Dun expect any kindness from me.
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everything is about money.
they should keep the hawker centres. those are the only place where we, commoners can eat food at reasonable prices.
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The place can be sold for building condo to house new citizens and make more money NOW.
Since when is the welfare of the commoners a issue ?
There is already a new shopping mall built there for your meal and it is air con.
So, dun always complain.
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ever consider what happen when the 99 yrs lease run out on HDB?
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means you will have to "re-buy" and "re-mortgage" them in order to continue for your next generation if they r still interested in the old house which would be unlikely....but subject to govt's right to re-possess once the lease expired
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so many hawkers have moved and find new places through the development of Singapore...thats why old niceties faded through the passage of time till they were finally dealt a deathblow and lost with the rise of rental...
good old time wanton mee....the special sauce mix was lost together too.....
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Food Courts waste energy more than hawker centres!
Talk about going green some more
Our govt is practising NATO
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Originally posted by Fcukpap:
so many hawkers have moved and find new places through the development of Singapore...thats why old niceties faded through the passage of time till they were finally dealt a deathblow and lost with the rise of rental...
good old time wanton mee....the special sauce mix was lost together too.....
With speeding for economic growth, we are neglecting our food heritage. Once lost it is irreversible.
The once vibrant food scene will be a reminiscent. Food for thought.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
With speeding for economic growth, we are neglecting our food heritage. Once lost it is irreversible.
The once vibrant food scene will be a reminiscent. Food for thought.
well said
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Originally posted by Fcukpap:
well said
Higher and higher rental will kill off all the good food. Singapore cusine will become boring.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
Higher and higher rental will kill off all the good food. Singapore cusine will become boring.
Eating black beans rice in future is possible -
soon lah.. all the hawker will be china man employed by some GLC or MP related companies lah... trust mi...
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Tear that damn place down now!!!!
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
Higher and higher rental will kill off all the good food. Singapore cusine will become boring.
exactly...but again we need to move with times...the other way of looking at things would be to award good hawkers with rental subsidy based on popularity and thereby promoting healthy competition and improved service quality and in compliance to hygiene considerations across the board...but this would require conscientious efforts on the part of government as well as the medias to eagle eye on "professional" hawkers apart from mere making a living with lousy food....wipe out bad hawkers and uplift good ones...in order to qualify, hawkers need to fight in terms of quality, price and hygiene to get the rental subsidy..
indirectly, these would leave great impression to tourists as well..just a thought..hehe
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
ever consider what happen when the 99 yrs lease run out on HDB?
Your loan resets and you start paying again for the next 99 years.
By that time, the loan should be around $2 - 3 million dollars for a 3 room flat.
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Originally posted by Fcukpap:
exactly...but again we need to move with times...the other way of looking at things would be to award good hawkers with rental subsidy based on popularity and thereby promoting healthy competition and improved service quality and in compliance to hygiene considerations across the board...but this would require conscientious efforts on the part of government as well as the medias to eagle eye on "professional" hawkers apart from mere making a living with lousy food....wipe out bad hawkers and uplift good ones...in order to qualify, hawkers need to fight in terms of quality, price and hygiene to get the rental subsidy..
indirectly, these would leave great impression to tourists as well..just a thought..hehe
might as well...
