The Big Read in short: Older hawkers struggle to press on

Madam Sim Chee Moey, who is in her 60s, the lady boss of Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian, one of the minced meat noodle stalls that were previously known for their long queues at Bedok’s 85 Fengshan Food Centre, said the lines that normally form in the evenings are gone. 

Her neighbouring hawker Goh Peng Huan, 61, said his stall selling fried oyster omelette, carrot cake, bak chor mee and handmade ngoh hiang is now making a loss as business has dropped by 50 to 70 per cent, partly as the supper crowds have thinned. 

If the period of heightened alert were to extend beyond June 13, he said he would consider closing his stall for a while, like the BBQ seafood stall nearby which could not even achieve sales of S$100 in one day earlier this month.

ALTERED CONSUMER HABITS 

Pandemic-related curbs aside, the older generation of hawkers must also grapple with the changing habits of their customers, especially the younger ones, who are now getting used to having food delivered to their doorstep. 

Also, while many customers may still want to buy from their favourite hawkers, it does not make sense for them to travel out of their way for just a takeaway, given that eating at hawker centres is not allowed for now and people are encouraged to stay at home as far as possible to break the Covid-19 transmission chain. 

The growing preference for online deliveries — spurred by the pandemic — has not only hit the hawkers’ pockets, but also undermined their autonomy, which is important to hawkers who are, after all, business owners who want to be able to control and steer their business, said psychologist Praveen Nair.

Pointing out that hawkers are used to operating independently — they take matters into their own hands by working hard and making good food, so as to make more money – Mr Nair said: “Imagine how difficult things might be for someone who likes to take things into their own hands when this needs to come to an end because of the pandemic.”

“Suddenly, they are at the mercy of Grab, Foodpanda, government handouts, and other platforms that they may not know about. 

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE 

The fear of losing control aside, many hawkers also have to deal with another major challenge: Digital technology, which entails some basic competence in logic and literacy – much to the horror of those who only received some primary school education, typical of the older generation of hawkers.

There are those who are keen to adapt, such as long-time hawkers Arthur Wong, 75, and his wife Loh Mei Ling, 70. With business at only 10 per cent of what it was pre-Covid-19, the couple are now a lot more receptive to technology than before, given that the pandemic is unlikely to blow over anytime soon.

They were entertaining the thoughts of joining WhyQ and starting a Facebook page for their hawker stall, Chinatown Sun Seng Gourmet’s Corner, which sells dishes such as fried rice, hor fun and sliced fish mee hoon. Their business started as a roadside stall in Chinatown before it was moved into the Chinatown Complex in 1983.

But despite being a little more digitally savvy than other 70-year-olds, knowing how to watch shows on video streaming sites such as Netflix or browse Facebook, the couple still had their reservations.

With WhyQ, Mr Wong said he was afraid that he would not know how to use the system, and might even mess up processes if he and his wife have to manage on-demand delivery orders while taking orders from the walk-in crowd simultaneously. They don’t have a stall helper.

In the end, the semi-retired couple pushed aside those digital thoughts for now, and decided to extend their operational hours by one-and-a-half hours to 6pm to see if more people would patronise the stall.

Mr Yeo Cheng Poh, 74, and Madam Toh Bong Chee, 73, who sell S$3 char kway teow and carrot cake at their stall, Fried Kuay Teaw Mee, at Seah Im Food Centre in the Harbourfront area, had also resorted to working longer hours to make up for the shortfall in income. 

Mdm Toh said they are at their stall at 7.30am and close it after 8.30pm daily, with no rest days. 

Asked if they had thought about going on delivery platforms, Mdm Toh said that the only mobile phone they have is an “old man’s phone” — a Samgle-brand keypad phone — which they mainly use to call suppliers. 

COMMUNITY EFFORTS

Just like during last year’s circuit breaker, Singapore’s various food-related online spaces are once again abuzz with rallying calls to help hawkers in need, be they in the form of photo posts, bulk group buys or Facebook Live shoutouts.

Many new initiatives have also popped up to consolidate lists of hawkers who are not on the delivery space to let netizens discover them. One of them is the Oldie Hawker Pickups Google Form, started by marketing consultant Melissa Koh, 40. 

Collecting over five days the details of hawker stalls that could have fallen under the radar as their owners might not be tech-savvy, she released on May 26 the user-generated list that contained more than 160 entries of hawkers who are not on any delivery platforms.

Another pair of netizens had started a similar initiative by coming up with a Google map of these spots, and Ms Koh has since appended it to the list as well, so that people can search for the hawkers by their exact locations.

“People do want options. This shows that we don’t need delivery services to increase sales,” said Ms Koh. “When ordering food from apps, you don’t really know where your food comes from anymore. We see the cheapest delivery, we just buy.” 

Another effort is a Telegram bot called @SaveTheHawkersBot, which helps match people who are physically buying food from the hawker centre with other consumers living nearby who are looking for someone to help them buy food from the same hawker centre as well.

Social media executive Jocelyn Ng, 24, also started an Instagram page, @wheretodapao, to capture the stories of the elderly-run hawker stalls. Just a week since its inception on May 21, the page already has a strong following of 28,900 accounts. It allows users to send in pictures and stories of their favourite hawkers through a Google Form.

Ms Ng said that the elderly hawkers whom she has interacted with have “kind hearts, care for their community, are very understanding and have a selfless attitude”.

“If we don’t give them our support, it might discourage them from helping us preserve their traditional way of cooking,” she said.

Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh once remarked that the hawker centre “saved Singapore” as it is one place ordinary Singaporeans can go to have a good meal at an affordable price.

Speaking to TODAY, he offered a simple suggestion: Attach young IT-savvy volunteers to the older hawkers to grant them the help that they need.

Prof Koh said: “My wife and I still go to the markets and hawker centres. We patronise the older hawkers who are not active online. I urge Singaporean to join me in supporting them through this difficult period.” 

Mr Seetoh added: “If you feel that this hawker food culture of ours deserves longevity so that your children, your grandchildren, who won’t be millionaires down the road, can still afford to eat cheap and affordable hawker food, then start doing something now.”