AT LEAST IT PROVIDES JOBS FOR THE UNEMPLOYED LOCALS.........
MUST IT BE SHAFT DOWN OUR THROATS? FAILURE OF G TO MOTIVATE
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The reasons why you would not return trays at hawker centres?
- Thread starter LITTLEREDDOT
- Start date
FEEDING FRENZY FOR CRONIES
I think NEA jobs quite switched off, anyone got lobang in NEA?
More diners returning trays at hawker centres
Enforcement action for not returning trays and clearing table litter kicks in on Sept 1.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Adeline Tan and Shermaine Ang
AUG 30, 2021
SINGAPORE - Three months after it became compulsory to clear trays and pick up table litter after eating at hawker centres, some of these places are reporting an improvement in tray returns.
But old habits die hard, with some diners still believing that the job should fall solely on cleaners.
Enforcement action for not returning trays and clearing table litter kicks in on Wednesday (Sept 1), after years of efforts to change diners' mindsets and behaviour. A three-month advisory period ends tomorrow.
Enforcement will start at hawker centres, before being progressively extended to coffee shops and foodcourts in the fourth quarter of the year.
The Straits Times visited seven hawker centres, and while all showed improvement, it was more noticeable at some than others.
At Teck Ghee Market and Food Centre in April, used tissues, straws and plastic cups were strewn on the floor, with cleaners struggling to clear the mess left behind. Most people were also seen not returning their trays.
But when ST went down last Wednesday (Aug 25) evening, the place was free of litter, and cleaners were mostly clearing trays and dirty crockery from tray return racks.
At Old Airport Road Food Centre in April, birds were eating off plates left on tables, and most diners did not return their trays.
But last Tuesday (Aug 24), more people were seen returning their trays.
Mr Tamil Selvan, 38, the cleaning supervisor at the food centre, said: “In the past, about three or four out of 10 people would return their trays. Now six or seven do it. There are a lot of stalls in this hawker centre, so the work is much easier for the cleaners.”
When ST visited the Serangoon Garden Market and Food Centre in June, most people returned their trays, though some had to eat with dirty crockery stacked on the table.
Despite the bustling lunchtime crowd when ST was there again last Wednesday (Aug 25), all the tables were clear of dirty crockery and, in one hour, at least 40 people returned their trays.
With more diners returning trays, the work flow at the hawker centre has also changed. Previously, the entire cleaning crew had to clear and clean the tables. But the team has now been split, with some stationed at the tray return stations while others are tasked with wiping down dirty tables quickly.
Mr Shao Yong Song, 50, a cleaner at the hawker centre, said this has resulted in tables being cleaned more efficiently. “We used to have to keep moving around and bending up and down... but now I feel that my legs are less sore at the end of the day,” he said.
There has been a misconception that diners clearing their tables will deprive cleaners of their jobs, but Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor debunked this in February. Cleaners will still be needed to maintain the general hygiene and cleanliness of the food centre, she said.
Despite the visible improvements, some cleaners and diners who spoke to ST felt more can be done to encourage people to practise better table hygiene. For example, the tray return infrastructure was still inadequate at some places.
There were only about a dozen tray return racks at Old Airport Road Food Centre, despite it being one of the largest hawker centres in Singapore. And most of these racks were at the back of the food centre, making it inconvenient for diners to return their trays.
Mr Lim Chee Gan, a cleaner at the food centre, said there should be at least 20 tray return racks as there can be many diners during peak hours.
At Newton Food Centre, trolleys were labelled as tray return racks, but very few people used them as they were not visible enough.
Cleaners at Kovan Food Centre said that while there has been some change, there is room for more improvement. When ST went to the food centre in April, most diners waited for the cleaners to clear their trays, with many of the tray return stations under-utilised.
Last Wednesday, cleaners there said this behaviour has persisted among some diners.
Said Madam Kang Kian Soon, 62, a cleaner at Kovan Food Centre: “There has been a bit of improvement, but I don’t expect so much. When we try to remind them, those with a bad temper tell us it is our job to clean up after them. But I believe when the fines kick in, people will be more willing to clean up.”
Diners who spoke to ST said it is now easier to get a table at hawker centres, with more aware of the need to clear the table after eating.
Relationship manager Justin Chan, 25, said reminders for diners to clear their tables could be placed on more tables, adding: “Maybe in the future cleaners can just carry a cloth instead of pushing a trolley to collect trays, to change the public’s mentality and view of the cleaners.”
Now, who were the agencies, ministers and MPs who said cleaners will not lost their job because of tray return?
Hawkers argued that since diners are returning their own trays, the cleaners' jobs would have been lightened and the fees should be reduced.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent
NOV 11, 2021
SINGAPORE - Some cleaning contractors are locked in a dispute with hawkers over tray-clearing and table-cleaning fees after a new law kicked in which requires diners to clear their own food trays and table litter.
Hawkers argued that since diners are returning their own trays, the cleaners' jobs would have been lightened and the fees should be reduced.
But cleaning firm owners told The Straits Times that while the new tray-return rule might have changed their workers' job scope, the number of people required to keep hawker centres clean remains the same.
Instead of clearing used crockery and litter on tables, the cleaners are now deployed to the various tray-return stations, where they would sort out the crockery and return them to the stallholders, they said.
Mr Vincent Goh, managing director of Perfection General Services, which provides tray-clearing and table-cleaning services to 226 food stalls in Chinatown Complex Food Centre, said that since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, it has been increasingly challenging to collect cleaning fees from hawkers.
About $60,000 in cleaning fees were owed to him last year. By the end of last month, an additional $200,000 was owed by hawkers.
After the Chinatown Complex Hawkers' Association and the National Environment Agency (NEA) intervened to speak to the stallholders, Mr Goh managed to recover about $60,000 in arrears this month.
"The hawkers gave excuses like poor business. Some said they were down with Covid-19 or they had to serve the stay-home notice and couldn't open their stalls for business," said Mr Goh, 46, who collects between $205 and $480 a month per stall from the hawkers.
"The latest excuse I get now is that since the law has made it mandatory for diners to return their own trays, tray-clearing service is no longer needed."
Mr Goh lamented that many of the hawkers do not see the back-end work that has to be done, such as washing the trays.
"When diners return their trays to the tray stations, they just stack trays on top of one another. Very often the unfinished food and drinks would spill out of the bowls and onto the trays. So now we have an extra task of washing all the trays before distributing them to the hawkers," he explained.
Last month, cleaning contractor Tee Kek Ling, 76, wrote to the ST Forum page to highlight his difficulty in collecting payment from hawkers and urged the authorities to look into the well-being of cleaning contractors as well.
He said most of the workers he hires are "old, partially disabled or come from underprivileged families".
"As their jobs are relatively unskilled in nature, they take home meagre wages to feed themselves and their families," said Mr Tee, who provides cleaning services to four hawker centres in Marine Parade, Eunos, Kallang Bahru and Tampines.
"When cleaning contractors are financially strapped because of payment defaults and are unable to pay wages, these workers who are living from hand to mouth will face severe hardship in their lives."
Mr Tee said that more than 20 stallholders owed him cleaning fees before his letter was published in the ST Forum page.
The authorities and various hawker associations have since stepped in to mediate and helped him to recover some of his cleaning fees.
Another cleaning contractor, who wanted to be known as Mr Tay, said he tried to understand the hawkers' plight and reduced his fees by $50 for at least four months between last September and January this year.
"Now with the tray-return law, the hawkers are asking for further reduction. I can't sustain my business if I have to reduce my fees further," said the 53-year-old.
Since June 1, it has been mandatory for diners to return their trays and clear their table litter.
NEA started carrying out enforcement from Sept 1.
The majority of the hawkers whom ST spoke to questioned the need to pay for tray-clearing service following the new rule.
Ms Michelle Yee, 37, who runs Hakka Hamcha and Yong Tou Fu stall in Chinatown Complex, said: "Since there is no need for cleaners to go around the hawker centre to collect the plates and trays, why do we still need to pay for tray-clearing service?"
When told of the back-end work that cleaning contractors said they had to do, Ms Yee disagreed.
"I also don't see that many cleaners walking around to clean the tables. I feel that the cleaning fees should be reduced," she added.
A cleaner from Perfection General Services washing trays at Chinatown Hawker Centre on Nov 8, 2021. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Mr Gan Thiam Poh, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment, said it will take time to get all diners to return their food trays. But the new rule should lessen the workload of cleaners, he noted.
"Now they (cleaners) don't have to collect the trays, but we still need them to wipe the tables. But if customers keep the tables clean, then there's not so much work," said Mr Gan, who suggested that NEA come up with some guidelines on cleaning fees.
He does not think that the tray-clearing law would lead to elderly cleaners losing their jobs.
"Currently, the industry is facing a labour shortage. There is a quota for foreign workers. The cleaning firms will need to hire Singaporeans to meet the quota before they can hire more foreigners," said Mr Gan.
"The cleaners' job scope will change, but their jobs will not be totally gone."
There are 110 hawker centres managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators.
About 80 have contracted cleaning companies to provide table-cleaning services. While the contacts were negotiated by the centres' hawkers' associations on behalf of all stallholders, the cleaning companies are paid directly by the stallholders.
A cleaner disinfecting the tables at Chinatown Hawker Centre on Nov 8, 2021. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
For the remaining centres, which have integrated cleaning contracts that combine table-cleaning and general cleaning, the stallholders pay the service providers through NEA.
Responding to queries from ST, an NEA spokesman said that despite the new rule, "cleaners are still required to maintain and upkeep the general cleanliness of the dining areas of hawker centres, including wiping and sanitising tables, and clearing and sorting dirty crockery at designated tray and crockery return points".
The spokesman added: "Amid the Covid-19 situation, the demands on cleaners have in fact increased."
From mid-May to August, all stallholders were given 3½ months' worth of rental waivers to help them cope with the Covid-19 situation. NEA also provided three months of subsidies for table-cleaning and centralised dishwashing services to all cooked food stallholders this year. All stallholders also received a one-time $500 under the Market and Hawker Centre Relief Fund.
NEA and the Jalan Besar Town Council are aware of the issues raised by stallholders at Chinatown Complex.
"When stallholders and table-cleaning companies encounter issues, NEA will work with the respective hawkers' association to facilitate engagements between stallholders and the cleaning companies on ways to improve service delivery, or to resolve issues such as non-payment of cleaning fees," said the NEA spokesman.
She added that NEA and the Chinatown Complex Hawkers' Association continue to engage the stallholders to resolve the outstanding arrears.
Hawkers want cleaning fees cut after new Singapore law requires diners to clear food trays, table litter
Hawkers argued that since diners are returning their own trays, the cleaners' jobs would have been lightened and the fees should be reduced.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent
NOV 11, 2021
SINGAPORE - Some cleaning contractors are locked in a dispute with hawkers over tray-clearing and table-cleaning fees after a new law kicked in which requires diners to clear their own food trays and table litter.
Hawkers argued that since diners are returning their own trays, the cleaners' jobs would have been lightened and the fees should be reduced.
But cleaning firm owners told The Straits Times that while the new tray-return rule might have changed their workers' job scope, the number of people required to keep hawker centres clean remains the same.
Instead of clearing used crockery and litter on tables, the cleaners are now deployed to the various tray-return stations, where they would sort out the crockery and return them to the stallholders, they said.
Mr Vincent Goh, managing director of Perfection General Services, which provides tray-clearing and table-cleaning services to 226 food stalls in Chinatown Complex Food Centre, said that since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, it has been increasingly challenging to collect cleaning fees from hawkers.
About $60,000 in cleaning fees were owed to him last year. By the end of last month, an additional $200,000 was owed by hawkers.
After the Chinatown Complex Hawkers' Association and the National Environment Agency (NEA) intervened to speak to the stallholders, Mr Goh managed to recover about $60,000 in arrears this month.
"The hawkers gave excuses like poor business. Some said they were down with Covid-19 or they had to serve the stay-home notice and couldn't open their stalls for business," said Mr Goh, 46, who collects between $205 and $480 a month per stall from the hawkers.
"The latest excuse I get now is that since the law has made it mandatory for diners to return their own trays, tray-clearing service is no longer needed."
Mr Goh lamented that many of the hawkers do not see the back-end work that has to be done, such as washing the trays.
"When diners return their trays to the tray stations, they just stack trays on top of one another. Very often the unfinished food and drinks would spill out of the bowls and onto the trays. So now we have an extra task of washing all the trays before distributing them to the hawkers," he explained.
Last month, cleaning contractor Tee Kek Ling, 76, wrote to the ST Forum page to highlight his difficulty in collecting payment from hawkers and urged the authorities to look into the well-being of cleaning contractors as well.
He said most of the workers he hires are "old, partially disabled or come from underprivileged families".
"As their jobs are relatively unskilled in nature, they take home meagre wages to feed themselves and their families," said Mr Tee, who provides cleaning services to four hawker centres in Marine Parade, Eunos, Kallang Bahru and Tampines.
"When cleaning contractors are financially strapped because of payment defaults and are unable to pay wages, these workers who are living from hand to mouth will face severe hardship in their lives."
Mr Tee said that more than 20 stallholders owed him cleaning fees before his letter was published in the ST Forum page.
The authorities and various hawker associations have since stepped in to mediate and helped him to recover some of his cleaning fees.
Another cleaning contractor, who wanted to be known as Mr Tay, said he tried to understand the hawkers' plight and reduced his fees by $50 for at least four months between last September and January this year.
"Now with the tray-return law, the hawkers are asking for further reduction. I can't sustain my business if I have to reduce my fees further," said the 53-year-old.
Since June 1, it has been mandatory for diners to return their trays and clear their table litter.
NEA started carrying out enforcement from Sept 1.
The majority of the hawkers whom ST spoke to questioned the need to pay for tray-clearing service following the new rule.
Ms Michelle Yee, 37, who runs Hakka Hamcha and Yong Tou Fu stall in Chinatown Complex, said: "Since there is no need for cleaners to go around the hawker centre to collect the plates and trays, why do we still need to pay for tray-clearing service?"
When told of the back-end work that cleaning contractors said they had to do, Ms Yee disagreed.
"I also don't see that many cleaners walking around to clean the tables. I feel that the cleaning fees should be reduced," she added.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh, an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment, said it will take time to get all diners to return their food trays. But the new rule should lessen the workload of cleaners, he noted.
"Now they (cleaners) don't have to collect the trays, but we still need them to wipe the tables. But if customers keep the tables clean, then there's not so much work," said Mr Gan, who suggested that NEA come up with some guidelines on cleaning fees.
He does not think that the tray-clearing law would lead to elderly cleaners losing their jobs.
"Currently, the industry is facing a labour shortage. There is a quota for foreign workers. The cleaning firms will need to hire Singaporeans to meet the quota before they can hire more foreigners," said Mr Gan.
"The cleaners' job scope will change, but their jobs will not be totally gone."
There are 110 hawker centres managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators.
About 80 have contracted cleaning companies to provide table-cleaning services. While the contacts were negotiated by the centres' hawkers' associations on behalf of all stallholders, the cleaning companies are paid directly by the stallholders.
For the remaining centres, which have integrated cleaning contracts that combine table-cleaning and general cleaning, the stallholders pay the service providers through NEA.
Responding to queries from ST, an NEA spokesman said that despite the new rule, "cleaners are still required to maintain and upkeep the general cleanliness of the dining areas of hawker centres, including wiping and sanitising tables, and clearing and sorting dirty crockery at designated tray and crockery return points".
The spokesman added: "Amid the Covid-19 situation, the demands on cleaners have in fact increased."
From mid-May to August, all stallholders were given 3½ months' worth of rental waivers to help them cope with the Covid-19 situation. NEA also provided three months of subsidies for table-cleaning and centralised dishwashing services to all cooked food stallholders this year. All stallholders also received a one-time $500 under the Market and Hawker Centre Relief Fund.
NEA and the Jalan Besar Town Council are aware of the issues raised by stallholders at Chinatown Complex.
"When stallholders and table-cleaning companies encounter issues, NEA will work with the respective hawkers' association to facilitate engagements between stallholders and the cleaning companies on ways to improve service delivery, or to resolve issues such as non-payment of cleaning fees," said the NEA spokesman.
She added that NEA and the Chinatown Complex Hawkers' Association continue to engage the stallholders to resolve the outstanding arrears.
I stopped eating out altogether.
This is the outcome that Dot predicted.
https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/th...-at-hawker-centres.291233/page-4#post-3417390
Mar 1, 2022
Now that customers are required to clear their own cutlery after eating, things have vastly improved from before, when plates of unsightly half-eaten food were left on tables.
However, the cleanliness of tables has not changed - some are sticky with remnants of food.
Cleaners spend their time at the disposal stations either removing debris from plates or chatting.
I have asked cleaners to wipe the tables, and been met with rude stares and the message that the tables are already clean.
We as patrons are already doing our part, so can the authorities please pass a message to cleaning agencies to educate their staff to ensure tables are wiped in preparation for the next diner?
I noticed some diners wiping their table before leaving, but there is only so much a piece of tissue can do.
Christine Kee
https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/th...-at-hawker-centres.291233/page-4#post-3417390
Forum: Tables at eateries not being sufficiently cleaned
Mar 1, 2022
Now that customers are required to clear their own cutlery after eating, things have vastly improved from before, when plates of unsightly half-eaten food were left on tables.
However, the cleanliness of tables has not changed - some are sticky with remnants of food.
Cleaners spend their time at the disposal stations either removing debris from plates or chatting.
I have asked cleaners to wipe the tables, and been met with rude stares and the message that the tables are already clean.
We as patrons are already doing our part, so can the authorities please pass a message to cleaning agencies to educate their staff to ensure tables are wiped in preparation for the next diner?
I noticed some diners wiping their table before leaving, but there is only so much a piece of tissue can do.
Christine Kee
I will not put tray back to any shelves at all. Yes, i eat at coffeeshop as an unvaxxed and didn't put tray back to shelves even if i am ask to.
I find that this is not what patrons of eateries do. That is what cleaners do. If you think that cleaner job is hard work, then pay them more or hire more cleaner by using high salary. It is not our job to listen to rules to put tray back to shelves.
To put back tray to shelves is up to our own free will and not by rules.
Listening to rules is detrimental to your well being like listening to the govt to taking the mrna jab.
I find that this is not what patrons of eateries do. That is what cleaners do. If you think that cleaner job is hard work, then pay them more or hire more cleaner by using high salary. It is not our job to listen to rules to put tray back to shelves.
To put back tray to shelves is up to our own free will and not by rules.
Listening to rules is detrimental to your well being like listening to the govt to taking the mrna jab.
That has been the intention all along. The pappies are despicable, but very predictable.
Go find out yourself, those bigs are not Sinkies.
Now every diner has to bring their own wet wipes to wipe the tables?
And the hawker centre can save manpower costs by hiring less cleaners because the overworked (or lazy) cleaners are now not expected to wipe the tables; the diners have to do it themselves.
And it would be inconsiderate for the diners to trouble the cleaners.
Mar 2, 2022
Ms Christine Kee said cleaners at eateries should wipe down tables after diners leave (Tables at eateries not being sufficiently cleaned, March 1).
An easy solution to this would be for diners to keep wet wipes on hand. These can be used to give the table a good wipe-down. I would much prefer using my own antibacterial wipes than have a cleaner wipe the table with a cloth that has already been used to wipe many tables.
Cleaners are busy enough at disposal stations ensuring that all the plates and cutlery are washed promptly so that stalls have enough clean crockery to serve up food.
Let's not trouble the cleaners to wipe the tables to our satisfaction. We can do this simple task ourselves.
Grace Tan Mui Gek
And the hawker centre can save manpower costs by hiring less cleaners because the overworked (or lazy) cleaners are now not expected to wipe the tables; the diners have to do it themselves.
And it would be inconsiderate for the diners to trouble the cleaners.
Forum: Diners can clean the tables at eateries themselves
Mar 2, 2022
Ms Christine Kee said cleaners at eateries should wipe down tables after diners leave (Tables at eateries not being sufficiently cleaned, March 1).
An easy solution to this would be for diners to keep wet wipes on hand. These can be used to give the table a good wipe-down. I would much prefer using my own antibacterial wipes than have a cleaner wipe the table with a cloth that has already been used to wipe many tables.
Cleaners are busy enough at disposal stations ensuring that all the plates and cutlery are washed promptly so that stalls have enough clean crockery to serve up food.
Let's not trouble the cleaners to wipe the tables to our satisfaction. We can do this simple task ourselves.
Grace Tan Mui Gek
I go there to eat, not to clean. Basic thing such as maintaining a cleaning workforce in eateries cannot be done right, what is the whole point of having management and Ministry? no wonder they are vaccinated.
How to balance my umbrella one hand, tray with undrunk prawn mee soup on the other,
making sure the damn bowl does not slide (tray full of oil) and avoiding people in your
path who are looking at what the stalls are selling instead of looking at where they are
going. Add in my soft legs, there you have it.
making sure the damn bowl does not slide (tray full of oil) and avoiding people in your
path who are looking at what the stalls are selling instead of looking at where they are
going. Add in my soft legs, there you have it.
The trays provided are cheap and of low quality, with minimal grip and lip. Your bowl of prawn mee can slide off the tray and onto a table of diners.
Forum: Supervisors must ensure hawker centre cleaners do their job
MAR 4, 2022I refer to the letter, "Diners can clean the tables at eateries themselves" (March 2).
Under certain circumstances - like if it is simply some food stains - it is practical for a diner to use his own wet tissue to wipe the table.
But for cases such as when bird faeces stain the table, cleaners are needed to do a better job.
At East Coast Lagoon Food Village last week, I saw several tables stained with faeces. I asked a cleaner, who was sitting and chatting with another cleaner, to clean the table. Though hesitant initially, she did eventually do it.
Cleaners must know what they are obliged to do. Their supervisors must check that they do their job instead of being told what to do.
Phillip Tan Fong Lip
Amoy Street Food Centre's tray return station overflows, nearby tables and seats seen inundated with used plates and utensils
Cleaning auntie was almost near breaking point, constantly screaming at patrons to dump their shit just about anywhere and get lost. For every tray she cleared from the station, another three or four arrived the next moment. Hurrah for PAP's epically disastrous tray return legislation.
And Hawker Centres are one of the things we are proud of, as part of our heritage?
Well done!
Well done!
F. U
pay us $1
lianbeng says nowadays those cleaners just stay at the return tray stations refuse to go around to clean tables leh.
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