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Dirty plates piled high on tables at Chong Boon Hawker Centre, cleaning contractor given warning
Only one cleaner was seen stationed at the tray return area at that time.
Chloe Loh
January 19, 2026, 05:27 PM
Chong Boon Market and Food Centre has come under the spotlight after a video circulated online showing stacks of used crockery and trays piled on top of its tables and chairs.
Many of the bowls and plates still had unfinished food on them.
These tables were located at the last row of the hawker centre, next to a tray return station, where the sole cleaner seen was busy sorting some used cups.
The video, posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group on Jan. 17, was captioned, "This is too much. How to return trays? Where are the enforcement officers???"
A user commented that they saw a similar situation when they went there that afternoon. "Looks so bad and dirty," they said.
In the photo they included, there were still many piles of used bowls and trays on the tables, beside a very full tray return station.
Happens once every few weeks
According to 8world, when one of their reporters visited the hawker centre on Jan. 18, the scene captured in the video was not observed.The hawker centre is said to have three tray return areas, with about five to six cleaners stationed there between 8am and 1pm.
Several stall owners told 8world that incidents of used crockery and trays piling up have occurred intermittently over the past few years, expressing their dissatisfaction with the cleaning contractor's performance.
One stall owner, who has been operating at the hawker centre for over a decade, revealed that such incidents occur once every few weeks and that "it's been like this for several years".
He said that the situation usually arises between 12pm and 2pm, when only one cleaner is stationed at the tray return area.
He further added that his business is affected by 10 to 20 per cent when this happens.
Another stall owner pointed out that once a week, four to five tables would be stacked with used plates and bowls.
She also complained that the contractor did not clean the tableware properly and often misplaced her stall's sauce dishes, forcing her to replace about 50 of them every three months.
8world also said that the cleaning contractor for Chong Boon Market and Food Centre had raised its service fees in January 2026.
One vendor told 8world that the fees weren't the issue, but that the higher fees should translate into improved service standards, said vendors at the hawker centre.
Lapse in supervision
Responding to the incident, the chairman of Chong Boon Market and Food Centre told 8world the incident occurred due to a lapse in supervision.He said one of the cleaners has been hospitalised, and the supervisor failed to make proper manpower arrangements, resulting in a shortage of staff during the lunchtime peak hour.
"This rarely happens," he said, adding that a replacement cleaner was deployed within an hour and a half.
He also explained that most of the cleaning staff and elderly, and that manpower issues usually arise when a cleaner falls sick.
He also added that they have since increased manpower during peak hours.
According to him, the contractor assigns one cleaner to each tray return station during off-peak hours between 2pm and 4pm, while staffing is increased to two cleaners per station during lunch and dinner rush periods.
The chairman of the Federation of Merchants' Associations said he had issued two warnings to the contractor during his term, including over the Jan. 16 incident.
"We warned him that if this continues, we will have to hire someone else," he said, adding that any decision to replace the contractor would require consultation with the National Environment Agency.
Several vendors also told reporters they had previously raised the issue of changing contractors with the federation’s chairman, but said no action had been taken.
In response, he said, "This contractor has been working with us for almost ten years. He has experience managing many markets. It is better to work with someone familiar with the job."
Top photos via Oo Ho Tan/Facebook
