RESETTLEMENT OF STREET HAWKERS

Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for the Environment how many street hawkers have been resettled into the hawker centres since the introduction Qf the policy to ensure better and more hygienic handling of food; how many more will have to be resited and when will this exercise be completed and, whether there are plar)s to build (nore hawker centres, partrcularly for the selling of cooked food, in the light of changing eating habits.

Dr Lee Boon Yang (for the Minister for the Environment): Sir, in May 1971, the Government decided to build markets and food centres to accommodate all the street hawkers. There were then about 17,800 hawkers on the streets.

Today, some 17,300 of these hawkers have been relocated into markets and food centres. There are now only 546 street hawkers. They will be housed by the end of this year, or early next year, in suitable food centres.

There are a total of 25,448 food and market produce stalls housed mainly in centres managed by HDB, MOE, and other statutory boards. 1,525 of the market produce stalls are housed in 14 private markets.

Sir, the Ministry of the Environment has no plans to build any more food centres, as the relocation programme is nearing completion. We have barely over 500 more hawkers to be resettled. The HDB has indicated that they will not build any more food centres or wet markets in their new housing estates. Instead, they will build supermarkets. They will provide appropriate shopping places for people to operate mini-markets, neighbourhood shops, specialty shops, and eating establishments such as coffee shops, fast food outlets and other food retail outlets.

Sir, Singaporeans have a wide variety of food outlets to suit their taste and budget. There are 192 food centres with some 9,069 foodstalls, 1,508 eating houses with a total of 8,805 food stalls. Over and above these stalls, there are still numerous other snack bars, fast food outlets, restaurants spread out all over the island.

Apart from those provided by HDB as part of its amenities for housing estates, the private sectors can also set up food centres and eating establishments to cater for the demand of the residents and the working population.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Mr Speaker, Sir, does the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications and Information and the Minister for the Environment not realize that the answer, as given to this House, means that the Government is unwittingly encouraging our people to eat outside their homes, and thereby do away with the need to cook their food at home, bearing in mind the question of the imponderable when food has to be stacked in the house and, if it need be, to be cooked in the home?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government, in particular my Ministry, is aware that more and more people are eating outside their home. This has to be so, as we encourage more and more of our women to leave the home to join the workforce. It is part of the change in our lifestyle. And, as I said in my answer, HDB, in its development of new towns where more than 80% of our population will be living in the future, will build alternative forms of food outlets, a different style from what we formerly associate with our cheap hawker centre. It will be a proper eating establishment incorporating good standards of hygiene in the food preparation areas, clean environment for the tired working people to relax in and to have their meals, congenial surroundings for them to have their cup of coffee. With all these steps being taken, I think the problem of people eating outside their home will not exist.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Mr Speaker, Sir, just one final supplementary question. Does not the Parliamentary Secretary agree with me that all this means additional expenditure, resulting in having less for savings?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, there may be some increase in costs but the quality of service is increased to justify this increase in cost. The more important thing is that this Government continues to provide full employment, continues to manage the economy such that people have good employment, and they receive salaries that are commensurate with their skills, so that they are able to afford this marginal increase for better quality services. Overall, Sir, this is our objective. We want to raise the standard of living of all Singaporeans. We want to give them the means to afford a better quality of life.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I ask a supplementary question, although not on food and hawker centres? Did I understand the Parliamentary Secretary to say that his Ministry was discontinuing the buildin of wet markets in new estates? If that is so, may I ask whether a survey has been taken from the residents as to their preference?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson has been in this House longer than 1. He was in this House on 14 March 1984 when my predecessor, the hon. Member for Changi, informed this House and, of course, the Member for Anson too, and here, Mr Speaker, Sir, allow me to quote:

'In 1981, a study team chaired by the former Senior Parliamentary Secretary of my Ministry and comprising Members of Parliament and officials from the Ministry of the Environment, Primary Production Department, HDB and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was set up to review the existing retail distribution system. In their reivew, the study team recommended that wet markets be replaced by supermarkets, specialty and neighbourhood stores. My Ministry has not built wet markets for many years and HDB has also stopped building wet markets in their new housing estates. It has also been decided that no more new food centres will be built in the future by the Ministry of the Environment or the HDB.' [Hansard, cols. 995 - 996]

Mr Jeyaretnam: I am afraid the Parliamentary Secretary has not answered my question, The question is, "Was a survey taken from the residents?" I know you read out the recommendation of this Committee. The question is, "Did the Committee take a survey from the residents?"

The Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Law (Prof S. Jayakumar): On a point of order, Mr Speaker, Sir. Ought not the Member for Anson ask this question at the time the previous statement was made?

Mr Jeyaretnam: May I not ask the question now? May I know?

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Community Development (Mr S. Dhanabalan): Mr Speaker, Sir, on a point of order. It is not relevant to the original question that was asked in the Order Paper.

Mr Speaker: He said this question is not relevant to the question on the Order Paper.

Mr Jeyaretnam: But we are talking about the policy of the Ministry of the Environment.

Mr Speaker: I allow you to carry on. Now you can carry on.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Thank you, Sir. Would the Parliamentary Secretary answer this question?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Committee in 1981 made a thorough assessment of all forms of retail - food retail, cooked food retail, market produce retail, and after exhaustive investigation came to the conclusion that wet markets would no longer be the most efficient and effective means of distributing or retail"ng our food in Singapore in the context of a modern Singapore.

The other point that I want to remind the Member for Anson is that a wet market entails a high cost in terms of manpower. A very large number of people is required to man these very few stalls in the perspective of the number of hours that they actually operate. And the alternative offered by the HDB which is responsible for building all the new towns is a far better solution for the residents. The supermarkets and the mini-markets operate for much longer hours of shopping for the convenience of the residents. If our residents are to have food, fresh good quality food available to them at their convenience in a mini-market or a supermarket which opens from 9.30 in the morning to 9.30 in the evening must represent a tremendous improvement of service. It also makes it so much easier for all the working mothers, the working women, on their way home, to just purchase what they need and go home and cook for the family; rather than rush out early in the morning to do their shopping in a wet market which is congested, wet, as he says, and very often very crowded.

The other point, Mr Speaker, Sir, which I would like to remind the Member for Anson is that we have in the past built many wet markets, and at the present moment many of these markets have large numbers of vacant stalls. Many of the stalls are unoccupied. Many of the people who have taken up the stalls have discontinued their business. Is that not in itself, Sir, indicative that our lifestyle in Singapore is changing to the point where people are more comfortable, more willing and better prepared to use the facilities offered by the mini-markets and supermarkets with their extended hours of shopping?

Mr Jeyaretnam: You still have not answered my question.

Mr Speaker: The Leader of the House wishes to move a business motion.

11.34 am