Singapore push to preserve hawker culture in doubt

Foreigners may be averse to a difficult job in a food business that doesn’t pay well.

A Singapore plan to allow certain foreigners to work as food assistants in the hawker trade may not translate into a large increase in applicants, given the back-breaking requirements of the job, according to policy experts.

Hawker work often stretches upwards of 12 hours, is punishing, unglamorous, and doesn’t attract enough workers in a first-world country where there are opportunities to earn way more without working for so many hours a day.

“‘Hawkerprenuership’ is known for long, inflexible and sometimes irregular hours and gruelling tasks,” Dr. George Wong, a senior lecturer of Sociology at the School of Social Sciences of Singapore Management University, told Singapore Business Review.

“With similar wages, long-term visit pass (LTVP) holders may consider work-related factors in choosing between occupations,” he added.

The government plan to let foreigners with long-term visit passes to work as food stall assistants — now limited to Singapore citizens and permanent residents — is meant to ease rising manpower costs and is part of a bigger push to help and preserve the city-state’s hawker culture and identity.

Singapore’s hawker culture dates as far back as the 1800s and came from the early settlers who sold quick, cheap meals on the streets and town squares, cooked and served from their makeshift stalls. A couple of centuries later, the Singapore government set up hawker centres to bring them under one roof, where diners can watch how their food is being prepared in an open kitchen.

But Dr. Xu Le, lecturer from the Department of Strategy and Policy at NUS Business School, noted that even local citizens are no longer willing to enter or return to the hawker business because they want more stable and higher-paying jobs.

Hawker business operators may also be reluctant to share their treasured recipes perfected over generations with nonfamily employees, Wong said. 

“This is especially [true] for those who see their crafts and recipes as an heirloom or intellectual property. Unless there are safeguards, it would pose a barrier to hiring LTVP holders outright.”

More foreigners at food stalls could drive many Singaporeans’ view that hawkers are indeed a dying breed — the exact opposite of what the government is trying to promote.

“This has the tendency to exacerbate xenophobic and nativist reactions on the ground, which will sour public sentiment around the government’s performance in foreign labour policies, leading up to the impending general elections,” Wong said.

He added that the hawker business was limited to Singaporeans and PRs because the state wanted to preserve hawker centres as symbols of the country’s heartland image. “This recognition reflects Singaporeans’ sentiments that hawker culture should remain primarily a local heritage space.”

Wong also cautioned against seeing the policy as a panacea to cut manpower costs for hawkers, citing possible indirect costs from an increase in foreign workers who need to be trained in food safety.

Adopting technology

He added that stall assistants, who are highly sought after for their skills, might demand higher wages, potentially affecting the policy's effectiveness.

Still, he is hopeful that the policy could cut labour costs in the long run for the sector, where manpower takes up a fifth of operating costs.

Xu said hawker operators should hire skilled workers or those with a background in the food and beverage space to improve their operational efficiency.

She noted that with a potentially bigger talent pool, they might no longer have to raise salaries to attract workers or retain existing staff.

Xu said hawker entrepreneurs should improve other aspects of their operations, such as technology, to ease manpower challenges. Using digital payments or self-ordering technology for customers could help, she added.

Wong said business owners should take advantage of government aid such as productivity grants and a program to help them go digital, develop a sustainable commercial model and raise consumer awareness how they can support hawker culture in their own ways.

Customers can also help hawkers by dining outside peak hours, exploring more stalls, avoiding wasteful use of condiments, utensils, and packaging, or accepting charges for these extras, he added.