Economic estrangements : a history of hawkers in Singapore

Abstract

Today, hawkers in Singapore are facing an economic crisis of sorts. Profit margins have been consistently declining as core business expenditure continue to increase faster than the marginal increments in hawker food price levels over the years. Rental, the largest component of a hawker’s cost structure, has seen an exponential increase from less than $200 in the 1980s to an average of $2000 to $4000 per month today. On the other hand, conservancy fees, manpower expenses and cost of ingredients are also at a record high. What used to be a thriving hawker economy in the 1950s and 1960s, is now an industry grappling with several economic estrangements that is undermining the long-run business sustainability of the local hawker economy. How did Singapore’s hawker industry end up in this current state of economic crisis? In this thesis, I trace the current economic estrangements as experienced by hawkers in Singapore to a three-pronged historical development of Singapore’s hawker industry. Firstly, early hawker policies engineered by the state were notably influenced by modern developmental priorities, relegating hawkers to the semi-periphery of the national economy. Secondly, in a dualistic economic system, bifurcated by levels of development, the hawker industry also had to contend with an additional responsibility as a source of social welfare to the masses. Hawkers were pressured to keep their food prices low despite drastic increases in their business expenditure. Lastly, a series of economic deregulatory measures resulted in the influx of capital and rapid accrual of hawker expenses. These three interconnected economic developments have resulted in several schisms within the industry, detrimentally affecting the economic stability and long-run sustainability of the local hawker economy.