Netizen: I Lost My Favourite Hawker To The Pandemic, Please Support Our Local Hawkers When You Can!

Fellow Singaporeans,

I come to pitch something different. Normally I point out some small injustice committed by a government who either feigns negligence, or the worst act of not serving the public interest on purpose. But I’d like a moment to try and call support for our local hawkers..

Ride hailing apps offering food delivery, multinational fast food chains, & celebrity restaurants, all these companies are able to adapt easily. If you don’t buy stuff from them, they may shrink their business in the short run, but once the pandemic is over, they can easily bounce back!

But think about our hawkers, or the bakery at the bottom of your HDB block. Will they be able to survive? They don’t have the means to give a portion of their profits to these food delivery apps, and some of them don’t know how to publicize their own businesses online. If we don’t buy from them, they will shut down, and they may never come back.

These are the people who wake up at 5am everyday just to prepare their ingredients so that people can have their meals during the peak hours. With that $10 in your wallet, you could be supporting these hawkers instead of buying takeaways from large fast food chains!

I’m not asking you to boycott your local McDonald’s nor Cold Storage. I’m asking that you consider buying from local businesses, especially if it is convenient for you. If we do not act now, they may not be around much longer. Even if the pandemic somehow ends someday. No amount of culture can be repaired if it is crushed under debt & lack of customers.

I’ve already lost one of my favorite stalls, how many more will disappear before the pandemic ends?

Until the next injustice or incident,
I am your loyal reader Justin