Timbre Group has responded to recent online criticisms from food critic KF Seetoh about its management of Yishun Park Hawker Centre (YPHC).
In a press release last Tuesday (Aug 26), the social enterprise said that “given the public interest in hawker culture and the issues raised”, it wanted to clarify matters raised regarding rent, the use of CCTVs, non-compliance charges and gas prices.
The operator also addressed the 10 per cent loyalty discount for diners via the Timbre app as well as the operations of Timbre Pizza.
This comes after KF Seetoh took to Facebook on Aug 23 to criticise the company’s management of the hawker centre, which is one of the several Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs) in Singapore.
“We refer to recent social media posts on the management of YPHC. We fully agree that without proper support, the hawker culture that is core to Singapore and Singaporeans may fade away. However, Timbre would like to clarify the facts raised,” it said.
Among his criticisms, KF Seetoh had said that Timbre takes “15 per cent of total sales from successful hawkers, otherwise they pay basic rents and all sorts of fees”.
Timbre Group explained that the hawker centre operates under a “gross turnover rental model”, where the rental payable varies according to the earnings of the hawker.
“This better share the risks and rewards between the operator and the hawker. When earnings are low, a hawker pays lower rent. When earnings are good, the rent payable is higher. Importantly, there is a maximum rent payable. Rent is capped at $2,550 per month,” Timbre elaborated.
It added that for some of its popular stalls, the effective rent relative to their turnover is “therefore significantly lower than 15 per cent of their revenue”.
“The rent goes towards the operating revenue of the centre and 50 per cent of the operating surplus of the centre is ploughed back towards the betterment of the centre and stallholders.
KF Seetoh had also claimed that to “ensure no one cheats”, Timbre had installed CCTV cameras in all hawker stalls at YPHC to monitor sales, in turn “invading their privacy”.
Timbre has clarified that CCTV cameras were installed in August 2024 following repeated feedback from residents on noise late at night.
“While we had reminded all hawkers to minimise noise during these hours, the feedback had continued. The CCTVs enable us to identify the potential sources of noise, so that we can better address residents’ feedback,” Timbre said.
“Additionally, the CCTVs are useful for safety and security, resolving the occasional customer dispute, and verifying situations where a few hawkers were observed not to conduct their transactions using the point-of-sales which made it much harder to accurately determine the rent payable.”
In response to KF Seetoh’s point on Timbre having a 25-page contract of rules and regulations with a list of $100 fines per violation, the group said it has clauses in its tenancy agreements to provide a “clean and conducive environment for all hawkers”, as well as ensuring compliance with other areas such as the personal operations of the stall and the proper hiring of additional manpower.
“Non-compliance charges have been part of our tenancy agreements since inception to ensure fairness to all stallholders. These charges are applied as a last resort to deter repeated non-compliances, after multiple verbal reminders and written notices are provided,” Timbre said.
KF Seetoh had also claimed that many hawker’s had also questioned why Timbre had not switched to a “cheaper gas provider to help your hawkers, despite their suggestion and protest”.
In response, Timbre said YPHC’s gas supply is “provided centrally and secured through competitive procurement”.
“Nevertheless, to ease the overall burden of rising costs, Timbre had extended some discounts to all hawkers earlier this year,” it added.
Apart from these matters, KF Seetoh also briefly mentioned that Timbre operated its own stalls like Timbre Pizza in the hawker centre, which “deprives other independent hawkers from doing so”.
The group clarified that Timbre Pizza formerly operated at One Punggol Hawker Centre, and not YPHC. That outlet has also since ceased operations on Aug 17 as part of a business and manpower restructuring exercise.
Regarding its 10 per cent loyalty discount for payments made by diners via the Timbre app, the Group shared that this has been in place since 2017 and the programme “encourages repeat customers to patronise YPHC”, which in turn would help hawkers generate more business.
The social enterprise added that the cost of the app was fully borne by Timbre.
“It is important to set out the facts accurately. Timbre Group acknowledges the challenges faced by the hawker community and remains committed to supporting hawkers, addressing community concerns, and fostering open dialogue based on facts,” Timbre concluded.
Concern over stallholders at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre
Earlier in August, KF Seetoh had also voiced his concerns regarding the alleged treatment of hawkers at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre.
He had pointed out that hawkers there had to pay $70 a month to use blue baskets at the back of each stall for supplies and that they were contractually obligated to provide 60 free meals a month.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung subsequently rebutted this, saying this was “not true” and there was no such practice of charging for the use of the blue baskets at the back of their stalls.
Regarding hawkers having to provide 60 free meals a month, Ong noted that this allegation “does not present the full picture”.
He explained that stallholders had originally agreed to provide 30 meals a month for low-income residents, which had been adjusted to 100 meals over the three-year duration of their lease.
“There are no penalties if they do not or are unable to provide the meals. This simple, well-intentioned initiative was meant to encourage our hawkers to ‘Pay-It-Forward’. In any case, the initiative has yet to commence,” he had said.
[[nid:721420]]
melissateo@asiaone.com
Top In Asia
