SINGAPORE: Senior Parliamentary Secretary for National Development Syed Harun Alhabsyi said in Parliament on Tuesday (February 2) that most of the establishments in Kampong Glam have only seen moderate rent increases, though he added that a small number of tenants in the area faced rental hikes of 25 per cent or even higher.
“In this particular aspect, these included leases in streets with high footfall,” he said, citing Haji Lane and Bali Lane as examples.
“Some of these leases were previously contracted at below market rates,” which may explain why they “experienced a larger increase from their low base when the rates normalised towards the prevailing market rate,” said Dr Syed Harun.
He added that even with the increases, the rates of these establishments were still about 20 to 60 per cent lower than other conventional retail spaces in the central area.
However, there was a substantial amount of pushback on his remarks, with netizens asking numerous questions. Some said they wanted to know the actual number of affected businesses instead of percentages, while others called for greater support for establishments owned and operated by Singaporeans.
“No numbers, no base, no breakdown. How many tenants in total, how many affected, over what period, and based on what data source? 5 out of 10? 50 out of 500?” wrote one.
“Why release data for the past 2 years only? He should share what the increase past 10 years was, and what was the base, so people know how ‘moderate’ it is,” another pointed out.
“What’s his definition of moderate rise in rent?” a commenter asked.
The “government should step in for rent control,” opined a Facebook user.
Another who appeared to be commenting on the closure of some of the businesses asked, “If it is not related to rental hike, then what is the reason?
Early last month, CNA reported on rising rents for businesses in Kampong Glam, saying that for some shops, rental rates had nearly doubled. At around the same time, Mothership reported that in the past three years, rental rates for shops at Haji Lane have doubled or even tripled.
Shortly afterward, a video from a TikTok user who asked if Singaporean businesses in Haji Lane were getting pushed out due to high rental rates went viral.
She mentioned an alleged foreign-born woman who was “snapping up leases that are about to expire,” offering significantly higher rents than existing tenants, then subletting the spaces at even higher rates.
The issue received even more attention when it was announced on January 20 that Warong Nasi Pariaman, the 78-year-old nasi padang restaurant in Kampong Glam, would be closing its doors by the end of the month. However, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said that it would work with the family that owns the eatery to look into options that would give them additional assistance. The family, however, has clarified that the closure is not due to high rental rates.
Food guru Kf Seetoh also weighed in on the eatery’s closure, however, saying that there should not be a “cherry picking” of heritage businesses to give support to.
“The retail and f&b industry (are) all cowed under the same manpower and rental issues, compounded with public expectations that food be cheap,” he wrote in a Facebook post on February 2.
“It’s a very serious manpower and ridiculously high rental problem we have especially in the F&B arena… Don’t just look at heritage areas and brands to fix the problems at hand. Fix the entire problem of our culinary heritage.”/TISG
