‘We didn’t start the war which caused the price increases’: Chinatown hawker defends 20-cent gas and oil surcharge at Boon Lay stall
An outspoken hawker has defended a Thai food stall’s decision to introduce a 20-cent surcharge for gas and oil.
Melvin Chew, owner of Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap at Chinatown Complex, said the surcharge imposed on customers by 803 Thai Food, located at 511 Upper Jurong Road, would not turn the stall owners into millionaires. He even believes that it is insufficient to cover the additional expenditure brought about by the conflict in the Middle East.
“This stall raised only 20 cents! You think that 20 cents can cover his losses? He will become a tycoon and millionaire on that 20 cents?” said Mr Chew in a Facebook post on April 16.
Speaking to Stomp, Mr Chew highlighted the challenges and negative perceptions faced by hawkers in Singapore.
“Hawkers are always the ones getting negative vibes and are the target of trolls,” said Mr Chew, who is also the founder of the Hawkers United Facebook group. “We have the same problems as everyone. We have bills to pay, medical fees to pay.”
Mr Chew added: “We didn’t start the war that caused the prices to go up, but we are the first to get blamed if we increase our prices.”
He believes this is because people have come to expect hawkers to provide inexpensive food.
“They think we sell cheap food, but that’s not what we do. We try to keep things affordable for our customers. But we have to manage our own costs, too,” he said.
Despite the current cost pressures, he is reluctant to raise his prices because of the impact it would have on some of his customers.
“If I can tahan (endure), I will tahan, because I have a group of customers who are elderly,” he explained. However, he is concerned that rising gas costs at the hawker centre where his stall is located in Chinatown will eventually force him to raise prices.
“So far, they said they can tahan, but I don’t know for how long,” he said.
Online complaints about hawker prices
Mr Chew said that hawkers are often at the mercy of customers who post complaints or negative reviews online, many of which may not accurately reflect what happened. He referred to a recent case where a family was charged $2.00 for consuming water that wasn’t purchased at the eatery.
“They’ll say something like, I bring water for my children and they make me pay $2.00. When they say children, people will think it’s just a small bottle of water, but what happened was they brought in a 1.5 litre bottle, which, of course, they wouldn’t mention in their complaint,” he said.
With regard to a recent report by Stomp about a customer being upset at having to pay 90 cents for three takeaway plastic bags, Mr Chew conceded that the charges were “a bit expensive” for plastic bags.
However, Mr Chew suggested there may have been other factors behind the complaint: “Maybe the consumer is not happy with something – they might have asked for more gravy and the stall owner was not happy and showed it on their face. Which is why they complained even when there was already a sign saying there is a charge for takeaways.”
While he described it as a form of cyberbullying which he said has led to depression and mental health issues among some of his colleagues in the business, Mr Chew says he is not angry or frustrated with the situation.
“I understand that everybody is going through a tough time. We didn’t start the war which caused the price increases, so why should we keep fighting each other?” asked Mr Chew.
“Be nice to one another, gather as a family and go through it together instead of blaming one another and spreading negative vibes,” he concluded.
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