NIGHT markets, also known as pasar malam, are being squeezed out of available operating spaces as town centres build amenities on empty plots of land.

Industry insiders told Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao in a report yesterday that most night markets here are held at town centres, near MRT stations or wherever there is high human traffic.

However, in recent years, they said, developments and new amenities in town centres have cut available operating venues for night markets by about 30 per cent.

Alan Toh, who heads the Trade Fair Merchants’ Association of Singapore, pointed to the spot beside Paya Lebar MRT Station, a previously empty area where night markets could be held, but now houses a shopping mall.

Jimmy, a night-market contractor with more than 10 years’ experience, said there used to be a plot of land beside Choa Chu Kang MRT Station where a large-scale night market would be held at least once a year.

It is now used for community club projects.

Night markets are no longer held at Marine Parade and Bedok town centres due to construction at the former and a mall at the latter, he added.

Jimmy estimated that venues for night markets have thus been reduced by about 30 per cent, with the number of night markets halved in the past three years from five or six a month in 2013 to two or three now.

“Not many night-market customers shop online so the effect of online shopping is not that stark on us now, but we cannot be sure if there will be other more adverse effects in the future,” he said.

A former vendor, who declined to be named, noted that rental for night-market stalls has gone up along with bidding prices by contractors.

He had sold foodstuffs at night markets for eight years.

“I joined (the industry) in 2006 and gave up in 2014.

“Stall rental had doubled in eight years, it was not easy to deal with,” he said.

A stall with three tables used to cost $80-$100 in rental per day but this rose to $150-$200.

Mr Toh pointed out that it was hard to hire stall assistants, and elderly stall vendors are likely to quit because of this.

“If you hire a local, even if you pay $100 a day, you are likely not to find someone, because the hours for night markets are long, from 10am to midnight, and it can be very hot.”

He added: “We hope that the authorities can appoint specific venues for night markets to operate so that Singapore’s night markets can be like Taiwan’s, with their own distinct features.”

myp@sph.com.sg

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WHETHER Singapore makes it to SG100 will depend on whether people feel they have a sense of national identity as one people and a shared obligation to help one another – in particular, the less well off, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said yesterday.

He cautioned against going the way of other countries that are well-endowed but where people quibble over resources.

Speaking at a dialogue with youth leaders at the end of a visit to Geylang Serai ward, Mr Chan addressed questions that participants had submitted and voted on through their smartphones.

The top-ranked question asked why youths should want to stay in Singapore till SG100, when the cost of living is high.

Mr Chan, who is also labour chief and deputy chairman of the People’s Association, sought to differentiate between a “transactional” national identity that hinges purely on the benefits of citizenship and a citizenry committed to Singapore “even when the chips are down”.

“Is your staying in Singapore conditional on certain factors, particularly material or otherwise? Is it contingent on certain conditions being met?” he asked the audience of more than 200 at the dialogue at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar.

“What if somebody else can give you better, cheaper cost of living? What if there is a serious recession in the next few years and you cannot find the jobs you like?

“Your answer to that question will decide whether we have an SG100,” he said.

Mr Chan held up the 1965 generation of Singaporeans who stayed here “in spite of”, who chose to throw in their lot with Singapore and work to create a successful country at a time when the nation’s continued sovereignty was itself uncertain.

“If enough of us stay here in spite of, then don’t worry about SG100 – even SG1000, we will be here,” he said. “But if the majority of us are here only because of what the country can give us, then we will be in a very different position.”

How cohesive Singapore can remain as a society will also depend on whether people have a mindset of trying to maximise what they can get from the state, or if they accept that there are others who need more help, he added.

“We don’t want to end up in a situation like some other places where, even when you have resources to share, people fight over the resources,” he said.

The dialogue with youths came at the end of Mr Chan’s ministerial visit to Geylang Serai ward in Marine Parade GRC, where he spoke to residents at Haig Road Food Centre and met community and religious leaders at Khadijah mosque for a closed-door dialogue.

Such visits are held monthly and Mr Chan’s was the first ministerial visit – meant to help younger ministers get a better sense of issues on the ground – since last year’s general election.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

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THE National University of Singapore (NUS) cast a wider net last year to admit students through a scheme that looks at talent and not just grades.

It interviewed a record 1,600 students last year under the discretionary admission scheme, where students who fall short of the entry score for a course are considered on attributes such as leadership or entrepreneurial skills or talent in the arts and sports.

NUS admitted 670 of them – 10 per cent of the 2015 cohort and the maximum allowed by the Ministry of Education (MOE) under the scheme. The year before, it interviewed 1,200 students and took in 600 under the scheme.

All local universities have discretionary admission schemes.

In January, MOE said tertiary institutions will place greater emphasis on holistic selection practices for admissions. MOE officials had also signalled that there is room to admit more students through the discretionary admission scheme.

In an interview with The Straits Times, NUS’ vice-provost for undergraduate education Bernard Tan stressed, however, that applicants considered through the discretionary process still need good grades. He said: “At the end of the day, we have to be sure that they will be able to take the rigours of a degree programme. Generally, they are only short of a few points.”

He explained why NUS was giving more students a chance to be considered under the scheme.

“Academic grades can only tell you so much about a student,” he said. “Through the personal essays and interviews we use for the discretionary admission process, we are able to better assess their interests and aptitude for a particular field. Or if they have a talent, such as in the arts or sports, that will add to the vibrancy of the NUS student body,” he added.

He said admitting as much as 10 per cent of the places through the discretionary scheme has helped the university inject more diversity into its student body.

While NUS did not provide figures, the increased diversity is evident in its most competitive faculties such as law and medicine. These have in recent years accepted more students from polytechnics and students from a wider range of junior colleges.

Professor Tan said students benefit: “Being exposed to people with different perspectives not only enhances their education but also prepares them for working life, which often requires them to relate to a diverse group of people.”

Industrial design student Jon Chan Hao, 23, who secured a place through the discretionary admission scheme, said he is glad that NUS has such a scheme.

His grades were not good enough but he got a place by writing about his strengths in co-curricular activities, especially canoeing, he added.

sandra@sph.com.sg

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