The Singaporean Hair Dressing Industry

- Daniel

Nobody really thinks about this industry. Take for example the recent debate regarding hawker culture in Singapore and its preservation, many Singaporeans and even non-Singaporeans have voiced their opinion, and this voice is what gives the movement political power, and with political power comes real change. With the rising rent costs of hawker stalls, the government in 2011 announced that they would build 10 more hawker centres, after a hiatus of 26 years, all of which have been completed in 2018.

The restaurant industry is in a very different place than the hawker trade, with television shows and celebrity chefs glamorising the harsh place that is the kitchen, many of the young have been influenced and aspire to be great chefs and own their own restaurant one day. Going to culinary schools or even starting as potato peelers and dishwashers, have arisen as a viable future for the young.

Hawkers, on the other hand have faced a shortage of manpower and their work is perceived to be of lower skill (which cannot be further from the truth) and of much lower income. People pay $3-4 for a plate of chicken rice and complain if the price increases by 50 cents because he cannot afford the increasing rent. Tell any Singaporean parent that their child aspires to be a hawker one day and you’ll be met with snide remarks. Similarly, tell any Singaporean parent that their child aspires to be a hairdresser one day and you’ll also be met with snide remarks.

WHY SO SNIDE?