More rent rebates for new hawkers under NEA scheme

A year ago, 35-year-old Michelle Yee Wen Lee used to work nine-to-five days as an office manager.

But her daily routine changed after she and her 38-year-old field engineer husband took a leap of faith and quit their full-time jobs to become hawkers.

Today, they run a popular stall in Smith Street selling Hakka dishes and handmade yong tau foo.

Ms Yee and her husband are special hawkers: They are a success story from the National Environment Agency's Incubation Stall Programme for hawkers.

Since its launch in February last year, 60 applicants have applied to set up hawker stalls. Of them, 20 stallholders were successful in their applications.

Two stallholders have stayed the course since they joined the programme on July 1 last year, and Ms Yee is one of them. She and her husband have now applied to "graduate" from the programme and become permanent stallholders at their Chinatown premises.

"I was tired of working at a normal job, and I wanted to get my passion back and do something meaningful for myself," Ms Yee said.

She told The Straits Times that the incubation programme gave her the opportunity to build her career as a hawker without being overly burdened by worries about failing.

"While working as a hawker is not easy and can be quite physically taxing, I am happy and thankful that rent rebates give me the space to improve our recipes, form personal bonds with our customers and build our business," Ms Yee added.

Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor on Monday announced further rebates for the programme.

With immediate effect, new stallholders who join it will receive a 25 per cent rental rebate on their stalls for six months.

This 25 per cent rebate is on top of a measure announced in March that offers new stallholders a 50 per cent rental rebate for nine months.

Altogether, the rebates give hawkers in the programme a sizeable discount of $412 to $720 on rent every month, for a 15-month period.

"We will extend the incubation stall period by another six months, providing stallholders with further rental rebates. Based on feedback from hawkers, this is a reasonable period for new entrants to learn the ropes and build up their business, and maybe transition to running a permanent stall," said Dr Khor.

She was speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural Hawkers' Seminar at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar, where 27 hawkers were recognised for their success and contributions.

Ms Yee, together with Ms Pamela Loh, 33, and Mr Ivan Seow Kok Heng, 37, were among the recipients of the Promising New Hawker Award at the event on Monday.

"We would like to provide the opportunity for hawkers who are genuinely interested and want to try out their plans," Dr Khor said.

Successful hawkers under the programme, like Ms Yee, will also be able to continue their business at the existing stall where they have built up their clientele, Dr Khor said.

In addition, aspiring and existing hawkers can look forward to a new training and development scheme that will be rolled out at the year end, where they can attend apprenticeship programmes and classes and apply for incubation stalls.