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SINGAPORE: A new plan is being worked on to help veteran street vendors turn their businesses over to aspiring street vendors.
State Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor said on Tuesday (Nov 24) that a Hawker Succession Scheme (HSS) will be implemented early next year, with more details to be announced next month. .
Under the scheme, veteran traders who wish to retire but cannot find suitable successors will get help matching aspiring street vendors to whom they can pass on their skills.
When veteran street vendors retire, they will be able to transfer the positions to their successors. NEA said it will relax its rules so that eligible unsubsidized veteran vendors can assign their positions to successors other than family members or relatives.
Currently, this is only allowed for subsidized merchants, which are the original merchants who were relocated from the streets in the early 1970s or who were assigned positions under the government’s hardship plan.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the scheme will benefit those with at least 15 years of experience operating street vendor businesses. There are currently around 900 of these cooked food stalls.
“Veteran street vendors joining HSS will likely be a small subset of this group. More details will be announced when it is ready, ”said NEA.
The median age of street vendors is 59, the agency said.
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The scheme hopes to address a key challenge of maintaining street vendor culture: passing on culinary and business skills from one generation to the next, Dr. Khor said during a visit to the Ghim Moh food center and market on Tuesday.
An independent selection panel will advise NEA on how to match applicants with retiring veteran street vendors, Dr. Khor said.
“This is really an alternative path that aspiring street vendors can take if they want to continue the business of retiring street vendors, rather than starting from scratch.”
A chwee kueh stall at Ghim Moh Market & Food Center on November 24, 2020.
Dr Khor said this was just one of the challenges street vendors face that a task force has identified. Hawker’s Trade Sustainability Working Group has submitted a list of recommendations to the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment for its consideration.
The 19-member working group is co-chaired by Chinatown Complex Street Vendors Association President Lim Gek Meng and Timbre Group CEO Edward Chia, who is also a Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.
READ: Does street vendor culture have a future in Singapore? Yes, but maybe not as we know it
Other challenges facing the street vendor trade that were identified by the task force include poor public perception of the trade as a profession, difficulties new entrants face in maintaining their businesses, and limited support for sales team productivity teams. walking.
“The National Environment Agency has wasted no time implementing some of the ideas they have presented in the report, for example, the launch of the Hawker Development Program earlier this year, as well as the enhancement of the Hawker Productivity Grant “said Dr. Khor.
NEA will review the report and consider implementation of other suggested ideas “in due course,” added Dr. Khor.
Mr. Chia said that more than half of the members of the task force were street vendors, which helped them understand the “pain points” as well as the opportunities for trade.
On the Street Vendor Succession Scheme, he said: “As Singaporeans we all love good food and it will be a waste if some of these recipes or this food disappear from our street vendor scene … so the show is targeted to those who want to submit their recipes but cannot find successors. “
A row of roast chicken is displayed at a chicken rice stall in Singapore. (AFP / Roslan Rahman)
It complements existing programs to encourage new entrants to the street vendor trade, such as the Stall Incubation Program and the Street Vendor Development Program, NEA said. These programs offer a variety of assistance and support schemes, such as subsidized training fees, paid internships, and rental subsidies for new aspiring street vendors.
Initial results have been “promising,” NEA said, adding that the average age of new participants is 46.
Other recommendations of the working group include using various platforms and online resources to help street vendors network and share their knowledge, review the labor policy for street vendor assistants, and encourage street vendors. to use automation.
One initiative that took place last year is the Street Vendors Seminar, a forum for street vendors to exchange ideas and facilitate the exchange of best practices within the community.
The Hawkers Productivity Grant has also been extended to tools beyond kitchen automation to equipment, such as queue management systems. The grant funding period has been extended to March 31, 2023. To date, more than S $ 1.7 million has been disbursed to 593 market and cooked food stalls, NEA said.
The report of the task force on sustaining the street vendor trade can be found on the NEA website.
