The Newton Food Centre Incident: Your Say
Sunday Times Mar 22 Page 11
Well, I had my say but out of my 20 min interview they only took one minute out of it. There were a few more points which I thought were interesting to discuss.
Concerning the incident where the Americans had to fork out $239 for 8 tiger prawns, I can only say that as a Singaporean foodie, I felt really embarassed that this sort of thing should happen to our visitors. But if you are a traveller, you would realise that this happens in other countries as well. If you visit Thailand, the food you pay at the tourist hotspots are easily many times more what the locals pay. Furthermore, there is a local price and a tourist price for entry to places of interest. Is it fair? Sometimes it is understandable when you realise that the average local monthly wage is 3000 baht vs the average Singaporean wage of $3000. Then again we too practise this sort of pricing strategy at our very own Night Safari. The last time I went there, POSB card holders get a discount of 30%. I wonder how many foreign visitors hold POSB cards?
But I think it is not so much the asking price of the prawns but the fact that they cheat by charging 1.5kg for 1kg of seafood. This is downright dishonest but it is nothing new. Stallholders have cheated on scales for as long as scales existed. The phenomenon is global and it is really up to consumers to be vigilant. When it comes to prices, is there really a difference between a well known restaurant charging $8 per 100g for tiger prawns as opposed to a hawker? The free market economy allows for suppliers to charge whatever amount they want as long as consumers are willing to pay for it. I am certainly angry at the fact that they are charging $8 per 100g for tiger prawns which is why I never eat BBQ seafood there. The only reason that they are still around is because people (tourists mostly) are still paying for it. (Willing or unwillingly)
You know where the real problem lies? It lies in the fact that this sort of thing is so contrary to how Singapore is perceived in the eyes of foreigners. To them, this is the clean and green city where "low crime doesn't mean no crime". They get the idea that the food here is cheap and good and that people are honest which to a large extent is true. But then they run into some dishonest hawker at Newton or electronics dealer in Sim Lim and suddenly there is a story for the newspapers. People get cheated in other countries around us but they don't feel so bad because they sort of expect it. But not here in Singapore.
So what is your say about the Newton Food Centre incident? Do you think it is fair for NEA to suspend the stall? And what is your suggestion on how the situation can be rectified?
The Sunday Times ran a poll among foreigners which showed that 143 out of 150 foodies still loved Newton Food Centre. Then they featured six local foodies who all shun Newton. So let's see how many of our readers here actually love Newton Food Centre.
The Polls are opened!
36 comments:
I guess there is no perfect way to stop this style of dispute, but as a consumer, we better ask and confirm the price before ordering.
Fm
I think Newton caused their own downfall when they became an iconic tourist location. The location which became popular, resulted in increased rental, resulting in higher food prices including the stalls selling rather average foods, resulting in locals shunning the place, resulting in little support from the locals, resulting in vendors having to turn to foreigners for income, resulting in touting and cheating in order to make ends meet.
What a large chain-reaction if you ask me. So maybe the solution would be to lower rental? I mean, if locals start visiting the place for food again due to reasonable prices, income will naturally come in from our own people and not just the expats, locals feel more incline to recommend Newton to their foreign friends, vendors will receive better business, hopefully reducing all this unethical means of doing business.
As for the suspension of the stall, I think it'll be a great way to help deter vendors from doing the same thing again. But overall, I think the solution would be to allow rental in that area more affordable so such problems are less likely to resurface again.
Oh and regarding the stalls there, I like the fish ball and fish porridge stall Number 6...though their actually two separate stalls so I couldn't order fish porridge with additional fishballs inside. =(
no wonder there are so many bbq seafood stalls - if the bbq seafood stall can charge $491 for a group of 6 tourists, it would take the equivalent of 120 plates of carrot cake or char kway teow to get that kind of revenue.
why not..?
This blog should have a "thank you" button to click where we can thank users who say what we also intend to say. Thanks sumo =)
anyway.. agree with endru above. in the first place, who are the ones who are in charge of Newton? URA? NEA? who charges these exhorbitant rentals???
the authorities have themselves to blame also. if they charge sky high rentals, because they are greedy or they think they can get away with a premium in rentals, hawkers are forced to resort to hard sell. its self perpetuating.
typical singaproean landlord mentality then... charge as high as they can get away with.
I think the solution is for STB to increase the number of "recommended" hawker centres and don't specially single out Newton. Places like Old Airport Road Market, Maxwell Market, East Coast come to mind.
If we can disperse the tourist crowd to other hawker centres, market forces will force the stalls to lower their prices and offer better service in order to attract back the tourists.
sumo, I disagree.
The rental to a lot of these stalls at popular eateries are determined by bidding exercises. Some of them priced their bids so high and forecasted wrongly that they would be able make it got burnt, of course. In addition, there are also current stallholders who sublet their stalls at high prices too.
What you expect NEA to do? Fixed the rental rate at $500 per month? Then the list of people wanting a stall will be longer than those waiting for HDB flats.
Lower rentals may not result in lower food prices. I know of some stalls which rents are only about $300 per month but I don't see them selling their noodles at $1.20 or $1.50. In a same hawker centre, the difference in rental rates can sometimes be more than 10 times. Why? Because the much more expensive stall was rented through a bidding exercise.
Back to Newton. I do agree that STB or whatever agencies etc should not hype up this place. There are definitely better hawker centres elsewhere.
I can offer no suggestions on how to get rid of this overcharging problem. Unless, NEA post an officer at every seafood stall to make sure things are done right. Otherwise, when there are willing buyers, there will be (more than) willing sellers.
I do think the seafood stall deserved suspension, and I hope that this will serve as a warning to other dishonest hawkers to wise up and clean up their act- whether they are based at Newton or any other hawker centre. I personally don't bother making trip down to Newton anymore - its been ages since I last went there.
But at the same time I do hope that the media will consider covering the place from the other side of the story: what about the honest hawkers who are striving to make a living there? One bad thing happens, and that is all everybody focuses on. And I agree with something that Glenn Ong from class 95 said this morning on radio: that the hawkers at Newton should rally together in the form of some sort of committee to kick out the bad eggs who tarnish their image.
Stop the touting.
'nuff said already, really.
I wouldn't touch Newton with a ten-foot pole for stirring pig swill.
I agree with what Anonymous said about STB promoting other hawker centres. Why is Newton still being promoted when they are giving Singapore a bad image?
just to add on to what taukwa said...http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/hd/HD_TenderNotice_Apr04.pdf rentals are somewhere between $10,000 to $20,0000 :)
This is nothing new about Newton fc.This price for seafood has always been there.Nearly all the bbq seafood stalls there have been charging same. Are they selling any cheaper now?
Hey liverpool, how did you manage to derive 10k to 20k from the figures shown?
ieat check out NEA website tender results over the past few years!
$10,000 - $20,000 monthly rentals....gosh! the char kway teow uncle must have some really fit arms!!! I know visitsingapore.com has this blog page linked directly to their page so this post is also being shown there. lol.
Maybe it would be cool if this blog had like a bright icon with the words "Visiting Singapore? CLICK HERE!" which links to all the popular local food stalls you've blogged about so far. Maybe ieat could become the prime place on visitsingapore's site to feature more local foods to foreigners besides Newton. Just a thought...I think if the gahman not gonna change it time soon, someone else could! plus we might actually get more foreigners visit this site just to be updated of the wonderful stuff this dot on the map has to offer =)
Newton food centre is not the only place that cheat on weight. I have been to eating places where they discourage from choosing your own crab and weighing myself. There is this eating place where they put up a sign that say "you choose your crab at your own risk, insurance do not cover. This is to me an attempt to discourage choice. Why? you do not need to be very intelligent to guess.
Since we are on the subject of cheating I would like to highlight that there are "well Known" hawkers at food centers selling chicken rice that are to me not so honest. I notice that when I buy half chicken "ta pow" the amount seem to be well, not enough for my son and myself. I also notice that put sign and etc that block my view of the chopping block. This happen in popular food centre Maxwell/China town area. I also notice that orders for plates of chicken rice appear to be served with breast meet than other parts. I sincerely hope I am just imagining scenerios that I should not have.
I think it is amazing that the tourists didnt ask for the price first before eating. Isn't that the standard procedure when going to a tourist hotspot? It was really foolish of them. Maybe they know they would get ripped off but maybe not at such a staggering amount. Seems like the media loves the job of pointing fingers...
all I can say is once beaten, twice shy. Likewise, am sure each of us has been cheated somewhere sometime by dishonest sellers and such. It is the same in every country. There's only this much governance that can be done. So consumers out there just have to wise up and make more effort so as not to get cheated.
I really believe honesty is the best policy.
I think one of the reasons that Jumbo does so well is the fact that I never felt that they overcharge me on their crabs and the quality is always consistent. Whether they do it or not, I do not know. But I very seldom hear of people complaining about them.
One good example I know is my camera shop John 3:16. I have been buying stuff from these guys for 10 years and they are completely honest. As a result you seldom ever see them sitting idly in their shop.
Ah another example is the durian seller that all our kakis are now buying from. Ah Loon and Ah Teck along East Coast. Not one of our kakis have ever complained that they felt cheated.
There are lots of honest hawkers around working hard, making an honest living, but their reputation is being spoilt by a few dishonest guys.
I seldom step into Newton as too much touting till quite fed up and find that the food is really so so....not much of good food attracts me...I don't bring my guests to that place too, we rather go Lau Pat Sat / East Coast... To me, Newton is a place for extortion!
Looks like our polls so far show that only 5% of our readers actually love Newton. As oppose to the ST polls which show 95% of foreigners actually like Newton.
I wonder how they conducted their polls? Don't tell me they went to Newton and polled 150 foreigners there? Of course most of them would say they love it lah. Or else they won't be there right?
Even so, it shows that Newton is a place that is frequented mainly by tourists nowadays. It is a shame that it has lost its place in the hearts of so many Singaporeans.
Looking at Liverpool's link, it seems to me that the NEA can actually control the mix of stalls at Newton. Why did they even allow so many stalls to sell BBQ seafood?
i couldnt remember the when was last i went to newton for food, but it was like more than a year ago with a few friends?
well, the solution for it couldnt lies in suspension, but however,.. touting for customer in hawker centre is not allowed, i am actually very surprise when ( govt law, no touting is allowed( mostly for re-renovated hawker centre ) and why is NEA is not taking any action against the situation for touting customer @ newton food centre? it is obviously *a place where words and actions does not tally.
howeva, reason not to suspene the hawker is because they all do have a family to support. what NEA can do, is to 1st issue verbal/warning letter. before they take a action to suspene.
i guess it has however, to do with the extreme competition at newton, however, if you would agree, the food @ newton is delicious (much as they are nice, true enuff, sometimes the price is good enuff to put us (locals) off already.
what govt can do, is probably to aliase with the newton hawker and is to give them a guideline/rule to follow, so when there is a system. they will not over-act.
Has anyone gone down to see what the prices are like after they suspended the hawker?
As regards to touting, it is just a matter of whether the NEA wants to police it or not. I mean, all they need to do is to warn the hawkers that there are undercover NEA agents around who would slap a fine on any touts and that would have taken care of the situation wouldn't it?
Hopefully, some of the BBQ Seafood places might move out and make way for more variety of food stalls. I loved Newton FC as a kid and it is such a shame that it has become what it is.
Speaking of old Food Centres, Rasa Singapura used to be great! They should resurrect that one somewhere in the middle of Orchard road and make sure they don't let it become another Newton FC!
hey ieat,
I thought they did something like (hawker centre in the middle of Orchard Road) what. At Somerset, where Specialist Centre used to be? Whatever happened to that and why didn't it work out (I'm assuming it didn't cos its no longer there)?
Anyway, I'm not in favour of placing hawker centres in high profile places like Orchard Road. Look at Gluttons Bay and the exhorbitant prices.
We love going to Newton hawker centre for the occasional supper when we were in Singapore and live just walking distance away. We are based in Perth now and would enjoy visiting it when we come back for holidays, as some stalls open till really late and an alternative choice to dining at hotels. There are still reasonably prices stuff that taste as good as other hawker centres. We just ignore the touters - anyway, they probably know we look local enough not to bother us.
the only stalls i frequent are heng carrot cake (a definite stop whenever i'm back from melbourne) and the hokkien mee stall (the guy wearing the straw hat even in sweltering heat). worthy of mentioning are also the fish soup stalls and the uncle selling popiah. the rest are forgettable at best. as for touting, i believe they tout to singaporeans too. but oh well. no choice but to brave the touters for my dose of heng carrot cake. ;)
This case been blown out of proportion. Something not made clear is that those prawns served were KING PRAWNS. Meaning they weight 300 to 400g each.
A few stalls being interviewed said it is highly possible for a prawn to reach that weight. The price may just been inflated a bit. I think the original price is not very much lower than $200.
Please no promotion of other hawker centers to tourists by STB. The result will only be ONE. They will turn into Newton Circles.
It is simple economics, when u get bus loads of tourists coming, willing to spend. What do u feed them? Expensive stuff. Seafood, special seafood char kway Teow costing 5 dollars and more, special prawns and oyster carrot cake. Etc etc. Why even bother serving cheap food to locals when the tourists gold mine is in front of you?
That is what happened to Newton, from a place where I remember tons of local food. To now after renovation all I see is seafood and seafood..... I mean u cannot blame them. These hawkers have rents to pay and if you dont do it, someone else will. And the worse thing is tourists are willing to pay for it. How many times I have advised tourists not to go to Newton. Recommend them better places but they tell you guidebook say must go. So they go and they happily get ripped off but they dont realise it cos they will never go to our local hawker centers. So to them... "Newton was a beautiful experience!" I even have celebrities asking me to arrange for them to go eat at Newton...... that is how famous it has become.
It is a tourist trap, that is for sure. When one travels, one pays more too in places catered to tourists. Afterall u may not have time or the contacts to try local food and you might not want to either. So you pay higher prices for the version of local food that fits your palate and leave home with a beautiful memory.
Since the foreigners like Newton then let it be. Let them enjoy it and let us locals keep our own haunts the way it is.
Well said Adriane.
But the problem is when some people found the Newton experience to be horrible rather than beautiful.
Yes you can charge tourists more but cheating should not be condoned.
Leslie, I can read your point but your income comparison is flawed. Your attempt to partially justify the higher rates charged to the American tourists based on salaries just cut no ice.
$1 SGD = 23 Baht
$1 USD = $ 1.51 SGD
No, I am not trying to justify it directly.
The Thai example is simply used to make a point that there is differential pricing in other countries as well especially in tourist places.
basically
the lesson we all learnt is that:
Just don't go to Newton..unless there is really something that is worth paying for...
newton is a stone throw from orchard, so is nice to walk to newton & enjoy the night breeze.. plus few places will open so late.. where do u go when u want a gd variety of zhu chao fd at 2am in the morning? haha.. newton lor.. and I frequent this place.. to be honest sometimes or rather they do overcharge often ..for bbq stuff I find that I pay more.. but for the ease & timings & variety.. I still live with that.. what do u think? hmm.. but i do get angry they target tourist.. they shldnt do that lah.. tsk tsk.. tsk..
just to add in another line, ... the seafood there esp tiger prawn is different.. not your normal anywhere can find kinds so the pricing is very different too?... haha.. perhaps that guy did what was normal, like charge cost price + service price + a bit of overcharge .. I go there so often & observe the folks selling... showing cx their seats.. clearing table.. I dont think they were in the wrong.. Maybe the tourists were the ones who are unreasonable... or they didnt know the bit of overcharge sometimes happen... give & take lah..
Like any other professionals who commit fraud, those dishonest hawkers should be heftily fined, and/or jailed and caned.
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