Due to their affordable food offerings, Singapore’s hawker centres are usually packed during meal times.
This could result in a situation where used dishes are not cleared fast enough to cater to incoming customers.
The stallholders at a hawker centre in Bugis have been forced to collect and clean their own tableware due to such a state of affairs.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
The contractor has cited manpower issues as a reason.
The situation was observed at Albert Centre food court on Queen Street, which is next to the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, reported Shin Min Daily News.
Source: Google Maps
A wanton noodle stallholder named only as Mr Chen said his bowls and plates haven’t been returned to him in a timely manner for the past two weeks.
The 60-year-old complained that he and his stall assistants have had to take turns to run to the collection area to get some of their dishes and cutlery back, in between attending to customers.
This is especially vexing during lunchtime, which is the busiest period for them due to workers from the nearby offices coming over to eat.
This situation persists despite the stall paying S$470 a month to a contractor who is responsible for collecting and sorting tableware for them, Mr Chen said.
They also should ensure stalls have enough dishes to hold their food.
Worse still, his chopsticks and spoons have been going missing lately, Mr Chen added.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
In the last two months he’s lost about 100 pairs of chopsticks, he claimed.
Sometimes this is due to customers placing their dishes on the floor, leading to chopsticks being stepped on.
The cleaners may also accidentally throw the chopsticks away, he said, and stall owners would have to replace them using their own funds.
Why do customers place their dishes on the floor, though? After all, we’re supposed to return our trays now.
That’s because the tray return racks had run out of space, explained another stallholder, 65-year-old Mr Zhang.
Thus, customers ended up piling their dirty dishes on nearby tables, pushcarts and even on the floor, he added, sharing a photo of a table overflowing with used dishes, bowls, cup and trays from numerous diners.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
This leads to an unslightly mess that’s also unhygienic, he said.
Braised noodles stallholder Huang Cuidi, 59, told Shin Min that her business is doing better now, so she would face a shortage of dishes at about 1pm daily.
As she’s running her stall alone, she pays an extra S$700 — on top of the S$470 to the contractor — for cleaners to wash her bowls for her.
Estimating that she uses about 200 bowls daily, she hopes the cleaners can help her wash at least 50.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Currently, however, she has to apologise to customers for taking off to collect and wash her bowls herself before she can start cooking.
Thus, she frustratedly griped,
Am I paying S$1,170 per month for nothing?
Mr Zhang said on top of the dishes, stallholders also had to return the trays themselves.
If they’re too dirty, they also had to clean them.
After closing up his stall for the day, he still has to bring a bucket to collect his own dishes — a situation that made him feel helpless, he added.
However, a cleaning supervisor named only as Thong told Shin Min that he used to have 11 staff, but has only eight now.
Claiming his manpower was sufficient, the 47-year-old said most of the cleaners are elderly folk who’re above 70 years old.
Thus, their movements are a bit slower and they can’t manage during peak periods.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Despite that, the cleaners are very hardworking and are doing their best when it’s busy, he added.
The contractor, on the other hand, cited manpower issues for the slowdown.
It’s currently difficult to hire locals for the cleaning jobs, said the person in charge of dish collection for the contractor, a Mr Chen, 71.
As for Malaysian workers, it’s tough to apply for permits for them, resulting in supply being unable to meet demand.
He also attributed the heavy human traffic to the year-end, saying this situation would always crop up during this period.
The crowd would diminish after Chinese New Year, he added.
However, the stallholders aren’t looking forward to the festive season, as stallholder Mr Chen fears the situation will only get worse if something isn’t done.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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