GEIS-新闻详情

Hawkers at ABC Brickworks soldier on as business blues continue after mass TB screening

2024-01-20 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE – After months of being shuttered when one owner suffered an aneurysm, western food store Wow Wow West reopened on Jan 16 at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre.

However, the festive welcome back the stall was hoping for was dampened by the lasting effects of the mandatory tuberculosis (TB) screening in Jalan Bukit Merah, which has turned many customers away from the food centre.

More than 2,000 people signed up for TB screening in Jalan Bukit Merah, after 10 new cases were detected there.

Screening was mandatory for residents and workers at blocks 1 and 3 in Jalan Bukit Merah, ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre, and Thong Kheng Seniors Activity Centre @ Queenstown as their potential risk of exposure was higher.

While it was once hard to even get a seat among the sea of people at the popular food centre, there are now many empty tables during lunch and dinner.

Ms Chris Lim, a chef at Wow Wow West, told The Straits Times that a queue would usually form outside the store at 2pm, with wait times lasting 30 to 45 minutes. After news of the TB screening broke, business dropped by 30 per cent to 40 per cent, and 90 per cent of orders on the day of its long-awaited reopening were for takeaway.

Mr Lachron Chan, at char siew rice stall Fatty Cheong, said queues of more than 20 people have shrunk to only three or four at a time. The shop’s daily sale of 80kg to 100kg of char siew by 6pm has dropped to 40kg to 50kg.

Get a round-up of the top stories to start your day

Thank you!

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and T&Cs.

Ms Lim and Mr Chan are worried the dip in business, which started on Jan 5 when news of the TB screening broke, would stretch past January. Mr Chan hopes the situation will improve by Chinese New Year, when customers would usually order large quantities of char siew and roast duck for their celebrations.

Ms An Lim, an employee from Western food stall Wow Wow West at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre, is pictured with the stall’s famous fish and chips on Jan 19. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

While this is not the first time the hawkers have faced a dip in business, this has been the toughest, they said.

Several owners and employees said their business is now worse than during the pandemic.

Madam Lina Tan Soo Eng, who has run ABC Deji Fish Head Bee Hoon with her husband for almost 50 years, said the stall would get orders for takeaway during Covid-19, but even these are now scarce.

Then in 2022, TB screening was done at nearby Block 2 Jalan Bukit Merah after seven people were diagnosed with the air-borne disease.

Madam Tan and her niece, Mrs Halina, who works at the stall, said they were not as badly affected then as the 2022 reports did not mention their centre.

But the hawkers have their loyal supporters. When ST visited the food centre on Jan 17, most diners there either worked or lived nearby, and were not deterred by the TB screening or the risk of infection.

A diner who wanted to be known only as Ms In, 48, said she has been eating at the hawker centre almost daily for eight months because she works nearby and likes a “one-stop” place where she can enjoy a variety of food.

She noted that the cleaners and hawkers’ good hygiene and wearing of masks assured her that it was safe to eat there.

Mr Tan, who is in his forties and works in finance, also believes that the TB situation is under control. He said: “The fact that the authorities actually caught (the active TB cases) and got the people to go for screening – that already introduces a level of safety.”