MP Halimah urges home-based food catering business for women
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Posted: 29 February 2012 1626 hrs
SINGAPORE: Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Halimah Yacob has urged the government to help a very specific segment of society - women who cannot work outside their homes as they have young children or elderly parents to look after.
Mdm Halimah, who is also MP for Jurong GRC, said this is what's needed on top of measures in the Budget which she says are pro-family.
She said one way is to allow these women to run home-based food catering businesses.
But first, she says the government needs to relax its rules banning home kitchens, so that these women can earn extra income from their love of cooking.
Mdm Halimah said: "Recently many had received warning letters from the NEA and they are worried and confused, and their source of income has been disrupted.
"A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by Dewi, the women's arm of the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce, to a dialogue session which was attended by more than 300 women. The women strongly appealed to the government to relax its rules prohibiting home kitchens.
"They were told to cook at central kitchens which are commercial cooking facilities but many cannot afford the rent and other related costs, and because of their caregiving responsibilities they cannot work outside their homes.
"Using a central kitchen is not a viable option for them. The women understand and are mindful of NEA's concerns over hygiene, safety and neighbours' complaints.
"Therefore in their proposal, they had suggested various measures to address these concerns including even devising a contraption to absorb smoke, grease and smell from their cooking. Sir, I would like to urge NEA to look into this proposal."
- CNA/de -
Let them become illegal hawkers?
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More curry pop sellers.
One 40 cents, three for $1.
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sell those kueh lor..
Those kueh can be sold at pretty good prices ah...
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those kalipoks are quite nice
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Later the government round them up, and then provide them with a centre, for better hygiene, quality and control, and better prices too.
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kuih 3 slice for $1.
nasi lemak $1.50.
all this welly important!!!! -
satay satay satay!!
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Very clearly the Malay community has quite a number of people in this sort of home - based cooked and hawking of food. Many are involved in illegal hawking of their epok epok and nasi lemak even near MRT stations. I have personally seen them doing so. Very pitiful, having to look out for those hawker inspectors who are ever ready to confiscate their tray of food and fine them as well. Very sad indeed. Some even play cat and mouse games with the enforcement officers. Although pitiful, rules are rules. rather than just plea on their behalf, the MP should also work with them to think of ways and means by which the public can be assured that their so called" home based" caterers truely observe food hygiene practices. Perhaps, a sub division of NEA should register and license all these home based caterers officially for a nominal sum of two dollars a month, so that spot check inpections can be carried out at their home ktichens every quarterly to ensure that they do keep their premises and food clean! Imagine home catered fish balls,sotong balls and meat balls. and packets of fried beehoon selling along the corridors of HDB flats openly without fear of confiscation. Alternatively , for every HDB estate designated space( free of charge) in the void decks be used for the selling of such cooked food on condition that those selling will clean up their own mess. So mini void deck food cafes might be thus set up for the selling of home cooked take away food. It would be just like during the fasting month, when evening buffets are held in void decks below the blocks for the whole block to buka puasa. Food cost might just be brought down and the rental of actual space for competitive food outlets like coffeeshops and food courts might then become more realistically lower priced.
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It will dirty the corridor and the housing area with mass cooked food.
Please provide constructive idea instead of stupid idea.
If you want to regulate, you need to pay a license fee.
Who can afford to pay ?
I dunno why she suggest the stupid idea as there will be more food poisoning and NEA will have a headache in regulating the standards.
Cannot eat chicken, eat fish; cannot eat fish, eat grass; cannot eat grass, eat air.
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Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):
satay satay satay!!
when you coming to Sg and sell satay?
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
when you coming to Sg and sell satay?
soon soon. u wan to jv ar? -
Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):
soon soon. u wan to jv ar?no lah, just come and try out how good your satay lor.
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To help these women who need to earn extra income for their needy families, the MP could also make some arrangements such that communities events within the neighbourhood are catered from these home based caterers. Not only will it help these families , it will also save costs for MCD. if possible even some events like small committee/ unit/ divisional tea parties and buffets can be catered by them as well. Government departments spend more if they order their food from outside caterers for their tea time teabreak snacks when they have meetings etc.Of course if this is done, the MCD must pay on time immediately , once the food is delivered and not 30 or 60 days, or a year later lah! Let's have a gotong royong spirit - register a listing of home based caterers who can provide such services!
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At least they don't serve dog food.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
At least they don't serve dog food.
This picture looks damn familiar.
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Halimah got it wrong.
Cook at home to sell outside still cannot compete with cheap Malaysia import.
Better solution is to allow these illegal hawkers to sell at designated place selling the Malaysia import.
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Originally posted by charlize:
This picture looks damn familiar.
It was once all over the net. Big money on dog food.
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Woof Woof
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She is one of the very rare MPs that I respect. I applaud her pro-family proposal. Yes. Elderly and young children in the family often post a constraint to women working. But that should not stop these women from contributing to the society and making an honest living.
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chicken expensive, eat fish.
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Bring back the Good Ole Street Hawker
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Originally posted by mancha:
Bring back the Good Ole Street Hawker
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Originally posted by Honeybunz:
She is one of the very rare MPs that I respect. I applaud her pro-family proposal. Yes. Elderly and young children in the family often post a constraint to women working. But that should not stop these women from contributing to the society and making an honest living.
I am glad she did bring up the matter after a group of ladies DEWI approached her about the problem having been sent warning letters by NEA. But I find nothing unique about that. If she had forseen this problem and immediately brought it up the moment it was proposed to have stricter control by NEA with time registered chop on cooked food etc, then I would say she was proactive and thoughtful. As such I can only say she was doing her job as an MP. -
i love ode ode, maybe supply more demand less the price of nasi lemak, mee goreng will go down. Good. I love malay food.