After three years in the oil and gas industry,
Mr Derrick Lee signed up to be a hawker.
He had always been interested in the food and beverage
(F&B) sector and thought the Entrepreneurship Programme run by
Fei Siong Food Management was a good platform for him to learn the
ropes.
Today, the 31-year-old business graduate is the proud
owner of Ah Khoon Authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice, a stall at Ci
Yuan Community Club's hawker centre in Hougang.
Mr Lee told The New Paper: "Though I was interested in
F&B, I didn't have any recipe.
"I was totally clueless... But through the programme, I
met my mentor, a veteran hawker, who shared with me tips
accumulated over the years. His guidance was like a shortcut."
Such training programmes are what the Hawker Centres
3.0 Committee hopes to see more of to attract aspiring hawkers.
Yesterday, it submitted to the Ministry of the
Environment and Water Resources its recommendations to sustain
Singapore's hawker culture.
The committee was set up last year to review and make
recommendations to the Government on the management of hawker
centres and the sustainability of the hawker trade.
This is in light of the 17 new hawker centres to be
built by 2027, adding some 800 cooked food stalls. This means
hawker centres will increasingly face challenges, such as manpower
constraints.
The relatively high median age of incumbent hawkers -
59 years old - is also worrying.
The problem was flagged more than five years ago when
first-generation stallholders started finding it difficult to find
an immediate family member to pass the mantle to.
Over the course of the year, the committee engaged more
than 800 stakeholders, including hawkers, the public and cleaning
contractors.
Other than having training programmes to support new
entrants, the committee suggested allocating a number of stalls in
hawker centres as incubation stalls for aspiring hawkers to
experience what it is like for a limited period.
A panel of mentors could be formed to provide guidance
to these aspiring hawkers.
The committee also suggested improving productivity in
hawker centres, enhancing the centres as social spaces to improve
their vibrancy and promoting graciousness in hawker centres.
If successfully implemented, these recommendations will
invigorate the trade and sustain hawker culture while ensuring a
pleasant dining environment for everyone, said the committee.
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources,
Masagos Zulkifli, thanked the committee and those who had
contributed their feedback and ideas.
He added that his ministry will respond in due
course.
Sustain the hawker
trade and support new entrants through:
Improve
productivity in hawker centres through:
Improve vibrancy
of hawker centres and enhance them as social spaces
through:
Promote
graciousness through:
TNP