Are hawkers financially sustainable in Singapore?

[@pikepushup]

Thank you so much for making this. As a fellow “young” person in the FnB space myself, I relate so hard to so many of the points that were made in this conversation and it really helps to hear someone in a similar context share about their journey. Like having bad reviews because of hype you didnt start. Really hope more conversations can be had for a more gracious society. Having the mindset and acceptance of being an essential “cog” in the bigger picture is also such a powerful way of thinking to achieve peace in the endless grind. Wishing Faye, Wei Choon and RuiMing and their businessess all the success and prosperity 🤩

[@Fledermausmann]

Fascinating and insightful interview. I'm glad that you guys didn't constantly interrupt your guest and that there was no point of time that I felt you were patronizing towards her either. I find that the issue of our hawker culture surviving is one that must be delved into more because essentially, you're asking almost a generation of people to work in extremely tough conditions for pay below the "market rate" just to keep a slice of history alive. It's a huge sacrifice and I think that the government should come in, say that this is part of our heritage and therefore we must help them out. On a completely unrelated(definitely related) note, I now want to go get some kopi at my local. Or at a certain place in Amoy Food centre, hahah.

[@beno94]

Whenever WC turns to check the camera, I feel like I did something wrong and I'm gonna get hurt real bad. JK love this new on site format 😂

[@thewokesalaryman]

I scared the camera stop recording hahahaha. But it never did. -WC

[@ltankk]

Wait, WC cut his hair short and shaved his beard and moustache!? Really couldn't recognise at first glance! 😆

[@Choonzord]

Ya i cannot take it, the weather is very hot and it was getting very annoying to style it daily. ALso i'm losing hair and the long hair part makes me look quite botak.

[@ltankk]

@@Choonzord Ah nice! Looks refreshing! 👍🏻

[@Its_a_me_WSA]

Confirmed Wei Choon lost a bet and had to cut hair and shave beard

[@funwithrandom360]

​@@ChoonzordLooking good 😍

[@yongjiewong764]

@@Choonzord ya u look good with the new haircut leh

[@henryang8103]

Affordability and profitability are not entirely mutually exclusive in a business. Its a choice of what you offer to socially and economically vulnerable. No business should be dovetailed in what they should offer and price. Its their choice of how they do their business and they are responsible for their own profitability and turnover. Sell high, sell to who, what to sell. And we as consumers choose what to buy and who to buy from. Local hawkers are changing to the new societal order to adapt, survive and flourish. My own wish is that we don't lose too of what we love from our hawkers who change.

[@yongjiewong764]

Awesome episode and gain the perspective from younger hawker

[@AikenChiaMing]

Within 1 minute the video, I was like .... "YA! YA!" hahaha "I think people need to understand how the free market works"

[@thewokesalaryman]

Eh hello sir thanks for supporting our channel

[@KunjaBihariKrishna]

I spent a few days in Singapore, and just hung out in this area the whole time. I love the vibe there.

[@Madillusionist]

This is a great interview to give insights to the challenges faced by local businesses.

[@traycerbullet]

Thank you for covering this story and the lovely conversation. Thank you.

[@weelymh]

haha, was looking forward to the classic "final podcast" at the end of video. This format is great, enjoyed the perspectives!

[@thewokesalaryman]

shit sorry, we forgot. the next one maybe have. - RM

[@DukeShanks]

Its been so long since the last upload. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO ONCE AGAIN. Btw nice haircut wei choon, a lot neater and presentable

[@1psw1cht0w]

I may be wrong but average $3.50 per coffee seems unlikely. Sure you can sell coffee iced blend at a higher price but 80% of your sales mix is from your regular coffee price of around $1.60. Enjoyed the interview.

[@lagofala]

Appreciate her for being so open. Great interview.

[@JuzNicky]

blue white look like barcelona .... Kimly group and their ho lim cups ah WC's mop is cut ! I have always enjoyed their wacky flavours.... tried them all !

[@ChoseNTuber]

1000 coffee x3.5, each coffee say 50c is variable cost for 22 days, 66k revenue - variable cost (ingredients and utility and store maintainance) rent = 5k, salary = 12k, insurance and misc 1k so net profit a month is 48k. Accounting for 10% of closure/holidays, this would mean around 43k/month... not bad, really not bad...

[@snong8540]

Am I missing something here? She seems to mention "support local" because being a hawker is not easy. But then 43k a month seems like good money!

[@xuweibin88]

Love this content, such great conversations. Please have more of these.

[@xburboyx]

End of the day it still depends on survivability, if hawkering cannot pay my bills, is it still worth it to put in the time and effort to continue? Market forces determine the price especially traditional food such as chicken rice, bak chor mee, etc. But yet the public mentality has resistance to paying higher price for the food. why should the hawker be shouldering the margin discrepancy alone? (wedding ang bao majority still "stuck" at $120 per pax? whereas if you based on cost per table it should be much higher like $180 per pax)

[@tutukueh77]

Lots interesting topics touched. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and hope your business continues to prosper!

[@midlifesmart]

Kudos to this hawker. She is way more articulate, intelligent & quick witted compared to the over dressed & over-paid customers who work in the fancy banks & companies at Raffles Place.

[@limkimyaw8980]

To compare bankers to hawkers is the dumbest remark I have ever seen. Just goes to show the level of your intellect. 😂

[@jimtang7087]

Overdressed doesn't mean overpaid. Many white collars working in raffles place makes probably 3k -7k range. It's more like "fake it that u made it" mindset.

[@wmira]

I'm always curious about financials of hawkers and this interview gave some good insights!

[@ssl1206]

I love coffee break’s coffee!!

[@thefairplayer]

Is the bidding model for rent good or should it be a balloting model? On the macro level thinking about how it causes price hike

[@Choonzord]

Good question I also wonder 🤔

[@TinCan-pf4ps]

@@Choonzord The bidding model is good for the landlord. The move towards "Cost-recovery" in government has led to profit mindset. The hawker centres "mission" has changed. First created to get street vendors off the street to a more controlled environment, it now is seens as an equivalent to a kopitiam business model.

[@thengshanooi7864]

Love their kopi Peng !

[@KunjaBihariKrishna]

I love when they say "correc"

[@carmenj1006]

Love to see videos like this! Much better than filming it in a studio btw WC looks so different (in a good way) for a moment I thought the woke salaryman had a new partner 😂

[@g.xiujin]

I really enjoyed listening in to this episode!

[@zehahaha603]

on a site note, where did yall get your tops from?

[@xiaoxin5689]

Younger generation with higher pay wage may not appreciate the exist of hawker for cheaper food option, as comparing to the foodcourt with air-con. Under hot weather, many people may not mind to pay a little extra to have a meal at foodcourt with a more comfortable environment. For good and quality food option, younger may opt for restaurant instead. Some families may even choose to prepare simple and healthy food at home to keep household expenses within the budget while ensuring healthy diet. Home-cooked food at $15 for 3 can ensure high protein diet but can only have high carb food in hawker at same cost. Not easy for hawker to survive nowadays.

[@BenyaminLimanto]

Hello from the other side. Indonesia. Thank you for sharing!

[@AmbientWalking]

Good video!

[@J-qp4ld]

Obviously it is viable. Hawkers have been around for decades and financial viability was never an issue.

[@88_JJW_88]

there is a non 1st gen famous Prawn noddles hawker in town also driving a merc. Of cse, her business is good and sustainable, selling minimum $5 a bowl now. On a hindsight probably her business has saturated unless she follows Michelin style to franchise her business out to expand it...by then the price will be $7 a bowl at least 😅😁😄

[@Towkeeyoh]

Wah if u guys can follow up with all 3 siblings that would be killer, very seldom see them 3 in the media together

[@tzonmeister]

enjoyed this interview!

[@angdarren5832]

To be honest, anyone who is borned during and after the 80s can be considered as the price out generation. We are just priced out of everything.

[@Whatexactlyispeace]

Time to call a spade a spade. $1.60 for a kopi o kosong is very high. Yes the rental are high and cost for operating in CBD is high, but for a common folk, $1.60 is high.

[@xthene]

what's the rentals per stall?

[@JJ-bp3jp]

The first reaction of everyone, who is this new guy in grey

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

For the same drink, the price is so different in different locations, not to mention air con have a not😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Passion over time will become reality and survival in our state type of system😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@zYMz]

I agree with the relish part 😆

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Very challenging when businesses are run by own family members 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@silverchairsg]

Wah set up podcasting recording equipment in hawker center = chad

[@mkang666]

Yes, hawker foods are supposed to be cheap. If you want expensive foods, go to the restaurants.

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

In the end, the cheap or expensive must pay BILLS 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@Jaymore639]

Very Frank interview, good job

[@munster1404]

Hawker centers and coffeeshops are supposed to be places to go when you have $3 left in your pocket and you don't know when your next paycheck is coming in. Their existence is to primarily serve peasant food on a budget, nothing more. They also provide sustenance to people lacking access to kitchen facilities and alleviate household chores so the majority can concentrate on their jobs. Hence the profit taking/motivation ought to differ from a standard privatization model for societal stability. However, such societal obligation has been diminished over a long period of time by rampant real estate speculation, rent seeking behaviour, the pernicious encroachment of gourmet food and overall inflation. It takes political willpower to restore that above mentioned obligation and it unfortunately involves curtailment of certain economic prerogatives.

[@marktan8074]

Those days of $3 meals will never come back. And we might as well learn to accept it rather than be the typical complainer who attributes all dissatisfaction to the government : 1. All hawker centres are being upgraded. More fans, seating etc installed. Better ventilation and cleaner flooring etc. Who will pay for all these? As usual the govt? If the government subsidises etc, they will need to raise collections from elsewhere. Ultimately you still have to pay more either in one area or another. Be practical. 2. The older generation of hawkers are retiring. While these folks (whether operating on subsidised rental or not) are willing to work for less, the newer generation cannot be expected to do so. They have to accumulate savings for their future as well as making enough to sustain themselves. If you, for example, think you deserve being paid $5000/mth for your labor, then why shouldn't the hawkers or their stall assistants aspire to the same? Double standards? You go for annual vacations? Likewise hawkers would like to do so too. How can they afford that selling foods at $3/plate? Have a heart for others. 3. As a society progresses, needs and tastes changes too. There is nothing wrong with that. No longer do people want to eat the same old school foods as yesteryear. People want variety and also be able to try cuisine from other countries. Costs of ingredients have gone up, not forgetting you need to import the fancy ingredients too. You want to stick to old school wanton mee cooked by an elderly who just wants to get by day to day and not be bothered to improve his cooking? Be my guest, but do realise most don't. I would rather support the younger folks who have a passion doing what they do, having sacrificed and taking a risk in their careers to answer their calling to be hawkers. These are the next generation of hawkers. Pay them well. Let them know there is also money to be made from this career path too. 4. Be grateful that hawker foods in Spore is still relatively affordable. Other developed countries priced their equivalent foods at nothing less than $10 a plate due mainly to labor costs. Why should our hawkers deserve anything less? 5. Lastly, why don't you walk the talk? Give up your current job or have your other family members do the same and start selling dishes at no more than $3? Do it for your so-called "greater good of society."

[@munster1404]

@@marktan8074 1) No need for ostentatious upgrades. And even bare minimum of maintenance will not result in rampant jacking up of prices. It's literally privatization and rent seeking behaviour 2 &3 ) As I mentioned on "different profit models". Sales volume over higher priced products. No need for fancy ingredients (peasant food, get it?). Inflation is inevitable, but not when it outpaces salary increment. Everything needs to be in tandem. Political willpower as in protectionism is the solution, not a laissez faire mindset. And please don't repeat that ad nauseam reason of finding a "better job". Technology is lauded as the be-all-end-all of lowering costs. But weirdly enough every innovation ends up costing more. 4) I'm still "grateful" for now. No one is saying that hawkers deserve less. That is a divisive and perfidious tactic that diverts people away from challenging behaviours like privatization and rent seeking. 5) Admittedly, I have no customer service mindset. And also "walk the talk" is along the same line as "find a better job". It is a false dichotomy that if one is unable or unwilling to contribute, then they need to be silent about it. There IS a benefit to the chorus of discontent because it provokes thought and discussion. The good thing about rising food prices? My culinary skills are improving. Preparing my own chicken rice, curry etc. These used to be food which I usually don't give a second thought about ordering from outside. Through experimentation, I realised that home cooking cost around 35% to 40% (inclusive of ingredients and utilities) of hawker food .

[@TinCan-pf4ps]

@@munster1404 Excellent rebuttals. I recall LKY used to challenge people, you talk so much, come and join politics and stand for elections, let the populace decide...as if that is the only way a person with an opinion of how one can contribute.

[@munster1404]

@@TinCan-pf4ps People who wanted to do good and challenge current politics either get co-opted (for example Tharman who used to be a student activist and also Vivian Balakrishnan) If one doesn't get co-opted they eventually suffer under the law. LKY also once said that his job becomes easier if he can control the Court and media.

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Those in F and B want to continue in this trade, but the system works against them😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@elilo5867]

@48:21 He meant RM$8

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Starbuck is aircon nice environment comfortable seats 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@YusriSapari]

you guys know who I am... i hope.

[@user-xh4zd6bf9m]

My parents spend money on my degree but dont spend money to open a hawker for me ask me to work. Sian

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

It is about can I afford it. Any price can😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@macadish]

I think the numbers mentioned in the video might be too optimistic. Also, I'm surprised not more time was spent on the break down of their profits. 1) 1000 cups in 7 hours means 142 cups per hour, or 2.4 cups per minute for the whole 7 hour duration >

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Over time, less and less hawker food 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Even different fruit stalls can sell 10 cent the other 30 cent. COMPETITION 😢😢😢😢😢

[@lightbox1974]

Last month I go to their Amoy stall for a good 2 work week consecutively. But my experience greatly differ from what she say.

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

JUST TRY TO SELL A CUP OF COFFEE FOR 3.OO DOLLARS IN A HAWKER CENTER😢😢😢😢😢

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Here is COST originated

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

How about Hawker Union in singapore under ntuc😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

Tradition will not survive in this world of change and hardships

[@zehahaha603]

Nice view on different countries' business focus but america is tip-oriented XD

[@pinkguywholikesanime1104]

23:00

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

It is called market forces driven by capitalism

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

The poor will be there all the time😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@waferjuice]

DAMN THANK YOU FOR CUTTING UR HAIR AND SHAVING.. u LOOK 10/10 BETTER, MORE PROFESSIONAL , and EASIER ON THE EYES . LESS HAGGARD

[@engchoontan8483]

Past results were good. Stages from push-carts to centers to renovations to upgrades to deliberately-smelly advertising their allegiences and mental-states and spiritual-states... in the open, in front, as news, for all to know the current state of the country and the so-called self-titled "leadership". Forgetting how and why, where and when, ... forgetful

[@teejiawei6943]

These ppl don’t know kimly and discussing hawker topic 😂

[@edwardlumsianming3430]

VERY HARD IF WE ARE TALKJNG ABOUT PROFITABILITY AFTER DEDUCTING ALL THE EXPENSES 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢