When the air over a city turns thick and the sky stays grey for days on end, the cost lands first on those who live closest to the daily rhythm of shared meals. In Singapore, a record run of unhealthy haze has emptied hawker stalls that once filled with families preparing for Deepavali, and the people who feel it most are the older owners whose livelihoods depend on a crowd that now stays home. The story is a small, human chapter in a longer tale about how environmental strain travels through ordinary economies, reaching the kitchen counter as surely as the lungs.
Haze Drives Singapore Hawker Stalls Toward Closure as Diners Stay Indoors and Costs Mount
Elderly residents are staying indoors out of health fears, and some elderly people have been hospitalized because of the haze.
Half the seats were empty at 10 am
Mark
Why does a story about empty seats at a hawker centre matter?
Mimi
Because the haze is hitting a business already squeezed. Zaiton Bee pays $4,000 a month in rent, electricity and dishwashing fees, and her customers dropped from about 500 a day to about 200.
Mark
Who is actually staying away?
Mimi
Largely older people. Muhammad Yusof says about 40 percent of patrons at Tekka are elderly, and they're following government advice to stay indoors.
Luke
Careful with that figure. It's one stall owner's estimate, and so is his 30 percent footfall drop. Nobody has published centre-wide counts here.
Mark
Fair. But the pattern shows up elsewhere.
Mimi
It does. Ling at Kovan 209 says up to a third on a bad day, and Harry's reports about 40 percent across its roughly 18 units.
Luke
Those are still self-reported, and different measures, a bad day versus an overall drop. They point the same way, but they don't add up to a national number.
Mark
What makes the timing worse?
Mimi
It's the lead-up to Deepavali on Nov 8, when Tekka is usually packed, plus the GST rise to 9 percent and the beverage container return scheme.
Luke
And whether Zaiton actually closes is unknown. She said maybe in a few months or next year, conditional on business not recovering. That's a possibility, not a decision.
O Pulso
- Twelve straight days of unhealthy air have left Tekka Centre with half its seats empty during what should be the busy pre-Deepavali rush.
- Stall owner Zaiton Bee's daily customers have dropped from about 500 to 200, and she says she is ready to close.
- Footfall is down roughly 30 to 40 percent across hawker centres and restaurant chains, with elderly patrons staying indoors on health advice.
- Hawkers are pressing for financial aid while rising costs from the GST increase and beverage container return scheme pile on top of the haze losses.
When the air over a city turns thick and the sky stays grey for days on end, the cost lands first on those who live closest to the daily rhythm of shared meals. In Singapore, a record run of unhealthy haze has emptied hawker stalls that once filled with families preparing for Deepavali, and the people who feel it most are the older owners whose livelihoods depend on a crowd that now stays home. The story is a small, human chapter in a longer tale about how environmental strain travels through ordinary economies, reaching the kitchen counter as surely as the lungs.
At 10 am on Oct 16, half the seats at Tekka Centre sat empty. It was the 12th consecutive day of unhealthy air readings in Singapore, the longest such stretch since the 2015 haze crisis, and the hawker centre that should have been filling with pre-Deepavali shoppers was quiet instead.
Zaiton Bee, 73, has run her Muslim food stall for a decade. Where she once served about 500 customers a day, she now serves about 200, and her monthly costs of $4,000 for rent, electricity and dishwashing have not shrunk with them. Tired and worried, she says she may give up within months if business does not return.
Across the centre, Muhammad Yusof Syed Mohamed estimates footfall has fallen about 30 percent, and he notes that many of the centre's regulars are elderly people who are staying indoors on government advice. He sees the lost revenue as a passing hardship, far less serious than the elderly residents who have ended up in hospital.
The same pattern appears at Kovan 209 Market, where one stall worker says business can fall by a third on a bad day, and at Harry's, whose footfall is down about 40 percent even with outdoor areas closed. The accounts point in one direction: fewer diners, less revenue, and costs that stay fixed. The open questions are whether the air clears before owners like Zaiton give up, and whether the aid hawkers are seeking arrives in time.
At 10 am on Oct 16, half the seats at Tekka Centre were empty. A reporter from The Straits Times, visiting that morning, found a hawker centre that should have been filling up, and the reason was hanging in the air: it was the 12th consecutive day Singapore had recorded unhealthy Pollutant Standards Index readings, counting from Oct 5. That is the longest unbroken stretch of poor air quality the country has endured since the 2015 haze crisis.
Zaiton Bee, 73, has run a Muslim food stall at Tekka Centre for a decade. Before the haze escalated, she says, she served about 500 customers a day. Now it is about 200. She was already struggling with the cost of keeping the stall open, and she puts those costs at $4,000 a month, covering rent, electricity and dishwashing fees. Add her age and the thinning crowds, and she is pessimistic. "Now got no business, it's very boring. We want to close the shop," she said, adding that if business does not return, she may give up in a few months or next year.
Muhammad Yusof Syed Mohamed, a 43-year-old marketing researcher who helps his brother run a drinks stall in the same centre, estimates footfall has fallen by about 30 percent since the haze began. The timing is unkind. This is normally the run-up to Deepavali, which falls on Nov 8 in 2026, when the hawker centre is typically packed with families on their way to Little India for festival preparations. The haze, he suggested, may have led people to stay home or eat elsewhere.
He pointed to who is missing. About 40 percent of the patrons, he said, are elderly, and they are frightened for their health and following government advice to stay indoors. He put the commercial damage in perspective: the haze hurting businesses is a small thing that lasts only a few months, while elderly people ending up in hospital because of it is more serious. His stall has also been hit by the beverage container return scheme and the GST increase to 9 percent, so the haze landed on top of other pressures.
The pattern repeats elsewhere. At Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre, a 53-year-old Chinese food stall worker who asked to be identified only as Ling said business can fall by as much as a third on a bad day. Customers, she said, are choosing enclosed or air-conditioned places, or cooking at home. "Who wants to leave their house when it's so hazy?" she asked. She hopes the government will offer some form of financial aid to hawkers.
Indoor seating has not protected restaurants either. Harry's, which runs about 18 kitchen and bar units across Singapore, reports footfall down by roughly 40 percent. A representative said the company has cordoned off outdoor dining areas at some outlets, but that has made no difference, since there is no foot traffic at all.
The accounts, from a single hawker centre, a second market, and one restaurant operator, are consistent in direction: fewer diners, shrinking revenue, and costs that do not shrink with them. What to watch is whether the air clears before stallholders like Zaiton decide they cannot wait, and whether the aid hawkers are asking for materializes.
Citações Notáveis
Now got no business, it's very boring. We want to close the shop.— Zaiton Bee, Tekka Centre stall owner
Who wants to leave their house when it's so hazy?— Ling, stall worker at Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre
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Leia o original em China Daily ↗
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