I want my affordable, good food, and I also want the hawkers to run their stalls at a sustainable rate instead of bleeding to death. So the only option is for greedy corporations to stop running the hawker centres. The promises for all the cheap options for food mean nothing when you charge exorbitant rental rates and add in ridiculous terms and conditions.
Based on my observations, what these social enterprises bring to the table are only nicer environments and variety of food. With those management dictating what the hawkers can and cannot do, there is no room for them to maximize their potential and inject creativity into their craft. This is why some of the best hawker food are still found in the most run-down places because there is no counterproductive management team who knows nuts about food to hamper them from doing what they are good at.
To illustrate my point: one of the best popians I had eaten can be found at this pretty old coffeeshop at BLK 133, Ang Mo Kio, and the stall is only opened on weekends from afternoon onwards. I guess the owners are in half retirement mode already, thus only operating the stall at specific timings. Can one imagine what happened if some money-grabbing corporation takes over the place and dictates that they must work from 9am to 8pm? Guess they will just wrap things up instead of subjecting themselves to being slaves to those social enterprises. The biggest losers are the fans of their popians.
Food Paradise will become Barren Hell in no time if this goes on.
Social Enterprise is now the dirty word that we look at with disgust. Just ban them, for goodness’ sake. Alternatively, hawkers should take charge of their own livelihood and just boycott social enterprises. Remember, social enterprises need you to function, not the other way round. There are other places where you can set up your stalls.
