For those who are unfamiliar, the National Energy Administration publishes a public monthly list every month, listing the five highest bids for the hawker center and vegetable market here. In October 2021, the East Coast Lagoon Food Village received a booth rental offer of US$8,050 per month. The popular Ma Gandian is home to famous stalls such as Haron Satay 55, Lagoon Chicken Curry Puff, Song Kee Fried Oyster and Geylang 29 Charcoal Fried Hokkien Mee.
Previously, the highest bid for a hawker center stall was…
To illustrate how high the bid is, the highest bid for the previous stall in the hawker center was $2,500 in August 2021. In contrast, the latest highest bid for the Tao Street Food Center in the prime area of the CBD in August was S$2,809.
Hawkers Melvin Chew also highlighted this list on his Facebook hawkers food group Hawkers United, who runs the Chinatown stall Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap. In his post, he wrote that when he saw the bidding, he “nearly had his jaw”, and pointed out: “It was just a loan. There are also city council fees, cleaning fees, various [various] bills… …I wonder if the bidder understands the word’hawker’?”
Rent issues during Covid-19
Netizens who saw the Facebook post also expressed the impact of the bidding on the cost of hawker food, speculating that the stall might charge a “restaurant price” to pay the rent. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic
