NEA says hawkers must operate stalls personally to prevent subletting, after hawker’s viral complaint

SINGAPORE – Hawker centre stallholders are required to operate their stalls personally as a measure to prevent subletting, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).

This comes after hawker Noorman Mubarak complained in a Feb 18 Facebook post that he was forced to make his heavily pregnant wife stand in their nasi lemak stall at Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

He said that his wife had received an NEA warning for violating the tenancy agreement on account of his wife, the registered stallholder, not being physically at the stall.

He noted that according to the tenancy agreement, stall owners must manage their stalls personally, but took issue that this means being physically present at the stall.

Responding on Feb 20, an NEA spokesperson said subletting a hawker stall would “drive up rental prices and food prices to the detriment of Singaporeans”.

If stallholders are unable to operate their stalls personally, they can appoint a joint stall operator or a nominee to do so, NEA added.

Besides this, NEA also offers support to those who have to temporarily close their stalls, such as through rental rebates, the spokesperson said.

The policy applies to stalls in hawker centres managed by NEA and its operators. 

In a Feb 21 Facebook post, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said that while she empathised with the pregnant stallholder’s situation, NEA’s “requirement matters”.

“Hawker stalls are meant to provide Singaporeans with the opportunity to start and run a small food business,” she said.

“If hawker stalls expand into chains of shops, it will drive up rentals, make it harder for individuals to get a stall, and eventually increase food prices for all of us... We want to do right by Singaporeans and balance the needs of our hawkers and consumers with rules that will benefit all Singaporeans and our shared hawker culture.”

Mr Noorman said he and his wife had been managing the Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang stall since 2017 and had manned it personally previously. They then let their staff handle the physical work while they looked after the administrative work, among other things.

“My wife is 40 weeks pregnant, it does not mean she cannot manage the shop in other ways.

“We are just being smart and upgraded ourselves by using technology and software,” said Mr Noorman in the Facebook post, which had attracted 1,300 reactions and 1,400 shares by Feb 20.

Mr Noorman is currently not a registered stallholder or stall assistant.

“NEA’s appointed operator for Yishun Park Hawker Centre, Timbre+ Hawkers, observed that Mrs Noorman has not been operating the stall personally and had reached out to her to explore appointing a joint operator or stall nominee,” the NEA spokesperson said.

“Although the offer was declined, these options remain open to Mrs Noorman.”

In a separate Facebook post on Feb 20, Yishun Park Hawker Centre said it had “engaged (Mrs Noorman) multiple times to understand her circumstances and explore solutions”.

It added that it sent Mrs Noorman two reminders, after repeated requests for her to appoint a joint operator or a nominee for her stall were not acted upon.

“We understand the challenges of balancing personal circumstances with business operations, and we remain open to working closely with stallholders to find solutions within the tenancy framework,” it said.

In comments left on the posts by NEA and the hawker centre, Mr Noorman rebutted the hawker centre management’s account that it personally engaged the couple to find a solution, saying it sent only a WhatsApp message and an e-mail warning.

When contacted, Mr Noorman said the couple did not reject the option of appointing a nominee or joint operator, but had told Timbre that his wife “is still able to manage and operate the shop, just not physically”.

He added that his wife handles matters relating to the stall, including human resources, finance, and research and development, and they have used technology such as cooking machines, point-of-sales systems and CCTVs to reduce the need for either of them to be physically at the stall.

Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang, which has scored a spot on the Michelin Guide Singapore since 2021, has over 20 stores across Singapore.

Only the Yishun Park hawker stall is registered under his wife’s name, and this is the founding stall, according to Mr Noorman, a third-generation hawker.

Another stall at Ci Yuan Hawker Centre is owned by a partner, and the rest by private companies.

In her Facebook post, Ms Fu said NEA will follow up with the hawker centre’s operator.

The Straits Times has contacted Timbre for more information.

This article has been edited for clarity.