On Hawker Centres and Returning Trays

Hi All, again apologies for having skipped a post last week. I was doing some last minute work (also writing) and did not have the mental strength to do a blog post. Also tried to do a post during the week, but it has been a very trying and tiring week on the NS front.

I have been thinking whether I can truly commit to my one post per week promise to the viewers, since my mental stamina is depleting due to increased responsibilities (and prata flipping) in NS. For now, I will soldier on to continue blogging weekly, but I seek your understanding if I miss a post once in a while.

Enough ranting for now though, let's get to today's topic.

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Side note: While the issue of Hawker Centres has been covered quite widely in media recently, I have not been paying attention much to the "Social Entrepreneurship" part. Partially it's because I do not really understand what's going on, but more importantly I do not have much interest in how businesses are run. As long as the food is good and prices are affordable, I'm happy. The only thing I have to say is, the hawker centre business has come so far because hawkers have the freedom to do what they want and love, which is to cook. Don't take away this freedom, don't intervene so much, just let things flow as planned. It's good to recognize the hawker culture as a UNESCO traditional intangible culture, but this should not be an excuse for the government to intervene and monetize the hawker culture.

It probably only was a matter of time before I blogged about something food-related, given my love for it. Although I do not go to Hawker Centres a lot (there aren't that many near my house), but recently I went to a Hawker Centre near Woodlands MRT for a meal. One thing that caught my attention was the tray return concept. People will have to pay 20 cents per tray upfront for their food, and will get returned the 20 cents upon returning their tray at the tray return counter.

This concept, while new, has garnered quite a lot of media coverage. The scope of coverage ranged from the concept, whether it will work, and who pays for it. Personally, I thought the last one was a no-brainer, the consumers should pay for it, duh. But apparently there was still a big hoo-ha over it, so oh wells, at least the conclusion is sound.

In short, I feel that while the idea is sound, and stems from the idea of getting Singaporeans to be more civil minded via having the initiative to clear up after their own mess, this concept has much left to be desired. Or to be even more frank, the concept borders on useless.

Please don't get me wrong though, the idea starts off with good intentions by getting Singaporeans to return their trays, but it'll unfortunately not work when it comes to our local hawker scene.

Firstly, it is the idea of returning trays means getting money back. Singaporeans are a smart bunch, and to some extent too smart for our own good. If getting a tray means that we'll have to pay more, we'll just take the food and cutlery without the tray, even though we know we will get our money back if we just returned the tray. The rule only dictates a tray collection/return will involve money. So if we skirt the rule and do not collect a tray, people still won't return their cutlery.

Perhaps this issue goes beyond hawker centres. In the past, we had cleaners / service staff to clean up after our mess. This is regardless if we eat at hawker centres, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, eateries, or restaurants. To some extent, we have been "spoilt" and have taken these cleaners for granted. Due to an aging population and more Singaporeans being educated, there are less cleaners as people become too weak or too overqualified for the job. Not many foreign workers are willing to take up the job too, which involves long working hours under the Singapore heat, especially for hawker centres. However, Singaporeans are too used to having people clean up after them, and hence do not automatically clear their cutlery after their meals. 

I once visited a Hawker Centre near Beauty World MRT. The scene was appalling. I saw tables totally filled with cutlery, and some who needed tables either placed the cutlery (left behind by the previous user) on another table or on the floor. It took a long time before a cleaner (mind you, I only saw one in my 1 hour there) started cleaning up the place. I concluded that no matter how good your food may be, if the area is that messy, I wouldn't go back again.

The situation cannot and will not improve based on incentivizing people alone. The apathy from Singaporeans cannot be changed by just taking away 20 cents from them and promising to return it to them if they return their trays. That also borders on treating Singaporeans like kids. What we need to change is mindsets. If we can inculcate the simple idea of cleaning up ourselves after our meal, we will be a more considerate society. This can be inculcated through campaigns and more education, be it via TV ads or hawker centre managers themselves walking around and encouraging people to return their trays.

Furthermore, let's not make everything about money. If we really need money to make us do good, are we really becoming better people? It certainly reflects badly on Singaporeans if we stick to the existing plan of refunding 20 cents for each tray returned, making us a money minded society, rather than a society that focuses on the heart.

However, I recognize too that all the coaxing in the world cannot convince some Singaporeans to be a decent person. That's why hawker centres still need cleaners. But to do that, cleaners need to be paid a better wage, and with better working hours. If it means channeling the 20 cents currently meant for tray returns into paying cleaners more, I honestly don't mind paying just that small bit extra in order for the hawker centre to be clean. It is a worthy investment. In other words, charge all consumers the 20 cents, but make sure the money goes to paying cleaners more and hiring more of them.

For those that make noise for just needing to pay 20 cents more, just know that we pay more so that we have a clean seat when we dine. If we could just be decent people who clean up after ourselves in the first place, the situation of hawker centre cleanliness does not need to be so complicated and divisive.

If only we could just learn to be good people.