A Lianhe Zaobao investigation has found that tenancy contracts for Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre include clauses imposing penalty points and fines on stallholders who fail to take part in its charity meal scheme, despite earlier public statements that no penalties were in place.
The Chinese-language daily reviewed a contract signed by hawkers in 2022, which requires participation in the “Pay It Forward” programme to provide free meals, as well as a customer loyalty scheme.
Under the terms, failing to take part in either programme would result in six demerit points and a S$50 breach penalty for each offence.
The document further states that accumulating 12 points in one year would make a stallholder ineligible for renewal, while 24 points within a year could lead to termination of the lease with two months’ notice.
Minister Ong’s earlier statement
On 11 August, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung — who is also the Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC, where the hawker centre is located — posted on Facebook responding to earlier criticism from food critic KF Seetoh, saying that there were “no penalties” for hawkers who did not or could not provide charity meals.
He described the scheme as a voluntary initiative aimed at encouraging hawkers to “pay it forward” to low-income residents, adding that it had not yet begun.
This statement appeared to contrast with the written terms in the contracts obtained by Zaobao, which explicitly outline the potential penalties for non-participation.
Operator’s clarification and review
Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre is managed by Canopy Hawkers Group, one of five social enterprise hawker centre operators in Singapore.
According to Zaobao, it is the only one among 16 such centres to include charity meal obligations in its tenancy contracts.
In a Facebook post on 12 August, Canopy said that when stallholders were selected three years ago, the requirement to provide charity meals was part of the evaluation criteria and was incorporated into the lease.
Initially, hawkers were expected to serve 30 free meals each month. In August 2023, this was revised to 100 meals across a three-year lease — an average of fewer than three per month. The company explained that the programme had not yet launched because eligibility checks for low-income beneficiaries were still being developed.
“Since the programme has not started, there is currently no question of any penalties for non-compliance,” the company said.
Canopy added that it agreed charity work should not be made contractual and pledged to review the clause once the scheme is ready for implementation.
The contract also required hawkers to provide 30 “loyalty meals” a month to support a customer rewards scheme. From August 2023, this was replaced with a 10 per cent cashback for customers paying through the hawker centre’s mobile app.
Hawkers’ mixed reactions
While some hawkers told Zaobao they were willing to fulfil the charity meal terms and saw them as reasonable, others expressed concern about the inclusion of penalty clauses.
Nasi lemak stallholder Luo Bizhen, 50, said the scheme reflected the hawkers’ goodwill, and that the management had never indicated it would be strictly enforced.
However, she acknowledged she was unaware of the penalty clauses because she had not read the English-language contract closely.
“Including penalty clauses in the contract is unreasonable,” she said. “But the Minister has said there will be no penalties, so we believe him. If management says they will review it, then let them discuss how to make it better.”
Leicha stallholder Huang Weifeng, 52, noted that while charity meals were a good idea, his stall’s revenue was lower than expected and operating costs were high.
“If a day’s revenue is only S$300 or S$400, how can we give back to society?” he asked, suggesting that the number of charity meals be adjusted according to each stallholder’s financial situation.
He warned that if the penalty clause remained when contracts were renewed, he might need to reconsider whether the business was sustainable.
Wider context of social enterprise hawker centres
Social enterprise hawker centres (SEHCs) are run by operators appointed by the Government to manage facilities on a not-for-profit basis, with the aim of balancing commercial viability and social responsibility.
As of July 2024, Singapore has 123 hawker centres, of which 16 are SEHCs operated by five different social enterprises, including Fei Siong Social Enterprise, NTUC Foodfare, and Timbre+ Hawkers.
Zaobao’s findings underline that the contractual structure of Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre is distinct from other SEHCs in its formal inclusion of charity meal obligations.
Unresolved discrepancy
Food critic KF Seetoh had, in earlier posts, already shared excerpts from the Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre tenancy contract showing the charity meal requirement and its stipulated penalties.
With Zaobao’s report now confirming the existence of those clauses in full, Minister Ong has not publicly addressed the apparent discrepancy between his 11 August statement — which asserted there were “no penalties” — and the written terms.
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