3.30 a.m. · Loading bay
The van brings the price
The poultry circle's lead – a hawker who gathers the week's orders · A poultry distributor – One of the suppliers bidding on the open price board
- Reinforces it · §2.12 Buying ingredients and power
The moment
Today
A hawker buys alone. Oil, rice, eggs and chilli come in small lots from many sellers, at whatever price the van brings. Nobody at the loading bay knows what the stall next door paid.
With the plan
The poultry circle's order arrives as one: a dozen stalls' week, pooled on an open board that three distributors bid for. Serving one order costs a supplier less than serving twelve, and the saving is shared. Each hawker keeps his own recipe, and can leave any week.
The plan alone: Runs This moment runs even if today's schemes went.
The numbers
- This day
- Ingredients for John's stall, a selling day
Today $222 · With the plan $211 · The plan alone $210
Assumptionmodel.js day_suite()With the whole package, so price freedom's small fall in plates is in it too. The circles' saving is an assumption in the model.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- What buying together alone adds to John's year
$1,908
Assumptionmodel.js evaluate()
- What John's suppliers are paid less, a year
−$2,012
Assumptionmodel.js evaluate()A lower cost of serving many small buyers, shared between supplier and cook. More suppliers get the chance to bid.
- Circle leads at Chinatown Complex
8 · $1,200 a year each
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- Operators' bulk-purchase offers (Some operator-run centres). Take-up has not been widespread: most stallholders keep their own suppliers (MSE, 10 January 2024).
- HawkerBoss sourcing help (Kopitiam and Foodfare, since 2022). For the new hawkers in its own outlets.
- Hawkers United – Dabao 2020 (Ground-up). Commission-free ordering, for delivery.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Buying Circles (§2.12). Small circles at each centre, run through the hawkers' own association, pool a week's orders on an open price board. Suppliers bid; the circle chooses. No member fee, no exclusivity, no central buyer. Circles talk only about what members buy, never about what they charge.
Not yet
The plan would add: Buying Circles (§2.12).
If today's schemes went
Runs The circles need no scheme. They are the hawkers' own bargaining, through their own association.
Still missing
No Singapore data shows what circles save. The 3% is an assumption the pilot centres test, and the evaluator publishes the result, whatever it is.
Read more: §2.12 · D.5.2
4.30 a.m. · John's stall
The shutter stays up
John – the younger hawker, single-handed, who needs a day off tomorrow · Rahim – the relief cook, retired from his own wok, in the Corps' pool of cooks
- Reinforces it · §2.7 Days off, relief cooks
The moment
Today
John's father has a hospital appointment tomorrow, and John must take him. A nominee would take weeks. So tomorrow the stall stays shut: a handwritten sign, a day's takings gone, and regulars who try the stall across the aisle. Some do not come back.
With the plan
John opens at 4.30, as always. Last night he filed a relief notice for tomorrow from his phone, and Rahim, retired from his own wok, drops by to walk through the prep. Tomorrow Rahim cooks from John's playbook, and John pays $80. The queue stays a queue.
The plan alone: Cannot run If today's schemes went, this moment goes as it does today.
The numbers
- This day
- John's stall tomorrow
Today Shut · With the plan Open, with Rahim at the wok · The plan alone Shut
ModelledOpen only where the Corps can run: the relief policy is in the state.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force, which cannot run here
- A day's sales the stall loses when it shuts
$473
Modelledmodel.js day_suite()Rent and fees run on. The model counts 10 unwanted closures a year.
- The relief day's money
$80 co-pay · $189 to the cook
Planmodel.jsmodel.js relief_day_rate()The Progressive Wage rate for a cook is $12.95 an hour. John's day is 11 hours: 8 at that rate, the rest at 1.5 times, within the Employment Act's limit of 12. Employer CPF is added. The Corps pays the difference.
- What the Corps alone adds to John's year
$1,495
Assumptionmodel.js evaluate()Assumes the relief cook keeps the stall's custom.
- Relief-Corps cooks at Chinatown Complex, Year 2
23 cooks
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- The Joint Operator Scheme (NEA, since 2012). A second operator may share the stall's hours, but must work at least four hours of his own every business day.
- The nominee route for illness (NEA). An ill hawker may appoint a nominee. It takes four to six weeks, and the nominee is usually family.
- Registered hawker assistants (NEA). A stallholder may register assistants, but may not leave the stall to them.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Relief-Hawker Corps (§2.7); The relief notice (an ask of Government) (§2.7). A pool of trained locum cooks, vetted once. A relief notice, filed online, makes a Corps cook a joint operator for the days of the absence. The cook does not carry the usual four-hour duty. The notice counts as approved unless NEA objects within two working days. The hawker co-pays $80 a day. The cook is the Corps' employee. The cook works at most 12 hours, on the Progressive Wage for a cook, with overtime at 1.5 times beyond 8 hours and employer CPF.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Relief-Hawker Corps (§2.7); The relief notice (an ask of Government) (§2.7).
If today's schemes went
Cannot run No joint-operator route and no registered assistants to build on: Rahim could not lawfully run the stall. The shutter stays down.
Still missing
The relief notice is an ask of NEA: speed and a short absence, not a new rule. Until NEA agrees, a cook who simply steps in breaches the tenancy terms, and a nominee still takes weeks.
Read more: §2.7 · §2.11.1
4.50 a.m. · Ah Kow's stall
The stock goes on
Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades
- Reinforces it · §4.2 Recognising masters
The moment
Today
Ah Kow's stock has been on the fire for an hour, spice in the order his father used. Nobody pays him for what he knows. In a few years it goes with him, and no register will note that it is gone.
With the plan
The same stock, the same hour. But today is a Fellowship day: he is paid to teach and record the dish he chose to share, and the slower service while he teaches is paid for. Honoured, paid and teaching.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- This day
- Ah Kow's take-home per hour
Today $40.71 · With the plan $56.12 · The plan alone $49.02
Modelledmodel.js day_suite()From the stall alone, before the Fellowship. A master with a queue: the model's typical tendered hawker earns $9.69 an hour.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- A Fellowship's value
$2,500 a month for the teaching year, then $1,000 a month for two years · $84,000 in all, over three years
PlanThe Plan, §4.2funding_results.json, the ledgerPlus up to a further $6,750 of employer CPF on the stipend, costed as a ceiling.
- Master Fellowships at Chinatown Complex, Year 2
9
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- Hawkers Succession Scheme mentoring stipend (NEA). About $5,000 in all to a veteran, as reported; NEA publishes no amount.
- Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage award (NHB). Up to $25,000 ($5,000 in cash and the rest for transmission projects), mostly to crafts and the performing arts.
- Hawker Heritage and Outstanding Hawker Mentor awards (FMAS, with NEA and NHB). An honour with a token prize ($500 each in January 2022), not a wage.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Master Fellowship (§4.2). One appointment at one price. First comes a teaching year, two to three days a week, paid, with the dish documented. Then two years of lighter stewardship beside the apprentice, so pay does not drop sharply when the teaching ends. A completion grant, health cover and employer CPF on the stipend. Selected by how endangered the dish is.
Not yet
The plan would add: Master Fellowship (§4.2).
If today's schemes went
Partly The Fellowship still runs. It loses its first pool of candidates, the award holders, and the HSS pairing its teaching builds on.
Still missing
Willing masters, not money, are the limit. The Fellowship line is a ceiling, and what a centre does not spend returns to the endowment.
Read more: §4.2 · B.4
5.45 a.m. · Ah Kow's stall
A second station
Hui Min – the apprentice, fifteen months at his side · Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades
- Builds on it · §3.3 Training as a hawker
- Builds on it · §2.6 Learning at the master's side
The moment
Today
There is no second wok. A young cook who wants this dish can queue for it, or train in a classroom and hope. The one place it is really taught is the counter, and there is no room at it.
With the plan
Hui Min ties her apron at the second station. Fifteen months in, she is a registered stall assistant at the master's side, paid the Progressive Wage, $2,500 a month. He watches her lift the kway and says nothing. That is progress.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Apprentice pay, a month
$2,220 from July 2026 · $2,360 from July 2027 · $2,500 from July 2028
Planmodel.jsThe Progressive Wage for a food or drink stall assistant, plus employer CPF.
- One apprentice's 18 months, starting in Year 2, with employer CPF
$52,650
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
- Today's best allowance while training
up to $1,000 a month
OfficialThe Plan, §3.4
- Second-station grant
$3,000, once
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
- Apprentices at Chinatown Complex, Year 2
18
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- Hawkers' Development Programme (NEA). Of 566 who finished its classroom training, 29 started a stall in a hawker centre and 16 still operate one there (MSE, July 2024). It pays up to $1,000 a month through apprenticeship and incubation, and is under review.
- Hawkerpreneurship work-study (Temasek Polytechnic). Twelve months, four of them apprenticed, at $1,000 a month.
- Hawker Boys (Social enterprise). Trains young cooks and places them with partner hawkers.
- Operators' own programmes (Fei Siong; Food Republic with ITE). A salaried entrepreneur programme, a hawkerpreneur course and a student incubator stall. Scale not published.
- Hawkers Succession Scheme pairing (NEA). Places a successor at the veteran's own stall.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Apprenticeship (§3.3); Learning at the Master's Side (§2.6). An 18-month cycle at the master's own stall. The apprentice is a registered stall assistant, paid the Progressive Wage for that job, with employer CPF, for all 18 months. A one-off second-station grant: a burner, a spare wok, a chiller shelf. No building of our own.
Not yet
The plan would add: Apprenticeship (§3.3); Learning at the Master's Side (§2.6).
If today's schemes went
Partly No HDP on-ramp and no HSS pairing: the apprenticeship would have to recruit and screen from scratch.
Still missing
Cohorts grow only as fast as graduates can be landed. Two apprentices for each Fellow, and no more. Paying the full wage makes the budget bigger; the plan says so plainly.
Read more: §3.3 · §2.6 · B.4
7.15 a.m. · Ah Kow's stall
Same card, same tap
Mdm Wong – a diner household on Makan Vouchers, with her grandson · Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades
- Joins in · §2.5 Help for diners in need
The moment
Today
Mdm Wong joins Ah Kow's line with her grandson before school. She pays with CDC vouchers while this year's tranche lasts. The kway chap costs what it has cost for years, and the master has not dared to raise it.
With the plan
Same card, same tap. Her voucher is a standing one now, ring-fenced for hawker stalls. The plate costs 23 cents more at a certified stall; across a year her $120 covers that about twice over. The master keeps the difference.
The plan alone: Cannot run If today's schemes went, this moment goes as it does today.
The numbers
- This day
- A plate of kway chap
Today $4.50 · With the plan $4.73 · The plan alone $4.73
Modelledmodel.js day_suite()
- Her Makan Voucher, a year
Today $0 · With the plan $120 · The plan alone $0
Planmodel.js diner_household()Today she has CDC Vouchers while each tranche lasts; none is standing or ring-fenced for hawker stalls.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force, which cannot run here
- Her household's extra cost a year, if one stall in five charges 5% more
$58.92
Modelledmodel.js diner_household()At the average household's $491 a month at hawker centres, food courts and coffeeshops (HES 2023).
- How many times the voucher covers the rise
2.0×
Modelledmodel.js diner_household()
Helps today
- CDC Vouchers (The five Mayors and CDCs, with the PA). Universal tranches, half of each spendable at hawkers and heartland merchants: more than 24,000 of them take the vouchers. The voucher system already tells one kind of merchant from another.
- Targeted $3 meals (Three CDCs, since March 2025; MacPherson's hawker vouchers). Value Meals @ South West, Ready Meals @ North West, Warm Meals @ North East.
- Meal help through stalls (Charities and CCCs). Project Belanja! (current status unconfirmed), ComCare meal vouchers, MealsPlus and the Food Bank's Feed the City.
- Value meals (Operator-run centres, by NEA's tender terms). Each stall must offer at least one value meal.
- PayLah! cashback at hawker stalls (DBS). A private demand-side subsidy.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Makan Vouchers (an ask of Government) (§2.5); Price freedom at certified and new-entrant stalls (§2.5). A standing tranche on the CDC voucher system, ring-fenced for hawker and coffeeshop stalls: $120 a year for lower-income households, seniors and students, about $66M a year. It asks MCCY and the PA for two changes, a merchant tag and an eligibility list, and builds no second system.
Not yet
The plan would add: Makan Vouchers (an ask of Government) (§2.5); Price freedom at certified and new-entrant stalls (§2.5).
If today's schemes went
Cannot run No CDC voucher system: the Makan tranche would need a second system, which the plan refuses to build. The price rises; the voucher does not arrive.
Still missing
Mall food courts sit outside the CDC voucher system. And if every stall raised its prices 5%, the voucher would cover only part of a household's extra cost: that is why price freedom stays with certified and new-entrant stalls.
Read more: §2.5 · D.7
8.30 a.m. · Kueh stall
Twenty signatures
The kopi regulars – Twenty of them, at a kueh stall that has been at the same counter for decades · The centre – Jalan Besar Town Council, and the plan's centre staff
- Fills a gap · §3.6 Knowing who is at risk
The moment
Today
The regulars have eaten her kueh for thirty years. She is past seventy, her tenancy ends next year and nobody has asked who comes after her. There is nowhere to say that this stall might stop.
With the plan
Over kopi, twenty weekly regulars sign, one name each; the auntie who takes a dozen home signs once. Then a short visit and a decal: Regulars' List, Bronze, this year. She keeps cooking. If she wishes, she says no successor is in view; a count records it, never naming her.
The plan alone: Runs This moment runs even if today's schemes went.
The numbers
- This day
- Stalls on the Regulars' List nationally by the end of Year 2
Today No list · With the plan 600 · The plan alone 600
Assumptionfunding_results.json, the ledger
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Regulars needed for a Bronze listing
20 (an assumption)
AssumptionThe Plan, §3.6
- Share of her weekly orders that lifts her to Silver, if fewer than fifty sign
10% of orders, not plates (an assumption until the stall baseline)
AssumptionThe Plan, §3.6
- What the Regulars' List costs in Year 2, before contingency
$124,900
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
No scheme counts the stalls at risk. On 7 October 2026 the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth told Parliament in a written reply that the Government keeps no list of hawker trades at risk. The National Heritage Board's inventory names practices, not the stalls about to lose them.
Nearby, not the same thing: Hawker Heritage Award (FMAS), which honours a hawker.; Heritage boards (NEA and NHB), which mark a centre's history.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Regulars' List (§3.6). A compliment from diners, not a diagnosis: twenty regulars who order there every week endorse the stall, and it is listed at Bronze. More endorsements, or a bigger share of her weekly orders, lift it to Silver, Gold and Platinum. A grade only ever goes up. The list counts orders, not plates, so the auntie who takes home a bag for the whole family counts once. A Registry page in the regulars' own words, a decal with the grade and the year, a line in the centre's booklet. Nothing is asked of her.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Regulars' List (§3.6).
If today's schemes went
Runs The Regulars' List needs no existing scheme. It fills a row that was empty.
Still missing
It is not a census. The at-risk count, kept apart from the list, covers only listed stalls, and only the signals their hawkers choose to give.
Read more: §3.6 · §6.2.1
10 a.m. · Ah Kow's stall
The wok on record
Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades · Hui Min – the apprentice, fifteen months at his side
- Reinforces it · §3.2 Recipes kept to cook from
The moment
Today
The dish lives in his hands: the kway lifted when it feels right, not when a timer says. A documentary once filmed a stall like his. You can watch it. You cannot cook from it.
With the plan
A two-person crew logs the wok's temperature curve and films the offal cleaned to a rhythm nobody had written down. Ah Kow decides what is recorded and what stays his. The file is not done until Rahim can cook from it.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Dishes documented at Chinatown Complex by the end of Year 3
27
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
- Documentation, a dish
$18,000 · 9 dishes in Year 2
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- Hawker documentaries (NHB). 25 short films on hawkers' stories and recipes (2015).
- Singapore Hawker Classics Unveiled (Temasek Polytechnic, 2015). Tested recipes for 25 hawker classics, in one book.
- Community cookbooks and projects (NHB-funded; NEA's Vibrant Hawker Culture grants). Each a single project; none kept up as a standing archive.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Technique Genome (§3.2). Multi-angle video, wok-temperature and timing logs, a tested recipe protocol and the master's oral history, held as a national commons. The master chooses what is recorded and what becomes public. A file is complete only when a relief cook can cook from it.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Technique Genome (§3.2).
If today's schemes went
Partly The Genome still runs, but without NHB and the earlier record-makers as partners it starts from nothing.
Still missing
A file is not finished when the camera stops. It is finished when another cook serves the dish from it, to the master's own regulars.
Read more: §3.2 · §2.6 · B.4
11.30 a.m. · John's stall
MediSave at the till
John – the younger hawker, single-handed, who needs a day off tomorrow
- Costed, for later · §2.11 Retirement savings
The moment
Today
At lunch the QR code pings and the vouchers scan. None of it touches John's CPF. His MediSave bill comes once a year, for last year's income; he can spread it by GIRO, but nothing is set aside as he earns.
With the plan
The same ping now carries a small deduction: MediSave paid as he earns, so no lump sum lands next year. John is 35, so what he tops up himself is matched, up to $1,200 a year. Younger riders get CPF from their platform. Now so does the cook.
The plan alone: Cannot run If today's schemes went, this moment goes as it does today.
The numbers
- This day
- John's MediSave, a month
Today $268 · With the plan $368 · The plan alone $351
Modelledmodel.js day_suite()Higher with the plan because his income is higher.
- Into his CPF, a working day
Today $10.78 · With the plan $18.59 · The plan alone $13.93
Modelledmodel.js day_suite()MediSave, the MediSave part of Workfare and the match. John is under 55, so the model counts the match in full for him.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force, which cannot run here
- The match for a stallholder under 55
Up to $1,200 a year
PlanThe Plan, §2.11.2
Helps today
- MediSave for the self-employed (CPF Board). 4–10.5% of net trade income above $6,000, billed once a year after the tax assessment. It can be paid by monthly GIRO, but nothing is collected as he earns.
- The stall licence (SFA). Not renewed with MediSave arrears unless the hawker is on GIRO, so payment is already enforced.
- Workfare for the self-employed (CPF Board). Paid only if MediSave is paid in full by CPF's deadline.
- Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (CPF Board). From 55: $1 for $1 on cash top-ups, up to $2,000 a year, within its means tests.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Hawker Protection Floor (optional) (§2.11.2). MediSave as you earn, opt-in, through the e-payment and CDC-voucher settlements stalls already use: the bill paid in small sums as the takings come in. Government matches the own CPF top-ups of stallholders under 55, up to $1,200 a year; from 55 the plan helps them claim the existing match. It starts only if and when it is adopted.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Hawker Protection Floor (optional) (§2.11.2).
If today's schemes went
Cannot run No CPF Board machinery: MediSave as he earns and the match have nowhere to go. The yearly bill stays.
Still missing
A hawker of 55 or over outside the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme's means tests gets neither match. The plan leaves that to a later decision.
Read more: §2.11.1 · §2.11.2 · C.4 · C.6
12.30 p.m. · Ah Kow's stall
One hour off
Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades · Hui Min – the apprentice, fifteen months at his side
- Reinforces it · §2.7 Days off, relief cooks
The moment
Today
His knee has been bad since Chinese New Year. The polyclinic slot is at one. He cannot leave the wok to anyone, so he does not go. Again.
With the plan
At 12.30 Ah Kow hangs up his apron and logs the hour. Hui Min, his named deputy, runs the stall while he sees the doctor. The regulars notice. A few say the kway is nearly right.
The plan alone: Cannot run If today's schemes went, this moment goes as it does today.
The numbers
- This day
- Ah Kow's hours at the stall, a working day
Today 12.5 · With the plan 11.5 · The plan alone 12.5
Assumptionmodel.js day_suite()The deputy's capped hour, with no extra wages, because the assistant is already paid. An assumption in the model.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force, which cannot run here
- Hours the deputy gives back, a year
290
Assumptionmodel.js evaluate()
- Ah Kow's take-home per hour, the deputy alone
$40.71 → $44.10
Assumptionmodel.js evaluate()An hour given back raises what each hour earns, without a dollar changing hands.
- Cost to the Budget
$0
Modelledmodel.js evaluate()
Helps today
- Personal operation (NEA tenancy terms). The stallholder must run the stall himself and may not leave it entirely to his assistants.
- The Joint Operator Scheme (NEA, since 2012). A joint operator must work at least four hours a day of his own, so it cannot cover a single hour.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The named deputy (an ask of Government) (§2.7). One variant of the scheme NEA already runs: a short-cover joint operator. A stallholder may name one registered assistant as his deputy. The deputy may run the stall for up to an hour a day, logged like the relief notice, while he stays on the roll. It costs the Budget nothing.
Not yet
The plan would add: The named deputy (an ask of Government) (§2.7).
If today's schemes went
Cannot run The deputy must be a registered assistant, named under the joint-operator route. Without those rules there is no one he may name.
Still missing
An ask of NEA. Until it agrees, the hour stays forbidden.
Read more: §2.7 · D.4.1
2 p.m. · Centre office
A card in his hand
The centre – Jalan Besar Town Council, and the plan's centre staff · Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades
- Reinforces it · §2.9 Injury and illness cover
The moment
Today
Critical-illness cover is something most hawkers have never been able to buy at a sane price. If Ah Kow fell ill tomorrow, the stall would close and the bills would come anyway.
With the plan
Centre staff walk the aisles with the renewed cards: critical-illness cover for every stallholder 55 or over, 132 of them here. Nobody was asked for data or a signature first. The institution arrived giving.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- This day
- Stallholders aged 55 or over covered here
Today None · With the plan 132 · The plan alone 132
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Cover, a head a year
about $750
Assumptionfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- Group term life through FMAS (NTUC Income's U SME, July 2024 memorandum). Up to $40,000 for workers of merchants in FMAS-affiliated associations.
- MediShield Life and CareShield Life (CPF Board). For every worker, premiums from MediSave.
- ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance (MSF). Means-tested help when illness shuts the stall.
- Prolonged medical-leave policies (Private insurers). On sale to the self-employed; few hawkers buy them.
No injury cover, sick pay or income-loss insurance of a hawker's own.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Hawker Security Package (§2.9); Hospital-cash cover, in the Protection Floor (optional) (§2.11.2). The plan's first public act at each pilot centre is cover. Every stallholder aged 55 or over gets group critical-illness cover at pool rates, free in Year 1. It extends the FMAS–NTUC scheme rather than building a second one. The premium is an assumption until an insurer quotes. Given, not traded.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Hawker Security Package (§2.9); Hospital-cash cover, in the Protection Floor (optional) (§2.11.2).
If today's schemes went
Partly The pool still runs, but without the FMAS–NTUC route it must be negotiated from scratch.
Still missing
Under 55, a hawker gets cover only through the Protection Floor's hospital-cash pool, if it is adopted.
Read more: §2.9 · §2.11.2 · B.4
3 p.m. · Nurul's stall
Two stalls down
Nurul – a Year 1 graduate, landed by ballot two stalls down
- Reinforces it · §3.4 Income once in a stall
The moment
Today
Most of the cooks Singapore has trained are no longer at the wok. The incubation stall stops at month 15, exactly where a young food business is most fragile.
With the plan
Nurul trained under a Fellow last year and won this stall in the ballot. She counts the day's takings. Slow, still. But 30% of her rent comes back to her in cash, her income has a floor under it, and her mentor is within shouting distance.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Her rent, net of the cash rebate, a month
$805
Planmodel.jsBand B is $1,150; the package pays her 30% of it back.
- Her profit a month, at 100 plates a day
$254
Illustrativemodel.js day_suite()The model's tendered stall at her rent, before the package; the plates are an illustrative input for a slow start.
- The floor's top-up, a month
$1,000
Planmodel.js day_suite()Up to $2,800, capped at $1,000 a month: at her takings the cap binds.
- Expected cost a graduate
≈$20,000
Planfunding_results.json, the ledger
Helps today
- Incubation Stall Programme (NEA). A pre-fitted stall at subsidised rent, which stops at month 15.
- HawkerBoss (Kopitiam and Foodfare, May 2022). $1m from the NTUC FairPrice Foundation: a year of rent and staff-wage subsidies for new hawkers in its own outlets. The nearest thing to a landing.
- Sponsorship and micro-loans (Hawker Boys). Towards a first stall.
- 'Becoming a Hawker' (NEA and MTI). Walks a newcomer through tenancy and licensing.
No scheme tops up a new cook's own income for two years after she lands.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Graduate Landing Package (§3.4). Six supports. Priority in the ballot. Band rent, with 30% of it paid back to the graduate in cash for 24 months. Equipment on lease-to-own, with a guarantee that the Seed Bank bears the first loss. Monthly income topped up to $2,800, by at most $1,000 a month, for 24 months. A monthly clinic with a Fellow. Free relief days.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Graduate Landing Package (§3.4).
If today's schemes went
Partly The rebate and the floor still pay. The incubation route, HawkerBoss's outlets and the 'Becoming a Hawker' guide the package links to are gone.
Still missing
The floor lasts 24 months. After that she stands on the stall's own takings, as she should.
Read more: §3.4 · §2.2
4.30 p.m. · Vacant stall
A rent on the notice
The centre – Jalan Besar Town Council, and the plan's centre staff
- Builds on it · §2.2 A fair rent
The moment
Today
A stall falls vacant. The notice goes up and the bidding begins; the rent will be set by the most optimistic person in the room. A young cook reads the month's top bids and concludes that the front door is an auction.
With the plan
The notice gives the rent before anyone applies: Band B, $1,150 a month. Qualified applicants enter a ballot, weighted for first-timers and for a dish on the Registry. Nobody has to win a bidding war to cook.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- This day
- The newcomer's rent, a month
Today $1,800, the 2023 median winning bid · With the plan $1,150, Band B · The plan alone $1,800, by tender
Officialmodel.js
- The newcomer's take-home per hour
Today $8.01 · With the plan $9.99 · The plan alone $8.01
Modelledmodel.js evaluate()A typical tendered stall, rent bands alone, without the package. The assistant's benchmark is $11.64 an hour.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Tender rent forgone, a stall a year
$7,800
Modelledmodel.js evaluate()
Helps today
- Open tender (NEA). No reserve rent since 2012. In 2023 about one cooked-food stall in five went for $500 or less; the five highest bids are published monthly.
- Renewal reform, November 2024 (NEA). Staggers high tendered rents down towards the assessed market rent.
- Fixed rents at operator-run centres (NEA's contracts with the operators). Rents capped at valued rents and set without bidding: a fixed, capped rent already runs at home.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Rent Bands & Ballot (an ask of Government, piloted at three centres) (§2.2). Published bands by centre class, calibrated to NEA's own valuations. A ballot among qualified applicants, one application each a round, weighted for first-timers and Registry dishes. Pioneer rates kept in full; no rent subsidy from the programme. Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa proposed a ballot in 2024; §2.2 answers the Government's four objections.
Not yet
The plan would add: Rent Bands & Ballot (an ask of Government, piloted at three centres) (§2.2).
If today's schemes went
Partly No NEA valuations to calibrate the bands to, and no allocation machinery to run the ballot through.
Still missing
A fair rent is not yet a livable one. Even at Band B, a typical hawker without the package earns less an hour than his assistant.
Read more: §2.2 · §2.1 · D.4.1
5.30 p.m. · Centre office
Pricing the goodwill
Ah Kow – the master, at the same wok for decades · Hui Min – the apprentice, fifteen months at his side
- Reinforces it · §4.3 Paying for goodwill
The moment
Today
His children do not want the wok. Today he could hand the stall to Hui Min for a mentoring stipend, and the goodwill of a lifetime would go for almost nothing. So most veterans simply close.
With the plan
His children had 90 days to take the stall and said no, with his blessing. Now the registrar prices the goodwill from his own verified records. Hui Min will pay it from future takings, at the cap of $2,200 a month. The queue he built pays for his retirement.
The plan alone: Cannot run If today's schemes went, this moment goes as it does today.
The numbers
- This day
- Goodwill paid to Ah Kow
Today about $5,000 in all, as a stipend · With the plan $192,108 · The plan alone None: the stall goes back to tender
ModelledThe Plan, §2.3results.jsonFifteen months of his verified profit, precomputed by the full model.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force, which cannot run here
- Hui Min's payment, a month
$2,200
Modelledresults.jsonThe cap binds: 8% of his takings would be more.
- Years to pay it off
7.3
Modelledresults.json5.8 to 8.7 years if the goodwill is priced at 12 to 18 months of profit.
- What Hui Min keeps, a month, after the payment
$10,607
Modelledresults.json
Helps today
- Hawkers Succession Scheme (2022) (NEA). Lets a veteran assign his stall to a non-family successor, with a paired apprenticeship and a tasting. Six transfers completed and four in progress by September 2025. The veteran gets a stipend, about $5,000 in all, as reported.
- Private sales (One deal at a time). A chicken-rice recipe sold for $42,800 to each of two buyers (2016); a roast-meat stall for about $4 million (2014).
No scheme pays a retiring hawker for his goodwill; the few private sales are one-off deals.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Hawkers Succession Scheme, extended (§2.3); The Succession Mortgage (§4.3). The retiring cook is paid for goodwill: 12–18 months of verified profit, for the recipes, the training and the name, never the location. The successor pays from future takings, at the lesser of 8% of gross or 30% of verified profit. The payment is capped at $2,200 a month. It never leaves the successor below $1,500 a month. NEA would amend the HSS terms to allow it. Escrow, a first-loss guarantee and 90 days' first refusal for the family.
Not yet
The plan would add: The Hawkers Succession Scheme, extended (§2.3); The Succession Mortgage (§4.3).
If today's schemes went
Cannot run No HSS route: there is no lawful way to assign a tendered stall, so the goodwill has nothing to attach to. The stall goes back to tender.
Still missing
No money moves unless NEA approves the assignment. And it is one hand-over per stall per generation: every other vacancy still goes to the ballot.
Read more: §4.3 · §2.3 · E.1
7.30 p.m. · Centre office
The association meets
John – the younger hawker, single-handed, who needs a day off tomorrow · A Hawker Council member – Elected by the cluster's enrolled stallholders · The poultry circle's lead – a hawker who gathers the week's orders
- Joins in · §3.8 A voice for hawkers
The moment
Today
John is tired, but he comes. The association is the trade's own voice, and it speaks well. Yet on the terms of his tenancy there is no table where it has a seat by right.
With the plan
The circle leads take next week's orders. Then a Council member reports back: the Council vetoed one of the Seed Bank's own placements, and the board had to hear it. John will vote for her again. Hawkers can stop this plan.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Elected Hawker Council members
Nine members, elected by cluster
PlanThe Plan, §3.8
- What a centre needs before anything launches
40% of its hawkers willing · 100 signatures across the cluster · a Council majority
PlanThe Plan, §6.2
Helps today
- FMAS and each centre's hawkers' association (The trade's own bodies). The recognised voice since 1989; its President co-chaired the 2018–20 UNESCO nomination committee with the CEOs of NHB and NEA.
No statutory body and no bargaining mandate on tenancy terms.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The Hawker Council (§3.8). Nine members elected by cluster for two-year terms, and a tenth named by FMAS, with a full vote. They hold the hawker vetoes over the Seed Bank's own decisions – compensation, documentation consent, its placement of graduates and Fellows – and put forward the hawker directors. A Government director on the board holds a casting vote, every use of it published. Nothing launches at a centre without its hawkers' consent (§6.2).
Not yet
The plan would add: The Hawker Council (§3.8).
If today's schemes went
Partly The Council still meets, but without the associations and FMAS beside it, it speaks for the programme's hawkers alone.
Still missing
The Council speaks only on what this programme does. On tenancy terms the plan asks MSE and NEA to recognise FMAS and the centre associations as the hawkers' bargaining body (§2.11).
Read more: §3.8 · §6.2
9.30 p.m. · Tray-return point
Tables and trays
The cleaners – Table cleaning and the tray-return points · The centre – Jalan Besar Town Council, and the plan's centre staff
- Builds on it · §2.2 A fair rent
The moment
Today
The cleaners wipe and sanitise every table and stand at the tray-return points until close. Each stall pays $520 a month for table cleaning, priced when cleaners still cleared every tray. NEA's temporary help ends in February.
With the plan
The same cleaners, the same wipe-down. The Government now pays $200 of each stall's fee straight to the contractor, and the contract is out to tender again for the work that is left. If the new price is lower, the subsidy shrinks.
The plan alone: Runs This moment runs even if today's schemes went.
The numbers
- This day
- Centre fees John's stall pays, a month
Today $720 · With the plan $520 · The plan alone $520
Assumptionmodel.js day_suite()The subsidy of $200 a month is an assumption on its size, and an upper bound.
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- What the subsidy alone adds to John's year
$2,284
Assumptionmodel.js evaluate()
- The subsidy at Chinatown Complex, a year
$542,400
Assumptionmodel.js day_suite()226 stalls at $2,400 each (§2.2). An upper bound: re-tendered cleaning contracts would meet part of it.
- Table-cleaning fee today, a stall a month
$520, the median
OfficialThe Plan, §2.2
Helps today
- Tray return (NEA, the rule since 2021). Cleaners still wipe and sanitise the tables and staff the tray-return points.
- Table-cleaning and conservancy fees (Jalan Besar Town Council collects the conservancy charge; the table-cleaning fee follows the cleaning contract). Medians of $520 and $200 a month for a non-subsidised stall (MSE, 8 September 2026).
- Temporary support (NEA, September 2026 to February 2027). $200 a month for a cooked-food stall.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
The table-cleaning fee subsidy (a Budget cost at the pilot centres) (§2.2). The Government pays $200 a month of each pilot-centre stall's table-cleaning fee to the cleaning contractor, following on from NEA's temporary support. The contracts are re-tendered for the work left after tray return; any saving shrinks the subsidy, so $200 is an upper bound. At an operator-run centre the fee is a pass-through, and stays one.
Not yet
The plan would add: The table-cleaning fee subsidy (a Budget cost at the pilot centres) (§2.2).
If today's schemes went
Runs The subsidy needs no scheme: it is a Budget line paid against a contractor's price. The re-tender needs the Town Council's agreement.
Still missing
The Minister told Parliament in July 2021: "We do not anticipate any reduction in cleaning costs to stallholders". The re-tender tests whether she is still right. The plan does not set cleaners' pay.
Read more: §2.2 · §6.3 · D.7.4
10.30 p.m. · Ah Kow's stall
A duct of his own
The duct cleaner – a contractor the stallholder hires · The centre – Jalan Besar Town Council, and the plan's centre staff
- Not ours to fund Repairs and exhausts
The moment
Today
After close, a contractor Ah Kow pays degreases his stall's exhaust duct, as the law requires of him. The centre's own ventilation is the State's to repair. His tired chiller is his own problem until the Productivity Grant reopens.
With the plan
The same contractor, the same bill. The plan does not pay for the centre's repairs, which the State already carries, or for his duct, which the law gives to him. The gap is his chiller, while the grant is between phases. The plan names it and leaves it there.
The plan alone: Runs This moment runs even if today's schemes went.
The numbers
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- What the plan spends here
Nothing: no section and no payer
Plansupport_map.py
- Needs on the support map the plan leaves with others
1 of 17
Plansupport_map.py
- The State's upgrading programme
up to $1bn over 20–30 years, ventilation included
OfficialThe Plan, §2.9
Helps today
- Repairs and redecoration (NEA and the Town Councils). Every six to eight years at each centre (five to seven, the Government said in 2018). Chinatown Complex's last ended in May 2019; works reported for 2026 have not been found to have started.
- Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme 2.0 (NEA, March 2025). Up to $1bn over 20–30 years, ventilation included.
- The stallholder's duty (SFA). The law makes the stallholder keep his stall's own exhaust duct clean.
- Hawkers' Productivity Grant (NEA). Co-funds new equipment. Its last phase closed on 31 March 2026; NEA says the next will be announced.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Nothing, on purpose. The State already repairs and upgrades the centres, and the law gives the stall's duct to the stallholder. Money from the plan would only let the payer spend less. The plan times its pilots around the works and points hawkers to HUP 2.0's consultations.
Not yet
Nothing, on purpose. The State already repairs and upgrades the centres, and the law gives the stall's duct to the stallholder. Money from the plan would only let the payer spend less. The plan times its pilots around the works and points hawkers to HUP 2.0's consultations.
If today's schemes went
Runs The same as today. The plan spends nothing here either way.
Not ours to fund
A stall's own equipment, and the duct's upkeep, while the Productivity Grant is between phases. A real gap, named here; the plan does not fund it.
Read more: §2.9 · §6.3 · ES.4
11 p.m. · Centre office
The day's numbers
The evaluator's fieldworker – Independent evaluation and market transparency · John – the younger hawker, single-handed, who needs a day off tomorrow
- Builds on it · §2.10 Cost and price data
The moment
Today
Nobody will know what today cost John, what he earned or how long he stood. The prices are counted. The costs are not.
With the plan
John's stall is a voluntary reporter: paid a little each quarter for his ranges, never his name. Tonight the evaluator's fieldworker files the centre's figures. Whatever they show, they will be published.
The plan alone: Partly This moment runs only in part if today's schemes went: see below.
The numbers
- The plan's terms and scale, not yet in force
- Indicators Singapore publishes regularly
3 of 21
Officialdata/tracker.jsonIn part: 11. Not at all: 7. Counted from the Plate Tracker.
- Voluntary revenue reporting
$25 per quarter
PlanThe Plan, §2.10
Helps today
- Price indices (IPS Makan Index; Prof Ivan Png's indices from NEA tender bids; CASE's Price Kaki; NEA's published top bids). Prices are counted.
- A reply to Parliament (MSE, 8 September 2026). Medians for rent, service charges and table cleaning. Costs are otherwise not published.
Taken away for this view.
The plan adds
Market Transparency and the Plate Ledger (§2.10); Independent evaluation (§6.4). An independent evaluator reports every quarter and may always publish. Stalls may report their revenue for $25 a quarter, and none is ever identifiable. The evaluator tracks 21 indicators, including the margin spread between a plate's price and its cost, and writes a one-page Plate Ledger each year. It licenses the price data that exists and adds the costs.
Not yet
The plan would add: Market Transparency and the Plate Ledger (§2.10); Independent evaluation (§6.4).
If today's schemes went
Partly The evaluator still reports, but must collect the price data itself instead of licensing it.
Still missing
Of the 21 indicators, Singapore publishes seven not at all. Most of the missing figures are already held by NEA, HDB or CPF.
Read more: §2.10 · §6.4 · D.8