02/01/2026
Dear Customers and Everyone Who Still Cares About Singapore’s Hawker Culture,
We have always believed that if we worked honestly, kept our prices transparent, and served good food, fairness would follow.
But reality keeps proving otherwise—silence only makes hawkers easier targets.
Recently, a reader alerted us to an article written by the SAME STOMP EDITOR, published on 1 August 2023, which we were unaware of at the time.
In the photo shown, none of the items selected were our handmade Hakka Yong Tau Foo—not our signature handmade meatballs, wontons, ngoh hiang, or many other items we prepare fresh daily. Instead, many processed items (which the STOMPER openly dislikes) were chosen, yet these selective choices were used to judge our entire stall.
The article claims that no prices were displayed.
This is not true.
We have always displayed our prices clearly and openly on the front glass of our stall. The photo was taken from an angle below the price list, conveniently leaving it out of view. That framing alone turned transparency into suspicion.
What is even more puzzling is that in the later article published on Christmas Eve, the same writer included a photo of our stall with the price list and mentioned that she had been our regular customer until 2023. We are therefore surprised that she do not to know where our standard item prices are displayed.
The article also states that we raised prices by $0.20 at one go and describes our food as being made from “cheap ingredients.”
In reality, our prices increased gradually—from $0.60 to $0.70, and then to $0.80—over time.
Our handmade signature items, which require significantly more labour and cost more to produce, are priced exactly the same as the items criticised in the article.
If this was simply about personal preference, why were our handmade items not chosen? Why did the editor feel the need to go to such lengths to write about us? As a regular, you should know all these are not facts.
We are just trying to make an honest living.
What concerns us further is that our neighbouring stall (ALREADY CLOSED), located directly opposite the writer’s office was also featured negatively by the same editor in a similar tone.
Same area.
Adjacent stalls.
Same writer.
This kind of selective and incomplete reporting can seriously affect hawkers. Many hawker stalls are small, family-run businesses. A single article can damage trust, reduce customer footfall, and affect livelihoods.
We are not a corporation.
We have no PR team.
We have only our hands, our food, and our dignity.
Criticism can be fair.
Opinions can differ.
But misrepresentation should not come at the expense of hawkers’ livelihoods.
I sincerely urge the public to be more tolerant and to raise any concerns directly with hawkers. I believe most hawkers are willing to listen and improve. Hawkers are ordinary people like everyone else—we make mistakes, learn, and improve accordingly. Direct feedback is far more constructive and helps build a more gracious society.
I hope that when I grow old and can no longer walk as far or as fast as I do now, I will still be able to walk slowly to a hawker centre and enjoy our local cuisine.
If clicks matter more than hawkers’ livelihoods, then what’s being consumed isn’t news — it’s conscience.
Let us stay united and preserve our hawker culture.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support and stand up for Singapore’s hawkers.
STOMP 1st August 2023
https://www.stomp.sg/singapore-seen/diner-feels-the-pinch-of-inflation-after-8-lunch-of-cheap-ingredients-at-toa-payoh
STOMP 24th Dec 2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/16w2bpqT7X/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Neighbour Stall
https://www.stomp.sg/singapore-seen/diner-hot-headed-after-toa-payoh-stalls-tom-yum-soup-looks-nothing-like-photo-is-less
