Hawkers not expected to make a loss from selling affordable meals: Goh Hanyan

Hawkers are not expected to make a loss from selling affordable meals, as they should have taken such meals into consideration when negotiating their rent with operators, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Goh Hanyan told Parliament on Sept 24.

- Ang Qing Correspondent

Ms Goh distinguished the budget meals from a scheme at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre that once required hawkers to provide free meals. The issue was debated online after veteran food critic K.F. Seetoh flagged concerns in August about contractual clauses that require hawkers to provide meals for the needy at their own cost.

WP MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) had asked whether the National Environment Agency (NEA) permitted hawker centre operators to contractually oblige hawkers to provide free meals, and for guidance on the appropriateness of such practices in future contracts.

Ms Goh said Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre was the only socially conscious enterprise hawker centre (SEHC) with the requirement to provide free meals, and the condition was made known upfront to stallholders.

Describing the scheme as well intentioned with the purpose of providing an inclusive community dining option, she added: "Stallholders who decided to proceed with renting stalls at the centre... would have factored the costs into their business considerations."