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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Now, even FT compete with karungguni men</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Oct-3 11:00 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 10) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>22225.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Fight over junk gets dirtier
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Local karung guni men say a growing number of foreigners are encroaching on their turf </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
It happens. New guys on the block encroach on the old-timers' turf. Fights occur.
This seems to be the case too with the karung guni, or rag-and-bone, trade.
Last week, a karung guni man was jailed six months for slashing a rival with a parang. He claimed the man had encroached on his 'territory'.
Earlier, in August last year, 38-year-old karung guni man Heng Kim Suan suffered a cut and swollen jaw after he was punched by a foreign worker who was junk-hunting in the same block of flats.
Karung guni means gunny sack in Malay. In the kampung days, the rag-and-bone men carried huge gunny sacks and went from house to house buying recyclables.
Until today, they do not require a licence to operate. They still collect mostly newspapers, glass bottles, metal parts and spoilt electronic goods.
They sell these items to recycling centres for a small profit. Those in this trade estimate that there are 3,000 of them plying the streets today.
Local karung guni men interviewed by The Sunday Times said that over the years, newcomers - mostly foreigners - have muscled in.
Some are even employed cheaply by Singaporeans who no longer want to do the work.
As a result, collecting other people's junk has become very competitive, with as many as three or four tradesmen plying the same area.
Said one local karung guni man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng: 'Every other month, I see a new competitor. Most of the time it is a foreigner. Of course I get angry. This has been my rice bowl for more than 20 years.'
The Singaporeans say their earnings have also dropped significantly as more people enter the trade.
Said Mr Ng: 'I used to bring home $150 a day. Now I'm lucky if I can get $50.'
Another person who has seen business suffer due to the influx of foreigners is Mr A.C. Tan, 54.
He said: 'We local karung guni men follow a code. We don't go into an area if another karung guni man is there. We respect his being there first and we go elsewhere.
'But the foreigners don't care. They barge in. That's when the fighting starts.'
These days, competition means adopting new tactics to stay afloat.
Karung guni men have to mark out their unwritten territory daily. This is usually done by parking their lorries, fitted with loud horns, in their chosen HDB carpark.
Some now go to the carpark as early as 7am, hours before they are allowed by the town councils to blare their horns to attract customers.
Such a tactic is meant to pre-empt rivals.
Said a karung guni man who declined to be named: 'I will just park my lorry at the carpark around 7.30am and have my breakfast in the lorry. What to do? If I go late, someone else will be there.'
Others, like Mr Ng, opt for the 'afternoon shift' to avoid clashing with the early-morning group.
'I can still get some business. In the morning, people tend to be very busy. They go to the market, send the kids to school. So they may be home only later,' he said.
Others, in this age of the Internet, have gone online.
Mr Michael Satha, 40, once plied his trade the traditional way - going from one neighbourhood to another collecting recyclables.
But seven years ago, as competition heated up, he went online at www.ragnbone.com.sg. Customers with stuff to dispose of e-mail him or call him on his mobile phone.
Now he leaves home only when he is contacted.
He said: 'It is better. I don't have to go around looking for customers. They now look for me.'
[email protected]
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Local karung guni men say a growing number of foreigners are encroaching on their turf </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
It happens. New guys on the block encroach on the old-timers' turf. Fights occur.
This seems to be the case too with the karung guni, or rag-and-bone, trade.
Last week, a karung guni man was jailed six months for slashing a rival with a parang. He claimed the man had encroached on his 'territory'.
Earlier, in August last year, 38-year-old karung guni man Heng Kim Suan suffered a cut and swollen jaw after he was punched by a foreign worker who was junk-hunting in the same block of flats.
Karung guni means gunny sack in Malay. In the kampung days, the rag-and-bone men carried huge gunny sacks and went from house to house buying recyclables.
Until today, they do not require a licence to operate. They still collect mostly newspapers, glass bottles, metal parts and spoilt electronic goods.
They sell these items to recycling centres for a small profit. Those in this trade estimate that there are 3,000 of them plying the streets today.
Local karung guni men interviewed by The Sunday Times said that over the years, newcomers - mostly foreigners - have muscled in.
Some are even employed cheaply by Singaporeans who no longer want to do the work.
As a result, collecting other people's junk has become very competitive, with as many as three or four tradesmen plying the same area.
Said one local karung guni man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng: 'Every other month, I see a new competitor. Most of the time it is a foreigner. Of course I get angry. This has been my rice bowl for more than 20 years.'
The Singaporeans say their earnings have also dropped significantly as more people enter the trade.
Said Mr Ng: 'I used to bring home $150 a day. Now I'm lucky if I can get $50.'
Another person who has seen business suffer due to the influx of foreigners is Mr A.C. Tan, 54.
He said: 'We local karung guni men follow a code. We don't go into an area if another karung guni man is there. We respect his being there first and we go elsewhere.
'But the foreigners don't care. They barge in. That's when the fighting starts.'
These days, competition means adopting new tactics to stay afloat.
Karung guni men have to mark out their unwritten territory daily. This is usually done by parking their lorries, fitted with loud horns, in their chosen HDB carpark.
Some now go to the carpark as early as 7am, hours before they are allowed by the town councils to blare their horns to attract customers.
Such a tactic is meant to pre-empt rivals.
Said a karung guni man who declined to be named: 'I will just park my lorry at the carpark around 7.30am and have my breakfast in the lorry. What to do? If I go late, someone else will be there.'
Others, like Mr Ng, opt for the 'afternoon shift' to avoid clashing with the early-morning group.
'I can still get some business. In the morning, people tend to be very busy. They go to the market, send the kids to school. So they may be home only later,' he said.
Others, in this age of the Internet, have gone online.
Mr Michael Satha, 40, once plied his trade the traditional way - going from one neighbourhood to another collecting recyclables.
But seven years ago, as competition heated up, he went online at www.ragnbone.com.sg. Customers with stuff to dispose of e-mail him or call him on his mobile phone.
Now he leaves home only when he is contacted.
He said: 'It is better. I don't have to go around looking for customers. They now look for me.'
[email protected]
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