Hawker Centre/Social Enterprise shut down

By now, most of us should know that there is  hawker centre/social enterprise in Singapore. The social enterprise is meant to empower ex-convicts and the disabled. This particular social enterprise is known as Kampung @ Simpang Bedok. The hawker stall owners enjoys subsidies and such from the tenants, paying lesser than the listed rental price.

So even after receiving subsidies and such, why did Kampung @ Simpang closed down? After doing a little reading, I personally feel that Kampung @ Simpang had to shut down because of one simple reason, which is poor planning. What was made known to us is due to the poor location and inaccessibility of the hawker centre. It is located on a second level with no lift access. This easily translate to a reason to not patronise the hawker centre. An elderly person, family with strollers, or even people who wants had a long day will not want to climb the stairs.

If I were in their shoe, a few factors I will consider before setting up this hawker centre are the location, demographic, and maybe the spending power of the people living in the area. Of course, when people go to a hawker centre, what they are looking for is good and cheap food. To ensure that such a hawker centre can be successful, the food has to be of a certain standard so that it will continuously attract the public.

Also, a hawker centre on the second level that is only accessible via stairs will cause some people to not even consider the place when deciding where to eat. Some improvement that may be implement can be to install a lift or even escalator. Thus, people will go to the place to enjoy their meal.

Perhaps one other way to prevent the hawker centre from closing down is to do regular check on it. This issue was only noticed by the head of the consultation panel after more than six months. If it was noticed earlier, it could have been tackled and solved and the hawker centre might still continue running today.

All in all, the hawker centre failed due to the lack of planning and checking on the conditions of the hawker centre. As someone that may be planning anything, we have to be as detailed and precise as possible, taking into consideration the factors that may and will hinder the success.

Article: First hawker centre managed by social enterprise shuts doors. From http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/first-hawker-centre-managed-social-enterprise-shuts-doors