Lim Tean shares KF Seetoh’s post, questions hawker rental raise

Singapore — Lawyer and opposition leader Lim Tean commented on the increase of rents for hawker stalls.

Mr Lim shared a post put up by KF Seetoh, a celebrity food critic and founder of Makansutra which is a company that celebrates different food cultures.

Mr Seetoh explained in a post that while citizens are doing their best to support stalls in hawker centres, hawkers’ rents are being increased by almost 40 per cent. He says that even with two people allowed to dine in at a time, prospects are not good for hawkers. He also questions if the pricing of the food that members of the public buy will be increased by 40 per cent as well.

When he shared Mr Seetoh’s post, Mr Lim remarked that he was at a loss for words due to the absurdity of the decision. He also questioned the disparity between the salaries of civil servants and the median salary in light of the poor decision-making.

Many netizens took to the comments section to share their views on the matter.

Some sympathized with the owners of hawker stalls, commenting that they had been through quite a lot since the pandemic started. A few also questioned how these owners were expected to survive when a large proportion of their earnings have to go towards expenses such as rental fees.

A few other netizens commented that the increase in rental fees was very significant and that the country needs to work on making businesses more viable for workers and for the economy.

Meanwhile, some questioned if any action could be taken to alleviate the situation. A netizen wondered if a petition to figures of authority could be of any help.

Some eagle-eyed netizens spotted a line in the document stating “The table-cleaning fees payable to National Environment Agency is [REDACTED]”. They then questioned why a new law requiring hawker centre patrons to clean up their trays have been implemented recently.

Other netizens pointed out that this increase in rental fees would be passed on to patrons, ultimately causing a chain effect in which citizens and members of the public are at a losing end.

Mr Lim also recently questioned why cleaners had to wait until July 2023 for an increase in their wages while petrol hikes could be implemented overnight.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG