Thursday, February 24, 2011

Higher rentals for food stalls

Dear Mr. Tan,
I have come across two incidents of high rentals for food stalls. Apparently, this is rampant and nothing was done about it.

Case 1. My friend rented a stall in a primary school, but later found out the stall was actually sub-let from the main stall holder who knows nothing about food business. This person bid for stalls island-wide and sub-let them to the genuine hawkers. How can the hawker sell quality cheap food to students if there is a middle man profiteering from this system? The school administration should ensure the authencity of the bidder and ensure integrity in their business administration? Eventually my friend decided to give up the stall.

Case 2. Another  stall holder told me that the rent from the middle man was so high, after a change of landlord, that he had to give up the stall.

It seems that the Jurong Town Corporation is giving up its industrial estates to private developers and landlords. The privatised developers are increasing their rental and the stall holders are being squeezed by the rising food prices and rising rental. The hawkers, who have low education, cannot forsee the privatisation changes coming, and will lose out to public listed food courts like Kopitiam and Banquet. In time, there will be no more sole proprietorships or enterprising business, but everyone has to work for big enterprise. This is totally suppressing small enterprises in Singapore.

REPLY
I agree with your views. We have a bad system in Singapore.
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2 comments:

Singapore's 5 Minute Investment Diary said...

It is a very worrisome problem in Singapore.

Singapore landlords raising rents.

This affects hawkers, entrepreneurs etc. Folks with skills and who can provide employment.

How are these folks going to expand their business overseas when they are being strangled at birth in their home country.

A national debate is clearly needed to define what really constitutes the "wealth of Singapore"

Is it;
a) high property prices. This is where Singaporeans keep doing business with each other by selling to each other the same piece of real estate at ever higher and higher prices?

b) the high value of our shares invested in overseas companies. Isn't share investing a passive investment. How do such high share prices contribute to upgrading our workers competencies and competitiveness?

c) The average class size in primary schools seems to have stayed the same at 40 pupils per class over last 30 years. Should we not invest in our children by hiring more teachers and reducing class size.

Why ask us to have more children when there is not much future for children here in Singapore anyway.

February 24, 2011 9:16 PM
Lye Khuen Way said...

Indeed, it is this sort of "hands-off" /out-source & not-my-core-business or the other extreme of "I-want-to-control-every-aspects" attitude of GLC and the general business community lead by the Biggest Landlord of all-HDB and JTC that has a profound influence on our "inflation rate". We are always told that it is the external factors. Sure, to some extent.

Whatever "calibrated remedies" are often too late to help those affected. So , just be contented. 30% increase in "pay" just to match the "30% +" inflation.

February 24, 2011 9:54 PM

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