benz game Hawker stalls can hire long-term visit pass holders as stall assistants from Jan 1
SINGAPORE: Hawker stalls will be allowed to hire long-term visit pass holders (LTVP) who have been approved to work in Singapore as stall assistants from Jan 1 next year, announced Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon on Monday (Oct 14).
Currently, only Singapore citizens and permanent residents can be stallholders or work as stall assistants in hawker centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and its appointed operators.
However, “NEA exercises some flexibility by allowing stallholders to appoint their spouses who are LTVP or LTVP-Plus holders (who have been given approval to work in the country) as their stall assistants, given their familial ties to the hawkers”, said Dr Koh in parliament.
With manpower being one of the main cost drivers for hawkers, the relaxation of NEA’s hiring policies serves to provide them with more hiring options, the agency said in a factsheet provided to the media.
Dr Koh added that authorities are studying other support measures for hawkers and will share the details when ready.
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The Big Read: Singaporeans want cheap and good hawker food. Hawkers need to make money. How do we square the circle? 
Commentary: If we want to preserve Singapore’s hawker culture, we need to be willing to pay for it Responding to questions from Members of Parliament on rent for hawker stalls, Dr Koh said NEA is reviewing relevant policies at hawker centres to ensure that the system remains effective while keeping hawker food affordable.
In July, a hawker submitted a bid of S$10,158 (US$7,770) to rent a vacant stall at Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre. It was the second-highest bid for the unit, and reportedly the highest for a hawker stall in the last six years.
Dr Koh reiterated that high tender prices are not the norm for hawker stalls.
About one in five cooked food stalls were awarded at tender prices at or below S$500 last year. The median successful tender price for cooked food stalls across hawker centres was about S$2,000 in 2022, and S$1,800 in 2023, he added.
Vacant hawker stalls are put up for bidding through monthly tender exercises conducted by NEA, which Dr Koh said were “transparent and fair”.
After a first tenancy term of three years, tendered rents are adjusted towards assessed market rents determined through independent professional valuation, he said.
Since 2012, NEA has removed reserve rents and does not set a minimum bid price for hawker stall tenders, he added.
“As suchbenz game, tenderers can secure stalls at lower-than-market rent for the first tenancy term. This would not be attainable under a model where stalls are allocated at fixed rental rates,” said Dr Koh.
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