Grateful auntie hawker hugs Seetoh for helping hawkers to lower their costs at SEHCs

Founder of Makansutra, K F Seetoh posted a note on his Facebook page today (14 Jan) sharing that an auntie hawker actually came up to him to hug and thank him for his untiring efforts helping the hawkers, especially those making their living at hawker centres run by “Social Enterprises” (SEHCs).

In the case of the auntie hawker, her cleaning fee went down by a third after Mr Seetoh highlighted the plight of hawkers at SEHCs last year.

“I was shocked when an auntie hawker came up to hug me thanking me for whatever I did (I auntie killer la!!). The cleaning fees there went down by $100 to $200 bucks,” Mr Seetoh wrote.

“So dun say nothing can be done. You support what you believe and do whatever you can to see it happen. Not just fold your arms and go KNN about the up-there problems. When you do that, you become part of the problem.”

Mr Seetoh said that since last year, after the public uproar over hawkers’ plight and NEA stepping in, the $0.20 tray return policy has been abolished and hawkers at Jurong West hawker centre now save about $800 on that alone.

“Now they are given rest days at Tampines. And that compulsory $600 monthly “management fee” (the gall of them) at Ci Yuan has been switched to ‘optional’,” he added.

“Cleaning fees at Old Airport is now looking to be based on usage.”

Mr Seetoh said that there are a lot more issues to be dealt with, like the $300 compulsory monthly “marketing fee” for all stalls at Pasir Ris hawker centre.

“(It’s) still on folks, despite the ruckus you raised,” he shared. Pasir Ris hawker centre is run by NTUC Enterprise.

“I mean, have you seen much of the marketing besides the fantastic concert they hold once in a while there. This one baffles me.. just teach them (hawkers) how to get on social media and let them fly la,” he added.

“Keep at it people, your affordable makan bloodliine heritage is worth preserving… don’t just crow, support the hawkers.”

Certainly, Mr Seetoh has done much to surface the “injustice” that the hawkers at SEHCs have to endure. It’s no wonder the auntie hawker hugged and thanked him.

Now, how about asking Mr Seetoh to run for Parliament in the next General Election to help Singaporeans?