A open address to Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam by Chung Deming, first published on his Facebook page.
Dear Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam Sir,
I kindly reference to the conversation we had briefly half a year ago @ Timbre +.
You kindly asked if I had manpower concerns. I gave you my frank response.
You asked ” How is my manpower situation?”
I said, bleak. It is tough to find workers. Would love to hire Singaporeans but very few reply to my job advertisements or even when they do, only 1/5 turns up for the interview.
You asked, “What about hiring part timers?”
I said, good part timers are hard to come by. And for the kitchen crew, it is impossible to rely on a team of part time crew to cook food to a high standard and quality. It is like a professional career, not everyone can cook at a certain level. Like it is hard to find a ready pool of part time lawyers”
You asked ” Do you have china workers under your employment?”
I replied that as much as I would love to hire them, as a small SME, I do not manage to hit the quota required.
We are a foodie nation. We are losing our local food culture to central kitchens and chain restaurants. This will definitely be a demise to our food culture.
There is only a certain limit that one can place on automation. There is a cost and scale problem which will not help overcome the lack of manpower.
Cooking food requires time and labour. Why would the ministry want to hinder an industry which has so much potential where the average local shun working in it?
With rising food cost, rentals and labour cost through levies etc… This is a huge problem.
Would appreciate if the cabinet is able to think through the feasibility of having cheap hawker food but providing so many obstacles which elevate costs. The burden is borne by the business owner to meet the pricing sensitivities of the customers. Explains the huge turnovers in F&B businesses. Too many F&B, Too little talent, too high costs incurred.
Raising the minimum wage etc, will not cause more Singaporeans to choose F&B as a career. If wages are artificially inflated, would it be still sustainable to provide economic food to the masses?
As a progressive country, I believe that no cookie cutter template fits every situation. This is even more pronounced in the F&B industry.
I call out your initiatives for vending food machines. Whilst they may be novel, i do not believe that the chilli crab and other food sold out of those machines will offer freshness and quality provided by your local hawkers and food stalls.
Since we have the best brains in parliament, I hope that my humble request; which echos the entire industry’s needs can not only be heard but have some positive initiatives to ensure that we can be recognised globally for our unique cuisine.
We need genuine help and solutions. We need it now. The papers have shared a consensus. I hope you hear our voice.
*ps – the jobs that Singaporeans so crave for are those in professional sectors or mid to upper management which I believe Singaporeans have the ability developed through the last 50 years of modernisation. There however is no quota in place.
I promise very few locals will fight the foreign workers for jobs in manual labour like construction, toilet cleaning and even cooking. As such, believe food industry should not be penalised with such strict quotas.
The Durian Creme Brulee which you enjoyed is challenging to produce strictly using mass market techniques. If so, it would also be costly.
Please spare a consideration for our local food culture and tradition. Like startups are provided with funding, F&B needs the same concessions but in our labour quota allocation.
This is what we call a trampoline.
Thank you very much.
Dear Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam Sir,
I kindly reference to the conversation we had briefly half a year ago @ Timbre +.
You kindly asked if I had manpower concerns. I gave you my frank response.
You asked ” How is my manpower situation?”
I said, bleak. It is tough to find workers. Would love to hire Singaporeans but very few reply to my job advertisements or even when they do, only 1/5 turns up for the interview.
You asked, “What about hiring part timers?”
I said, good part timers are hard to come by. And for the kitchen crew, it is impossible to rely on a team of part time crew to cook food to a high standard and quality. It is like a professional career, not everyone can cook at a certain level. Like it is hard to find a ready pool of part time lawyers”
You asked ” Do you have china workers under your employment?”
I replied that as much as I would love to hire them, as a small SME, I do not manage to hit the quota required.
We are a foodie nation. We are losing our local food culture to central kitchens and chain restaurants. This will definitely be a demise to our food culture.
There is only a certain limit that one can place on automation. There is a cost and scale problem which will not help overcome the lack of manpower.
Cooking food requires time and labour. Why would the ministry want to hinder an industry which has so much potential where the average local shun working in it?
With rising food cost, rentals and labour cost through levies etc… This is a huge problem.
Would appreciate if the cabinet is able to think through the feasibility of having cheap hawker food but providing so many obstacles which elevate costs. The burden is borne by the business owner to meet the pricing sensitivities of the customers. Explains the huge turnovers in F&B businesses. Too many F&B, Too little talent, too high costs incurred.
Raising the minimum wage etc, will not cause more Singaporeans to choose F&B as a career. If wages are artificially inflated, would it be still sustainable to provide economic food to the masses?
As a progressive country, I believe that no cookie cutter template fits every situation. This is even more pronounced in the F&B industry.
I call out your initiatives for vending food machines. Whilst they may be novel, i do not believe that the chilli crab and other food sold out of those machines will offer freshness and quality provided by your local hawkers and food stalls.
Since we have the best brains in parliament, I hope that my humble request; which echos the entire industry’s needs can not only be heard but have some positive initiatives to ensure that we can be recognised globally for our unique cuisine.
We need genuine help and solutions. We need it now. The papers have shared a consensus. I hope you hear our voice.
*ps – the jobs that Singaporeans so crave for are those in professional sectors or mid to upper management which I believe Singaporeans have the ability developed through the last 50 years of modernisation. There however is no quota in place.
I promise very few locals will fight the foreign workers for jobs in manual labour like construction, toilet cleaning and even cooking. As such, believe food industry should not be penalised with such strict quotas.
The Durian Creme Brulee which you enjoyed is challenging to produce strictly using mass market techniques. If so, it would also be costly.
Please spare a consideration for our local food culture and tradition. Like startups are provided with funding, F&B needs the same concessions but in our labour quota allocation.
This is what we call a trampoline.
Thank you very much.
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