Famous food blogger ieatishootipost posted a request for suggestions on how to preserve our hawker heritage and food culture in his Facebook post: apparently they will be brought up by Baey Yam Keng for discussion in Parliament. While I'm not sure how much good a Parliamentary discussion will do, I posted an idea of mine in the Facebook thread, which I reproduce below:
My suggested scheme is to PAIR EX OFFENDERS WITH RETIRING HAWKERS. Details below:
MAIN CAUSE: LACK OF TALENT PIPELINE FOR QUALITY HAWKERS
From my viewpoint, I think the primary problem of Singapore's hawker landscape is a lack of a talent pipeline for quality hawkers. Singapore's hawker landscape can be broadly characterised by two trends: ageing hawkers (without the younger generation replacing them), and declining quality.
In my non-expert view, the two are intertwined: the ageing pool of top hawkers often cannot find the right people to replace them, especially since their children often do not want to put in those long hours. On quality, even amongst the top hawkers, standards often decline, partly due to natural ageing. A few years ago, I went to Penang for a makan trip and the nostalgia it brought back was mindblowing. Sadly, many hawker places in Singapore no longer have the same standards as they used to have.
PROVIDING RETIREMENT INCOME TO OLD HAWKERS
To combat this, I agree with Irene Foo above that we should find some way to provide "retirement income" to old hawkers, and to train up a new pool of hawkers. I don't think it is sufficient for the old hawkers to just provide a recipe, though: oftentimes, it isn't just a recipe but physical and visual/aural knowhow & knowledge (even things like how to blend flavours, or how to select durian: can these things be fully taught/learned by book/text?). Such know-how can be very hard for an older, less text-driven and less verbose generation of Singaporeans to express to their successors.
INCENTIVES FOR BOTH OLD HAWKERS AND ASPIRING SUCCESSORS
Also, there needs to be sufficient incentive for the old/retiring hawker to help the young/aspiring hawker: their skin needs to be in the game. Otherwise, there's no incentive for the retiring hawker to fully disclose their recipes/tricks, and we end up with a situation like old kungfu masters who don't fully pass on their knowledge to a younger generation.
SCHEME OUTLINE
The scheme that I thought of (independently from Irene Foo) is to pair ex-offenders with retiring hawkers. This gives ex-offenders a chance at a new livelihood as an owner/hawker. In exchange, they have to pay X% of their sales to the retiring hawkers (as a royalty fee for the recipes & know-how); it allows the retiring hawkers an ongoing income stream from their knowledge transfer. It also ensures that the retiring hawkers have skin-in-the-game: if they do not fully transfer their knowledge or if they don't help the ex-offenders sufficiently, they also stand to lose. Retiring hawkers can also serve as consultants for ex-offenders who run into trouble/face business difficulties, and can help guide them.
Such a scheme could help address the talent pipeline issue of our hawker landscape, and also help re-integrate ex-offenders into society. This pairing could be done in collaboration with MHA, Yellow Ribbon Singapore, SCORE and the National Heritage Board and/or NEA.
Separately, rental is undoubtedly a factor in keeping hawker food affordable. But artificially keeping rental prices low via regulation creates the economic incentive for gaming and real-estate speculation: it doesn't solve anything, though it does create a lot of red tape that runs the risk of stamping out innovation in one of the most competitive and vibrant market places in Singapore. Personally, I think that it is unrealistic to address the rental cost by keeping rental prices artificially low across-the-board.
This post has been an idea that I've mulled on for some time, as I was contemplating the future of my favourite hawkers in Singapore (this mian chiang kueh uncle and a mee pok/bak chor mer stall at Bukit Timah Market). The problem (as I see it) is lack of continuity, since many of my favourite hawkers do not want their kids to become hawkers. The ones whose kids become hawkers often become complacent, and standards often drop: it's been a very rare case where the son/daughter does a better job than the father. Reformed ex-offenders are often looking for a job, so why not pair the two together, as a social/business scheme?
What do you think of this idea, and if it's a possibility we should explore? If you like it, please do like my comment in the Facebook post.
My suggested scheme is to PAIR EX OFFENDERS WITH RETIRING HAWKERS. Details below:
MAIN CAUSE: LACK OF TALENT PIPELINE FOR QUALITY HAWKERS
From my viewpoint, I think the primary problem of Singapore's hawker landscape is a lack of a talent pipeline for quality hawkers. Singapore's hawker landscape can be broadly characterised by two trends: ageing hawkers (without the younger generation replacing them), and declining quality.
In my non-expert view, the two are intertwined: the ageing pool of top hawkers often cannot find the right people to replace them, especially since their children often do not want to put in those long hours. On quality, even amongst the top hawkers, standards often decline, partly due to natural ageing. A few years ago, I went to Penang for a makan trip and the nostalgia it brought back was mindblowing. Sadly, many hawker places in Singapore no longer have the same standards as they used to have.
PROVIDING RETIREMENT INCOME TO OLD HAWKERS
To combat this, I agree with Irene Foo above that we should find some way to provide "retirement income" to old hawkers, and to train up a new pool of hawkers. I don't think it is sufficient for the old hawkers to just provide a recipe, though: oftentimes, it isn't just a recipe but physical and visual/aural knowhow & knowledge (even things like how to blend flavours, or how to select durian: can these things be fully taught/learned by book/text?). Such know-how can be very hard for an older, less text-driven and less verbose generation of Singaporeans to express to their successors.
INCENTIVES FOR BOTH OLD HAWKERS AND ASPIRING SUCCESSORS
Also, there needs to be sufficient incentive for the old/retiring hawker to help the young/aspiring hawker: their skin needs to be in the game. Otherwise, there's no incentive for the retiring hawker to fully disclose their recipes/tricks, and we end up with a situation like old kungfu masters who don't fully pass on their knowledge to a younger generation.
SCHEME OUTLINE
The scheme that I thought of (independently from Irene Foo) is to pair ex-offenders with retiring hawkers. This gives ex-offenders a chance at a new livelihood as an owner/hawker. In exchange, they have to pay X% of their sales to the retiring hawkers (as a royalty fee for the recipes & know-how); it allows the retiring hawkers an ongoing income stream from their knowledge transfer. It also ensures that the retiring hawkers have skin-in-the-game: if they do not fully transfer their knowledge or if they don't help the ex-offenders sufficiently, they also stand to lose. Retiring hawkers can also serve as consultants for ex-offenders who run into trouble/face business difficulties, and can help guide them.
Such a scheme could help address the talent pipeline issue of our hawker landscape, and also help re-integrate ex-offenders into society. This pairing could be done in collaboration with MHA, Yellow Ribbon Singapore, SCORE and the National Heritage Board and/or NEA.
Separately, rental is undoubtedly a factor in keeping hawker food affordable. But artificially keeping rental prices low via regulation creates the economic incentive for gaming and real-estate speculation: it doesn't solve anything, though it does create a lot of red tape that runs the risk of stamping out innovation in one of the most competitive and vibrant market places in Singapore. Personally, I think that it is unrealistic to address the rental cost by keeping rental prices artificially low across-the-board.
This post has been an idea that I've mulled on for some time, as I was contemplating the future of my favourite hawkers in Singapore (this mian chiang kueh uncle and a mee pok/bak chor mer stall at Bukit Timah Market). The problem (as I see it) is lack of continuity, since many of my favourite hawkers do not want their kids to become hawkers. The ones whose kids become hawkers often become complacent, and standards often drop: it's been a very rare case where the son/daughter does a better job than the father. Reformed ex-offenders are often looking for a job, so why not pair the two together, as a social/business scheme?
What do you think of this idea, and if it's a possibility we should explore? If you like it, please do like my comment in the Facebook post.
