NEA: Hawkers must Pay And Pay more to Lee's Cronies for centralised dishwashing

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

According to a media report yesterday (5 Aug), NEA has called for a tender for centralised dishwashing in 11 hawker centres. This is supposed to address the current labour crunch.
NEA told the media that it will “run some pilots” later this year.
NEA said the change will “benefit consumers”. The move will allow cleaners to focus on clearing and wiping tables, while freeing up hawkers to concentrate on preparing and selling their food.
Labour MP Yeo Guat Kwang said, “Given the labour shortage and tighter foreign workers quota, outsourcing and automation is the way to go for jobs that locals do not want to do.”
The media reported that centralised washing could mean higher costs for the hawkers.
Presently, the hawkers pay cleaners $200 to $500 per month to wipe tables and return dirty dishes to the stalls. It does not include dishwashing.
Some hawkers pay another $500 a month for their dishes to be washed while other hawkers will wash the dishes themselves.
However, with centralised dishwashing, the cost is estimated to be as high as $1,000 per month for participating hawkers, twice the current market rate.
Ms Karney Ngai, Chairman of Yuhua Hawkers’ Association, said the programme should be an opt-in one, since it does not lower hawkers’ dishwashing expenses.
Ms Ngai said, “For those who wash the dishes themselves, it can be difficult to persuade them to pay for something that they are now doing themselves for free.”
She also warned that some hawkers may raise their prices if they are forced to pay for centralised dishwashing.
She said, “And while most hawkers will not raise their prices, some who cannot absorb the higher costs might.”
The media reported that 3 dishwashing companies have submitted bids.
One of them is GreatSolutions Pte Ltd, which only started its dishwashing operations last year.
A cursory check on GreatSolutions Pte Ltd’s ACRA listing [Link] shows that the company was incorporated on 16 February 2012. It has a paid-up capital of $1,000,000 and is owned by a Pang Pok.
Further online checks reveal that Pang Pok is, in fact, a grassroots leader. He is a patron of Kembangan-Chai Chee CCC and received a Public Service Medal (PBM) on National Day 2011 [Link].

http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/08/06...d-dishwashing/


Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.