The Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre opened to big fanfare in January this year. Located opposite White Sands, Pasir Ris residents were eagerly anticipating the opening of the centre. It offered a variety of traditional and hipster food. Residents then reportedly said that the Hawker Centre was worth the wait, as the food was cheap and good too.
The Hawker centre had 42 stalls located on 2 floors. But now, nine months after the launch, already at least 10 stalls have folded. Many others are reportedly considering closing their stalls too. Problems cited were the high costs they had to bear. Among the cost they faced were the rental costs, as well as other charges imposed by the operators NTUC Foodfare.
So what happened? Why did the NTUC Foodfare charging the stall owners impossibly high costs? Our PM said a way to alleviate high cost of living is to eat at hawker centres. But if stall owners could not even afford to pay the cost of managing the stall, then how can others offset the high cost of living as suggested by our dear PM?
