Defining and Measuring Affordable Hawker Food Options Using Meal Price, Household Income and Proximity Indicators for Lower-income Households and Seniors
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Victor Lye's query on how the Government defines and measures affordable hawker food, and whether affordability assessments incorporate basic meal prices, household income of lower-income families and seniors, and meal proximity. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu Hai Yien responded that the Government does not regulate cooked food prices or define affordability by a single price threshold, focusing instead on neighbourhood access to affordable options. She noted that the Government keeps hawkers' operating costs manageable by absorbing upfront construction costs, disallowing subletting, and setting no reserve rents for stall tenders. Furthermore, over 120 hawker centres have been built across Singapore to maintain accessibility, with plans to construct more. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu Hai Yien added that the Government partners with communities to provide targeted aid for lower-income groups and seniors, such as through affordable food vending machines and free meal lockers.
Transcript
22 Mr Victor Lye asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how does the Government define and measure "affordable food" in fulfilling the mission of hawker centres to provide affordable food options; and (b) what is the extent that affordability should be assessed with reference to (i) prices of representative basic meals, (ii) household income, particularly of lower-income households and seniors and (iii) the reasonable proximity and availability of such meals.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Food affordability is influenced by a range of factors and can differ from household to household. The Government therefore does not define “affordable food” by a single price threshold. Instead, we consider affordability in terms of whether residents have access to a range of affordable food options in their neighbourhoods.
The Government does not regulate the prices of cooked food sold at hawker centres. Instead, we seek to provide hawkers with a conducive operating environment that enables them to keep their prices affordable while sustaining their livelihoods. The Government bears the upfront cost of building hawker centres and does not recover this cost from stallholders. The National Environment Agency also has policies in place to keep rents at hawker centres stable, including not setting reserve rents for stall tenders and disallowing subletting. Hawker centres are generally regarded as important places for affordable food options. For example, a RySense survey from 2023 found that three in four respondents supported keeping hawker culture alive because hawker centres provide good food at affordable prices.
Affordable food options should also be reasonably accessible to residents where they live. The Government has therefore built over 120 hawker centres across Singapore to keep affordable food options within the reach of Singaporeans and has plans to build more.
The Government also works closely with the community to provide targeted support for lower-income households and seniors that need it. For example, some neighbourhoods have community initiatives, such as affordable food vending machines and free warm meals provided through food lockers near rental flat residents.