Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Hawker Centre Manpower

Question:

Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) why work permit holders may be employed in coffee shops and food courts but not in NEA hawker centres, given all are cooked-food trades; (b) how many Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) and Long-Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) holders work as hawker stall assistants as at 1 September 2026; and (c) whether the venue-based distinction will be reviewed.

Answer:

Hawker centres are a unique part of Singapore's cultural heritage and it is important to preserve the local identity and heritage of our hawker culture. Only Singaporean Citizens and Permanent Residents are allowed to be stallholders at our hawker centres, and stallholders are required to physically operate their stalls. This is unlike other licensed food shops, which may be managed by commercial entities that hire employees to run their outlets. Nonetheless, stallholders in hawker centres can hire eligible Long-Term Visit Pass and Long-Term Visit Pass-Plus holders, who are already part of the Singapore family nexus, to work as stall assistants. This strikes a balance between supporting stallholders’ manpower needs and the preservation of hawker centres’ local identity.

As of 1 August 2026, there are about 300 LTVP and LTVP+ holders working as stall assistants in cooked food stalls in hawker centres.

We will continue to monitor the situation and review our policies where necessary, to strike a balance between manpower needs and the Singaporean identity of hawker centres.